A thermometer on the field at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa District, southern Seoul, reads 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) on Aug. 5, after all KBO League and minor league games scheduled for Aug. 5 and 6 were canceled due to the heat wave.YONHAP
Baseball fans, rejoice — Korean professional baseball’s unprecedented “heat wave break” is over.
The 10 KBO clubs will resume league play Tuesday after a six-day hiatus.
A total of five games are scheduled across the country: the Doosan Bears against the Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil in southern Seoul, the SSG Landers against the Lotte Giants in Incheon, the KIA Tigers against the Samsung Lions in Gwangju, the NC Dinos against the KT Wiz in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, and the Kiwoom Heroes against the LG Twins at Gocheok in western Seoul.
The biggest enemy of the KBO League this summer has irrefutably been the sweltering heat. Games began falling victim to the heat on Aug. 1, when the NC-KIA game in Changwon and the Lotte-Samsung game in Busan were canceled. Additional cancellations were made on Aug. 2 and last Tuesday.
Then a spectator collapsed in Incheon last Tuesday, and after a series of developments, the league ultimately canceled all games for six days scheduled from last Wednesday through Monday. It marked the first time the KBO League had been suspended for a reason other than an international competition such as the Olympics or Asian Games since the Covid-19 outbreak halted play in July 2021.
During the latest break, players managed their condition in different ways, such as simply resting to working out individually and doing light indoor training. But training cannot replace actual games. The feel for the game has now emerged as a new factor that could determine how teams fare in what amounts to a “second second half” of the season.
Water is sprayed into the stands to help spectators cool off during a KBO League game between the Kiwoom Heroes and LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on July 29.YONHAP
Players already had a six-day All-Star break from July 10 to 15, only to have another six days off less than a month later. The additional break may have disrupted their routines.
KIA and NC players face an even greater challenge. All of their games since July 31 were canceled because of the heat, meaning they will return to action for the first time in 11 days. KIA will face second-place Samsung in its first game after the heat wave break, while NC will take on league-leading KT.
“Pitchers are accustomed to taking the mound after extended rest, but hitters can lose their rhythm at the plate if they go too long without playing,” KIA manager Lee Bum-ho said. “It’s also a burden to come back after such a long break and immediately have to face ace-caliber pitchers.”
Indeed, the scheduled starting pitchers include KT’s Logan Allen, Samsung’s Chris Paddack, LG’s Carlos Carrasco, Doosan’s Gwak Been, KIA’s Adam Oller, Hanwha’s Wang Yancheng, NC’s Riley Thompson, Lotte’s Jeremy Beasley, SSG’s Pedro Avila and Kiwoom’s An Woo-jin — a rotation that resembles an Opening Day lineup.
Whether KT can maintain the momentum that carried it back into first place on a nine-game winning streak before the break, and whether second-place Samsung and third-place LG can regroup after relatively sluggish stretches and rejoin the race for the top spot, could hinge on how well their players have maintained their game sharpness.
A view of Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on Aug. 4, after the KBO League game between the NC Dinos and Doosan Bears was canceled due to extreme heat.YONHAP
Another challenge awaits — a more congested-than-ever fall schedule.
September is normally reserved in part for rescheduled games. In September, teams generally play different numbers of games and their schedules tend to be more spread out. But the heat has forced 30 games to be postponed, dramatically changing the situation.
Adding to the challenge, teams could lose up to three key young players to Asian Games duty in September. That means teams will have to play more games without some of their most important players.
Fourth-place Doosan, which is closing in on third, will be without its formidable one-two pitching combination of Choi Min-seok, who leads the league in ERA, and second-ranked Gwak Been, as well as Park Jun-soon, who has emerged as one of the team’s key hitters this season. KIA, meanwhile, will have to stay in the standings race without star slugger Kim Do-yeong, the league’s home run leader.
The end of the regular season will also inevitably be pushed back.
Last season, the regular season ended on Oct. 4 and the postseason began on Oct. 6. The Korean Series concluded on Oct. 31. This year, however, there is a strong possibility that the Korean Series will extend into early November.
The Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC), featuring young players from Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Australia, is scheduled to begin Nov. 12. The national team will therefore face its own headaches over player selection and conditioning, particularly if key national team players are on clubs that advance to the Korean Series.
One way or another, Korean baseball is headed for a hectic fall.
BY BAE YOUNG-EUN [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
