Samsung Lions players prepare for the start of their practice at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on March 11, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 13 (Korea Bizwire) — With the nation struggling to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, playing baseball may seem like a trivial pursuit.
But Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) clubs still have a job to do, and they’re trying to approach it in a cool, calm and collected manner, despite so much uncertainty hanging over their heads.
The KBO has indefinitely postponed the start of the regular season. The Opening Day was set for March 28, but the season will instead start sometime in April.
The league will announce a new start date, whenever it may be, two weeks ahead of time, in order to give teams enough time to prepare.
After the KBO first canceled preseason games — which would have run from March 14 to 24 — in late February, some teams sought to extend their overseas training camps.
But as more and more countries started adopting travel restrictions against South Koreans, teams had to scramble to return home while they could.
Eight of the 10 clubs are back in South Korea, with the Lotte Giants (Australia) and the Kia Tigers (United States) having been able to extend their stays by a few days.
And with the KBO teams resuming their extended offseason training this week, all stadiums were closed to the general public. Only players, coaches, essential team staff and media were permitted on the properties.
The LG Twins, who settled in their minor league training complex in Icheon, some 80 kilometers south of Seoul, will keep both the public and media off their ground.
As a precaution, reporters were required to stand about two meters from their interview subjects at the visiting dugouts, with only the teams allowed to use the home dugouts.
KT Wiz players practice at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 12, 2020. (Yonhap)
The Samsung Lions left Japan last Sunday, a day before the country’s new entry restrictions on visitors from South Korea took effect.
And the Lions stepped right into their home city of Daegu, the hotbed of virus infections in South Korea located in the southeastern region.
After two days off, the Lions resumed training on Wednesday across two ballparks — Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu and Gyeongsan Ballpark in Gyeongsan, just east of Daegu.
Manager Huh Sam-young said Day 1 back home went uneventfully — which is all you can ask for in these circumstances — with no players or coaches showing any symptoms.
“The team has done a great job with preventive measures, and the players are paying extra attention to their personal hygiene,” Huh said.
“Our two stadiums are kind of isolated, and we can control access at both places. We’ll try to keep things under control and stay safe.”
There’s no way of predicting when the season will start, which has left teams feeling helpless.
But Huh said he and his players weren’t wasting their time complaining about their plight, and they were instead hoping to give people in Daegu and the southeastern region, heavily affected by COVID-19, something to cheer about.
“We just want to go out there and play hard for our fans in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province,” the manager said.
Not every team has a full squad on hand: The Lions are one of five clubs to have sent their foreign players back to their home countries temporarily. They’ll be working out on their own, and they’ll rejoin their teams once the KBO settles on the new Opening Day.
The Giants had offered their foreign players in their home countries a mini-break until March 24, but Dan Straily, Adrian Sampson and Dixon Machado all said they’d return to South Korea with the rest of the team next Tuesday.
Doosan Bears players practice at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on March 12, 2020. (Yonhap)
The Doosan Bears came home with the entire squad intact, including their three import players — pitchers Chris Flexen and Raul Alcantara, and designated hitter Jose Miguel Fernandez.
Flexen said he respects other foreign players’ decision to stay out of South Korea, and his focus is on winning a title in his first KBO season.
“The coronavirus is in the U.S. as well, and I wanted to be here with the team and prepare for the season,” Flexen said Wednesday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, as the Bears resumed their training after two days of break.
“It’s just about continuing to build and progress and be ready for the season. And whenever the KBO decides we’re going to start, (we want to) make sure we’re 100 percent ready for it.”
Like the Lions, the Bears also had their spring training in Japan, and they came home last Sunday. Manager Kim Tae-hyung and his squad returned to work on Wednesday, the day after the KBO decided to postpone the start of the season.
“When we were training overseas, the situation with the virus didn’t really hit close to home for us,” Kim said. “But now that we’re back and the season has been pushed back, we can really feel that this is a serious situation.”
Even with the delayed start, the KBO wants to squeeze in all 144 games into its tight calendar. It is also contemplating holding early season games in empty stadiums.
Kim said he would much rather play with fans in the stands.
“We exist (as professional teams) because of our fans, and we wouldn’t be playing baseball without them,” he said. “It would feel like a practice game if we played behind closed doors.”
Playing without fans would be unprecedented in the KBO. And trying to get ready for the season without even knowing when it will begin is also a new experience for everyone.
KT Wiz manager Lee Kang-chul acknowledged on Thursday that he feels lost.
“I would say our position players are about 80 to 90 percent ready. But I don’t know if I should get them to 100 percent now or if we should wait a bit longer,” Lee said.
“And because we’re not allowed to face other teams for exhibition games, the players may find it difficult to stay focused (until the start of the season). But I don’t think they can afford to rest. So we’re stuck.”
All-Star third baseman Choi Jeong, whose SK Wyverns returned to practice Thursday, said he wasn’t used to being in stadiums without fans this time of year.
Teams would typically be playing preseason games by now, or at least players would have been greeted by autograph-seeking fans on their way to the ballpark.
“This is new for everyone,” Choi said. “We all feel a bit out of place. It is very strange.”
(Yonhap)
