Stove League

A baseball teamI called dreams has been placed last for four seasons and when the manager steps down he is replaced by Baek Seung-soo (Namkkong Min) He has no history with baseball management and may have been hired for underhanded reasons. The team is highly dysfunctional but with his calm unusual approach he starts to make real changes. I am a fan of Park Eun-bin which is what drew me to watch this series and she plays the operations manager Lee Se Young and as always she along with all the cast provide a sterling performance. I think it rates so highly as many baseball fans enjoy the vast amount of statistics and a look behind the scenes of this imaginary club.

This drama hits all the right notes. Folks who trivialize saying 'this is Moneyball version of K-drama' are grossly downplaying the depth of this show. There is so much happening in each episode. The first episode instantly sets-up an intriguing plot and every episode unravels something interesting or tackles a deep rooted issue.

Although its set against a Sports (Baseball) backdrop it isn't simply a Sports story. Please don't turn away thinking its a Sports drama. Infact there is hardly any on-field action through its 16 episodes length. It focuses more on the management side of the team and the problems that pop-up after years of under-performance. Along the way you may even pick up few useful tips on topics such as negotiation, presentation skills and general management.

What I loved:

• Great storyline
• Fantastic acting (Namkoong Min is a Korean treasure, however he was aptly supported by Eun-bin Park and others)
• Good explanation of important Baseball stats (on Viki) and not dumping lot of numbers on our face (easy to follow for a novice like me)

It's a pity so few people have watched this drama. It deserves much more recognition and love.

Go Dreams!

P.S. There is no romance in this drama. Just so you know ;) It also won the Baeksang Arts Awards for Best Drama for the year 2020

Namgoong Min is a terrific lead in an outstanding cast. But I found the script uneven and draggy at points. Still, it's generally a fine series I enjoyed and recommend.

If you like Moneyball movie and want to watch it in serial movie, you can watch this. The pace at the beginning is a little bit slow, but believe me it would get much much better after that. One of my favorite K-Drama.

Tracking Min Namkoong's performances brought me to Stove League. As am NOT a baseball fan I put off watching it. Then when everything else looked mediocre I tuned in--and wow--the foundations of corruption of the people who never step up to bat--those who want a team to fail for their own purposes, greed, ethical corruption and just plan dirty dealing bring a lot of substance to this drama. Min is generally stone cold stoic throughout--but still manages to give off pressure cooker steam somehow--he's a truly great actor. I didn't expect this kind of role after One Dollar Lawyer. There's solid performances from the entire cast fleshing out individual personal stories which also make it worth watching. This is not a fluffy cotton candy baseball drama. Loving baseball is not necessary for enjoying the human drama. See how long it takes before you're throwing verbal abuse at the nasty humans on your screen of choice.