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| ▲ This photo, provided by the Kia Tigers, shows a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game between the Tigers and the Kiwoom Heroes at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul, delayed by rain on June 27, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ In this file photo from April 12, 2023, the scoreboard at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul announces the cancellation of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game between the Kiwoom Heroes and the Doosan Bears due to fine dust. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This file photo from June 14, 2023, provided by the NC Dinos, shows the infield at Changwon NC Park covered in tarp amid rainfall, in the southeastern city of Changwon. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
baseball-schedule
KBO faces potential doubleheaders, Monday games as monsoon season arrives
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- With most of the country drenched by heavy rainfall at the onset of the monsoon season this week, South Korean baseball clubs have begun discussing ways to squeeze canceled games into a tight window.
Through Wednesday, 31 games in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) have been canceled due to either rain or fine dust problems, and that number is certain to increase this week and beyond during the annual rainy season, which is expected to last longer this year than in the recent past.
KBO officials met with general managers of the league's 10 clubs earlier this week to go over scheduling issues. Though they didn't reach any consensus on how to go about making up canceled games, playing doubleheaders and scheduling games on Monday -- typically the lone off day of a week during the season -- were discussed.
The league office will also listen to what managers on the field have to say before deciding on makeup games.
Skippers and players in the KBO have long balked at playing two a day or playing on Mondays, citing fatigue and resultant risks of injury. Some managers in seasons past also complained that they didn't have enough pitching to play seven days a week.
KBO teams had to play a few doubleheaders and also go to work on Mondays during the pandemic-interrupted 2020 season, when the start of the regular season was pushed back by more than a month. Even with a shortened postseason, the Korean Series ended on Nov. 24 that year, the latest conclusion to a season in KBO history.
This year, the KBO will try to crown the Korean Series champions by early November, with under-24 players from South Korea, Japan and Taiwan scheduled to play in the Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) in the middle of that month.
The regularly-scheduled portion of the season ends on Sept. 10. From that point on, canceled games will be made up.
Through Wednesday, the Kia Tigers had lost the most games with 10, followed by eight each for the NC Dinos and the Lotte Giants.
The Kiwoom Heroes, based in the league's only domed stadium, Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, have only lost two games, both on the road.
KBO teams will send players to the national team for the Asian Games in the fall but, in a departure from past Asian Games, the KBO regular season will not go on a break during the continental competition.
The Heroes, the Dinos and the LG Twins will each have three players compete at the Asiad, while the Doosan Bears have just one. With their key players gone for the stretch drive, the three clubs with three Asiad representatives will have different reasons for preferring doubleheaders or Monday games than other clubs with fewer national team members.
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