LG Twins manager Yeom Kyung-yeop responded positively to the start of the Sunday and holiday games at 6 p.m. in August.
Ahead of the season’s 11th game against the Doosan Bears of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Sunday, Yeom said, “I agree with the game at 6 o’clock (Sunday and holidays). I agree with the game at 7 o’clock.”토토사이트
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced in a press release, “We decided to change the opening time of the 2024 KBO League on August Sunday and public holidays to cope with the recent hot weather conditions.” KBO explains that the measure is aimed at securing the safety of spectators, players and field personnel due to the recent heat wave and the issuance of special heat reports.
As the heat wave is raging this summer, the concerns of players and coaching staff from 10 clubs are deepening. The Ulsan game between LG and Lotte Giants on the 2nd and 4th and the Jamsil game between Kiwoom and Doosan Bears on the 4th were canceled due to the heat wave. This is the first year that the first-team game has been canceled due to the heat wave since the KBO League was launched.
On the spot, there were voices calling for a change, and KBO has decided to start the Sunday and public holiday games scheduled for this month at 6 p.m. Therefore, the opening time of games on Sunday, the 11th, the 18th, and the 25th, and the Liberation Day games on the 15th has been postponed by an hour from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. However, the Gocheok Sky Dome (5 p.m. against KIA Tigers on the 15th and 2 p.m. against LG on the 25th), which is not affected by the weather, will continue without any change in the opening time.
Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop said, “Players are off on Mondays anyway. It doesn’t matter because players can’t train and our team doesn’t train very much in the summer, but fans are sitting in the stands from 3 p.m. (to watch), and from then on, the sweat hole opens up.”
“Players have been sitting down since practice, and people don’t know unless they experience it,” Yeom, who also recalled the days when he was scouting, said. “Players have been sitting down during the day. It feels like a sauna even when the sun goes down. I once collapsed. That’s why I couldn’t go to the baseball stadium for three days. I know how hard it is for fans to sit down at that time. Scouts also have to sit down and sweat a lot while filming videos, but I wonder if fans are in that situation.”
Yeom Kyung-yeop, who experienced the cancellation of the heat wave twice last weekend at Ulsan Baseball Stadium, an artificial turf environment, also agreed with Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop. Lee, who will play the Pohang Samsung Lions match from the 20th to the 22nd, expressed his concern about artificial turf at Pohang Baseball Stadium through an interview on the same day. “The performance, physical strength, and travel distance are also problems. It is difficult to understand that the Pohang game will be scheduled in August, the hottest month, considering many factors,” he said.
“It’s not easy. It will be another problem,” Yeom said after learning Lee’s interview from reporters. “The risk of injury increases. As all the moisture in the muscle is drained, the probability of muscle pain increases several times. The temperature that a person perceives is important. Even if the temperature suddenly rises by 3-4 degrees Celsius, the body feels down,” he said. “It is best to do it (at artificial turf) in spring or fall.”