Hot Stove League (2019)

An engaging plot (twist) driven drama

Plot twists and cliffhangers are front and center of Hot Stove League (Stove League). Sherlock-esque, the Main Lead (Baek Seung Soo) solves each turn, mostly on his own, with the big reveal happening after the resolution. Just through pure storytelling, the drama delivers quite an emotional punch, which is surprising given its subdued character development. Do not let Stove League go under your radar with its compelling and heartwarming message.

Story:
The realism and relatability of the niche topic of off-season baseball highlights the main strength of Stove League. No challenge seems ridiculous, though some resolutions are a tiny bit far fetched. There is a real feeling of distress with each downturn and a huge sigh of relief with each problem solved. It makes the drama easy to look forward to on a weekly basis.

The only drawback is that so much time is spent on presenting and solving each issue, which leaves little time for other types of character development. Sherlock is Sherlock in each mystery, and Baek Seung Soo remains true to his style throughout the show. The lack of character growth is worse for the female lead, Lee Se Young, who mostly gets dragged through BSS’s antics. Luckily, the “main” side character of each plot arc gets significant development in comparison. This is doubly true for the antagonist, Kwon Kyung Min.

Acting:
Tight storytelling makes it easier for the actors to play their role while weak character developments hurts their ability to shine. Baek Seung Soo’s past frequently appears on screen, and the actor Nam Goong-Min admirably plays his past-self well in contrast to his present character. Unfortunately, Park Eun-Bin’s character does not get enough opportunities to perform. Even supporting characters get more character development as their arcs are completed over the course of 1-3 episodes. In that sense, the supporting cast did a great job of acting given their window to shine. Oh Jung-Se especially left a good impression by the conclusion of the drama.

Music:
At first, the music of Stove League seems bland, but it grows on viewers with each re-listen. The musical cast leans more on Korean rock than kpop or kballad. The change is refreshing. It somehow blends effortlessly with the plot and premise of the Stove League, akin to the fight songs or victory songs of real-life sports teams.

Rewatch Value:
Stove League, as mentioned, is a solid watch, especially as it aired, but it does lose much of its shine when the outcomes are known. On the other hand, the feel good nature of the overall message cannot be overstated. So, I will recommend another hardworking drama, Chief Kim, which shares the same male lead and a similar character vibe (i.e. talented and misunderstood) as I fondly remember Hot Stove League.

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Namkoong Min finally won his Daesang with this drama!!!

"You’ve already dreamed of so many things and are fighting to protect them. It just so happened that I became one dream that fell off. Please don’t lose the others trying to pick me back up. You won’t be able to protect all of your dreams. You can’t break down like this every time. Thank you for letting me have my own dreams even for a little while."

This drama goes in my list of life dramas one must watch. I was expecting a sports drama so I was apprehensive when I started watching it but it's actually about the management of a baseball team. I thought it would be boring and that I will eventually drop it but the script is well written which kept me hooked. The story is gripping and heartwarming and uplifting and there were a lot of times I found myself crying (crying is cathartic for me lol). On top of the script, the cast are all great at acting... there were no acting holes. I highly recommend this drama!

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lovin this drama a little bit too much :)

i love this drama a lot and probably one of my favs so far. idk lots bout baseball, but the storyline keeps me going, curious and want more. why? cause it's not entirely about the sport and its mechanism. it depicts the people behind it, the story of the athletes and their concerns. i love each characters so much, they are amazing especially the male lead. the way I understand him (and all characters), their decisions and actions is just woww lahv even the character that I hate at first, i understand them a lot later on. and the way they work hard makes me want to work hard as well. I cried a lot, unexpectedly. most of them are proud and happy tears, kinda taste of victory :') i love this drama so much and enjoyed every bit of it. do watch it!!

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A bit farfetched in places, Namkoong Min saves the day

The Hot Stove is a K Drama about the offseason of the fictional Dreams baseball team, the worst team in the league. Baek Seong-Soo, a sport executive who never played baseball, is brought in as the team's general manager after another failed season. However, Kwong Kyeong-min (Oh Jung-se`), the team's president brought Baek in with the purpose of shutting down the Dreams because it is unprofitable for the Jaesong group.

The story: One of the nice things about the show is it explains some of the jargon associated with baseball which helps non-baseball fans understand what's going on. What I found far-fetched was that the star player Lim Dong-gyu hired thugs to beat up Baek and also vandalised his car when Lim heard he was being traded. I realise you need dramatic licence in shows, but this made no sense. Baek's family subplot was a bit disjointed and appeared to have been thrown in for dramatic sake. It is not clear until we learn of his baby's death that the woman was his wife. there is not explanation about why Baek's wife left him. Was it because of the death of their child? Was it because he was a workaholic? That isn't clear. It's unclear how his brother became paralysed from sliding into third base. At times it appeared that there were too many characters and the writers would lose sight of some and then bring them back randomly. Two glaring examples were Gil Chang Joo/Robert Gil and Go Se-hyeok the chief scout who got fired. Chang's character was central in the middle episodes but got relegated without much explanation. After Go tried to get his revenge, he was written out without fanfare considering he was a significant enough antagonist in the storyline.

Overall: As a baseball fan, I enjoyed the show. It was interesting to see how the team used traditional recruitment methods with more modern sabremetic methods. Namkoong Min continues to excel as an actor. The way in which he plays Baek was very nuanced and deliberate.

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Os Bastidores de Um Time Profissional Que Você Não Pode Perder!

Apesar de não praticar nenhum esporte e não entender nada da maioria deles eu sempre tive uma quedinha por filmes de esportes desde criança. Gosto da disciplina e força de vontade que os esportes exigem, principalmente nos esportes coletivos como basquete, futebol, rugby, beisebol...

Talvez este drama possa não agradar ao público mais jovem mas se você gosta de um drama maduro, com um enredo envolvente, personagens interessantes e um ritmo consistente Stove League NÃO pode passar despercebido do seu radar, você precisa incluí-lo em sua lista e se deliciar com esta pérola de K-drama.

O que torna este drama tão peculiar é o seu foco, o ponto central não são os treinos e o jogo em si. A base de tudo aqui é a parte administrativa por trás do time, as questões políticas, aquele mecanismo escondido que poucas pessoas se ligam que existe. Afinal, por se tratar de um time profissional de beisebol isto também é um negócio. Achei genial este enfoque.
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Stove League conseguiu manter meu nível de interesse do começo ao fim sem me cansar, o enredo se desenrola de forma empolgante e os episódios são muito envolventes.

Sem fazer esforço para me conectar com a história eu já me encontrava ansiosa pelo próximo episódio e muito curiosa para saber qual seria o próximo passo deste novo gerente muito charmoso - que agora tem um espaço em meu coração. A maneira como ele trabalha é extraordinária, dedicado, inteligente e com um objetivo claro em alcançar suas metas foi super fácil gostar de seu personagem.
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Interessante como todos os personagens foram importantes para a trama, não teve nenhum personagem que estava ali só para preencher um espaço vazio, todos contribuíram para que a história se desenvolvesse bem. As atuações foram ótimas e a fotografia agradável de assistir.

Resumindo:
Não sei quanto a vocês, mas eu sinto saudades de alguns dramas...sinto saudade de acompanhar o desenvolvimento da história, o desenrolar dos relacionamentos e também de alguns personagens. Este K-drama com toda certeza é um desses, já me encontro com saudades desta equipe e do gerente encantador. Super apoio uma possível segunda temporada!

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What a ride

Rating this gave me a hard time. That's probably because I didn't see as many baseball scenes in this drama as I'd wished for. I do get that it's more about the people's growth and how things might work in that industry. But seeing some more games to let me root for the players I've grown to like so much would have been nice.

Nonetheless, it was still a great drama with an awesome cast and plot. You can somewhat guess, where the story is going after watching the first episodes. A sports team, that loses all the time. Of course there must be some heavy problems, right? Baek Seung Soo (NGM) starts to root out the foul branches one by one. He persuades you that it can really work and you start to cheer for the team to get up again. But well, it's a drama afterall, so don't fool yourself. There are the higher ups who don't want him to succeed, no matter what. And so additional obstacles are spread just when you think everything runs fine.

Nam Goong Min is without doubt a terrifying actor. I always prefer the silent roles because they show the actors' real capability. Baek Seung Soo (NGM) was one kind of a silent character. He seems apathetic, not caring much but still determined to achieve his goal. By no means is he cold though. He has that little brother he's living with who is tied to a wheelchair, and you can see that Baek Seung Soo does care for his family. He's also smart, perceptive and cunning. I've only seen a few other characters who were as calculative as him and I'm happy that the writing and NGM's acting convinced me of these traits through and through. For example, whenever his character came up with his next move, he was of course faced with anger and a strong headwind. But he fought his battles with calmness and evidence based reasoning.

He takes most blows without complaint, instead he works on other ways to still get the results he needs. But when he's really, really pissed (or cornered or just overwhelmed), his nonchalant demeanor breaks for like two seconds and you discover his well hidden emotions. It might be glimpses, but NGM gives them a deep impact. It almost scares you how much he can bottle up and then release.

In the early episodes it seems as if he's just doing a job. Well, that might be true. But as time goes by, he realizes that there are other people, who are as determined as he is, and in a subtle way, he unintentionally creates bonds without knowing it. I kinda suspected from the beginning how his character would be wrapped up work-wise. Even though I might not have suspected anything at all about his growth as a person, something was expected nevertheless. Otherwise the drama would have failed its purpose.

The rest of the cast did good jobs themselves, they supported the leads very well. There was always enough back story to make their characters three-dimensional without giving too much side info. It was enough to either reassure you, so you can name your league of good people, or deceive you, to make surprising twists possible.

The alleged villain... Oh, well. You start from liking him to disliking to hating to... Let's say he's a difficult one. Of course, it gets explained why he's doing what he's doing. You just wish for him to break that damn cage, he's gotten himself into. He definitely grew as a person ultimately, but he still has a long road ahead.

What I found hard at times was to follow the technical jargon. I like baseball but I'm not an expert. While it makes sense for them to talk like that when they are surrounded by their people, it would have been nice if they had somehow made their evaluations more comprehensible. I want to cheer them on so badly, but how can I do that, when I only understand half of it.

The few baseball scenes were like honey. Even though there weren't that many, they did those really well and managed to show off a bit. I enjoyed them so much because they were a nice change of scenery (and I'm always in for a nice game).

Conclusion:
An overall powerful drama about a lone 'ranger', who stands tall, no matter what, who meets a defective baseball team that's in a real mess but opposes the unusual methods of their new general manager. Both sides surprise you in unexpected ways and will sweep you away with a new found team spirit.

So, don't miss out on this one ;)

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A CLASS ABOVE!!

I have recently gotten into watching sports dramas, and I have been enjoying them quite a bit, but this is by far the best one I've seen yet. This show dives deep into the politics and administration of sports and not only the sport itself, and it does so in a meticulous way. The character development and the plot in this show is insane!
This show is different compared to most of the K-dramas I have watched and this makes me appreciate K-drama even more. This show didn't rely on any unnecessary romantic plots and the usual K-drama clichés which can get somewhat tiring at times. This show rides solely on the story, the characters, the cast and acting, and the overall experience. This is a 100% recommended to everyone, sport fans, and not sport fans alike. This is a story anyone can understand without really having a good understanding of baseball.
(IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ROMATIC AND CHEESY THIS ISN'T FOR YOU)

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Good acting; Good plot.

After reading the reviews on dramalist as well as on other sites, I decided to give this ‘award-winning’ show a go.

From the start, it was intriguing. I am not a sporty person and know basically nothing about sports. However, not knowing anything about baseball did not get in the way of appreciating this drama. As you watch the show, you’ll learn a bit here and there about baseball and you’ll learn more about the sport via googling! LOL.

Watch because:
-acting is very good
-cast fits the show
-show moves fast enough on the whole
-it’s actually quite intriguing for non-sports people like myself because you learn about baseball
-refreshing that it’s not about love lines and skin ship
-heartening to see the players’ love and passion for baseball

The parts that I didn’t like:
-not many scenes in which they actually play baseball but I guess it’s because it’s the ‘hot stove league’
-the middle part became a little draggy imo
-the ‘trying to disband the baseball team’ plot got kind of tiring

Overall, watch this as it’s a nice change from the usual K dramas out there which focus on love lines / skin ship.

I liked it.

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A Sports Drama Without the Sports, Probably for the Better

It's no secret that sports are a traditionally a difficult subject to make movies about. Their oft repetitive nature and potential reliance on various sets of information and jargon can lead to uniform plots (like in many western films) or necessarily exaggerated depictions (like in the common sports anime). It's likely for this reason that this drama in particular opted to move away from a depiction of a sport itself but rather into the management of said sport, a truly unique approach. Indeed, it's most common that the management behind sports teams are often the villains of the sports world and rarely the heroes. This fresh- and potentially brave- perspective lends the drama elements of unpredictability and intrigue that serve to make it as captivating as the first drama you've ever seen; that is to say, before you'd experienced that onslaught of trope recycling in every genre.

Don't get me wrong, there are tropes present in this drama, the most notable of course being the premise of the show, in which a brilliant man with a troubled past and a jaded attitude appears and makes everyone upset in the process of putting some well-meaning ignorants in their place. (But I promise he's a nice guy, see? He almost smiled!) Despite this admittedly off-putting central theme, the show managed to surpass my expectations and keep me captivated enough to finish it in a few sittings (quite impressive, with my track record). How? A combination of excellent acting, building tension, and a fast-paced plot. All while managing to develop characters with believable personas and backstories. At this point I'd usually spend about eight paragraphs describing each of these aspects in more detail, but I get the sneaking suspicion no one really cares about the minutia of that.

Unfortunately, there were (in my opinion) a few blunders here and there. Besides the endlessly frustrating trope of a man coming in to do a job better than the woman ever could, there's a bit of plot repetition regarding the main character doing something outrageous, everyone getting upset over it, and then them realizing he was right all along. Also, the reasons he was right can sometimes feel contrived, and other times are contradicted by a later scene. You get the feeling that the writers are hoping some of it will go over your head like with many hospital dramas. And, although I respect the character development they did have, and the character dynamics on the whole were excellent, I feel like we could have seen better explorations of the redemption arcs where they were present.

On the whole, however, this was certainly an excellent show. Even someone like me, who doesn't usually touch sports media with a ten foot pole, finds themselves invested in the conflicts and cheering at the victories. Through excellent execution, production, and perspective, the showrunners created an experience that was utterly interesting and sometimes even moving. And, while the exclusion of a majority of the actual sports aspect of the show is initially jarring, it is quickly revealed for the brilliance that it is: a sports drama without the sports.

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