Do You Know Kim Young-do, Korea's First Black Mixed-Race Cleanup Hitter? ... Dong-A University Baseball Player Documentary Gains Attention

Christian Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival Entry 'Baseball Harmony'

Screened at Theaters in Culver City and Santa Clarita, California, USA

A documentary about a certain baseball player is quietly stirring interest.

He is a Korean and Black mixed-race individual. He was an alumnus of Dong-A University (President Lee Hae-woo), class of ’72, and the cleanup hitter of the baseball team.

After the documentary about Kim Young-do’s life, Baseball Harmony, won several awards at international film festivals, Dong-A University has been sharing his story.

A documentary poster about the life of Kim Young-do, Korea's first Black mixed-race baseball player and an alumnus of Dong-A University.

Baseball Harmony (directed by Joo-il Gwak and Amy Hutchinson) is a documentary about Kim, Korea’s first Black mixed-race baseball player, physical education teacher, and baseball coach, and his life struggles.

This documentary swept awards at the American Christian Film Festival, winning Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Music & Editing.

It also received high praise from judges at the Award Ceremony at Lane Doc Festival, hosted by Lane College with a 140-year tradition. It was also an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival, the world’s premier independent film festival.

The documentary Baseball Harmony depicts Kim’s story of walking into an orphanage on his own, visiting his mother’s grave, his friends from his baseball days, Daeshin Middle School where he worked as a teacher, the baseball coach’s knock bat he held again after 35 years, and Kim’s current self who can now laugh off racial slurs with a hearty laugh.

Teammates of Kim Young-do who played for the Dong-A University baseball team.

This film is part of Korean baseball history, a story of a teacher and student in the 1980s, and also the story of immigrants who make up 5% of South Korea’s population in 2023.

It is scheduled to be screened on the 7th and 10th in Culver City and Santa Clarita City, California, USA, respectively.

Born in 1950 to a Korean mother and a U.S. soldier, Kim Young-do experienced discrimination and hardship like other Black mixed-race children born during the Korean War, spending a lonely childhood before entering an orphanage on his own at age nine.

His life changed when he started learning baseball in sixth grade. As soon as he began playing, he showed his skills and was selected for the Dongdaemun Middle School baseball team, and later excelled as the cleanup hitter and first baseman at Dongdaemun Commercial High School.

In 1968, he entered Dong-A University as a baseball scholarship student. The late Coach Ahn Young-pil, a representative baseball figure from Busan who led Dong-A University?the only regional team at the time?reached out to him.

During his time at Dong-A University, he took on the roles of cleanup hitter and first baseman, earning the nickname “The Wild Guy on the Field.”

Although he played in the heart of the batting order, had excellent physical attributes, and a strong competitive spirit, Kim Young-do could not fully integrate into mainstream Korean baseball. With a dream to teach future generations, he pursued graduate studies at Dong-A University and completed a master’s degree.

After graduation, Kim worked as a physical education teacher and baseball coach at Busan’s Daeshin Middle School starting in 1980, earning the title of “Korea’s first Black mixed-race physical education teacher and baseball coach.”

During this time, he got married, had two children, and served as president of the Mixed-Race Association in the Gyeongsang Province region for about ten years.

Kim Young-do's college graduation photo (far left).

However, racial discrimination continued to trouble Kim’s family. Eventually, he quit baseball, which had changed his life, and at age 37, emigrated to the United States for the sake of his children.

After immigrating to the U.S., he put baseball behind him and lived as a father, but in the documentary Baseball Harmony, he joyfully shared stories about baseball.

Last year, the documentary crew and Kim Young-do visited Dong-A University, toured the campus and baseball training grounds, and reminisced before departing.