And another drama that is hard to rate. I just finished it and I still feel conflicted. Nevertheless, I’m going to try to organize my thoughts and feelings about this drama.

What I liked:
- A packed storyline and natural feeling plot progression
- The Baseball scenes. I knew nothing about baseball. And honestly, I still don’t really do. But this drama evoked my interest in it and I might check it out more often. Before watching this drama, I had no thoughts whatsoever about baseball. Maybe only that it’s dull. Now I don’t think like that anymore. I actually appreciate the sport more and think it’s interesting. I do like sport dramas because they show passionate characters that push themselves to be better. I do like to see some rivalry and competitiveness. Sport dramas often have determined characters who you start to root for and it’s always satisfying to see them get better. I don’t really play sports but it’s something I respect and do love to see in dramas. Be it ssireum (Like flowers in sand), fencing (twenty-five twenty-one), Love all Play (Badminton) etc… You can find this passion in Hot Stove league as well. But it’s just that they focus on the characters behind the players and not the players themselves.
- No romance. I do love romance. And I do love romance as a side plot as well. But it’s a good move that there was no romance in this specific drama. The characters had no romantic chemistry at all. More like colleague chemistry
- The actors!!! If I correctly remember Namkoong Min even won important awards for this show and it’s more than deserved. This man can act. I liked him before but after My Dearest he became one of my favorite actors. It was nice to see him in an introverted and reserved role this time. The other actors and actresses did a very good job as well. I really like Park Eun Bin. I especially liked her in Do you like Brahms? And in Age of Youth. Of course, I’ve seen her in Extraordinary attorney woo as well. She was outstanding. But after Castaway diva, a drama that wasn’t my taste --- Wait I just realized that Park Eun Bin and Chae Jong Hyeop reunited in Castaway diva after being in Hot stove league together, now it feels a bit weird --- anyway Castaway diva wasn’t my taste and could unsee Woo Young Woo in her new role. That’s why it was nice to see her in a different role again.

What I wished for:
I normally write “what I disliked” but this time it’s a bit different. This drama is good. I’m going to give it a 8/10 which is in my rating system a “Great”. Following point are crucial as to why I can’t give it a higher score. A 9/9.5/10 rating would automatically belong into the “my favorites” category. The acting, the quality and writing of this drama is the reason why I can’t give a lower score than 8 but the next points are the reasons why it’s higher:
- Not enough baseball. I expected more baseball. Now I know what a stove league is and that it’s always off-season. But in my opinion this drama would have benefitted from more baseball scenes.
- I know that they fleshed out the characters. But I still couldn’t really connect to them that much. I did like the players and would have liked to see more from them. The ML was intriguing but seemed a bit unapproachable. But that seemed intentionally. That, what we could see of his private life was very heartwarming. It’s just that I don’t really connect to any of the side characters.
- The villain and disbandment parts were not very intriguing.

I don’t feel strongly about this drama, nevertheless because of the quality of acting and writing I think it deserves and 8/10 in my rating system. And it’s refreshing to see a slower drama without romance receiving a 8.7 rating.