“Why are we organized” complaint about growing dome stadiums
KBO “Include us for equity”
KIA Most confirmed doubleheaders 3 times
The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO)
Announced the schedule for the remainder of the regular season on September 29, 스포츠토토 saying it expected to have it finalized by October 10. However, the first step was delayed. In the two days following the announcement, nine more games were postponed due to heavy rainfall across the country. Professional baseball will have to play 170 more games to complete the regular season schedule.
The KBO plans to speed up the schedule by playing back-to-back games (doubleheaders). The team with the most to lose because of this is Kiwoom. Kiwoom has played 121 games as of Dec. 31, the most of any team in the league, thanks to the fact that they play in Seoul’s Gocheok SkyDome, a stadium that is not affected by rain, but they still have to play their first professional baseball doubleheader on Dec. 9 against Hanwha since the Gocheok Dome opened in 2015.
“It’s hard to understand why we organized a doubleheader when we have an off day,” said Kiwoom manager Hong Won-ki. In response, the KBO said, “The rest of the teams also play at least one doubleheader. 토토 We only included Kiwoom for the sake of equity.”
The team with the most doubleheaders scheduled is KIA. Having played 105 games, the fewest of the 10 teams, KIA has only three confirmed doubleheaders: against LG in Anbang on September 9, against NC in Changwon on October 27, and against KT in Suwon on October 4. “We expected a tight schedule, but there are more doubleheaders than we expected,” sighed KIA head coach Kim Jong-guk.
The Hangzhou Asian Games
Are also a concern for the teams. The KBO League will continue uninterrupted during the Asian Games, with each team sending one to three key players to the national team. Baseball at the Asian Games takes place from October 1-7, but the national teams are called up about a week in advance. As players’ fitness levels drop and injuries mount, every team has to play without their key players for two weeks.
If the schedule is delayed, regular season games could be played during the postseason. It’s not unprecedented. In 1982, the Samsung-MBC (now LG) game was played on October 14, the last day of the Korean Series, and in 2007, Hanwha and Kia faced off on October 19, 스포츠토토링크 the last day of the playoffs.