Due to lingering COVID-19 concerns, the early part of the season will remain closed to the publicGETTY IMAGES
The Korean Baseball Organization began its ’20 season today, as all 10 KBO clubs “were in action at five stadiums” across South Korea, according to Yoo Jee-ho of YONHAP. While no fans were allowed inside the ballparks, two teams “decided to bring their cheerleaders back on to the stage, trying to create a game-like atmosphere the best they could.” One team actually “blasted walkup songs” for every batter. Between innings, cheerleaders “performed to K-pop music or team songs on the stage, with the mascots also getting in on the act.” One “major element missing” was the “constant, ‘from first pitch to the final out’ cheering from boisterous fans [that] is a major part of KBO in-stadium experience.” Due to “lingering COVID-19 concerns, the early part of the season will remain closed to the public.” Teams later in the season hope to be able to “start selling 20 percent of the seats and then go from there depending on the situation with the virus” (YONHAP, 5/5). All three network morning shows touched on the start of the KBO season, with NBC's Hoda Kotb saying it is offering a “glimpse of what sports could look like when they return here at home” ("Today," NBC, 5/5).
GETTING USED TO A NEW NORMAL: In Boston, Jason Mastrodonato notes the KBO "found itself in the rare position as the center of the sporting universe" this morning. Elbow bumps replaced high-fives, and there was "no spitting allowed." Trainers, umpires and first- and third-base coaches are wearing masks, but "all the players go with their faces uncovered." There was "fake crowd noise pumping through the stadium ... and it changed based on the situation of the game" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/5). Lotte Giants P Dan Straily, who is playing his first season in the KBO after spending eight years in MLB, said the strangest part was “playing music during the game like you were at an NBA game.” Straily: “They did have some cardboard cutouts around, and had a whole bunch of fans on Zoom on this big video board chiming in and dancing with the cheerleaders” (“Get Up,” ESPN, 5/5).
IT'S NOT MLB, BUT IT'S SOMETHING: ESPN aired today's Samsung Lions-NC Dinos game as part of their season-long deal with the KBO, with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez calling the game remotely from their homes. Ravech pointed out that some personnel "on the bench that are not players" were wearing masks. While the preseason "started with players wearing masks, then they decided, ‘If we can safely not wear a mask we would prefer that.’" Ravech later said, “There’s some ambient noise there in the background. It’s odd. It doesn’t sound like an empty stadium per se.” Perez: “They're trying to keep it as real as possible with the players, a little background fan noise.” Meanwhile, ESPN's Jeff Passan joined the announce team midway through the game, and he said, “With testing such a huge issue for the sports leagues, you wonder if Major League Baseball is looking to South Korea and seeing how the KBO does that” (ESPN, 5/5).
STILL A LONG WAY AWAY: On Long Island, David Lennon writes MLB fans should not be "fooled into thinking that seeing baseball being played in South Korea ... suggests we’re any closer to doing the same here in the States." It is "not about what these Asian leagues are doing in these COVID-19 times to make this possible," but instead it has "everything to do with South Korea’s remarkable success at detecting, tracing and nearly eradicating COVID-19 in regards to the country as whole." That is the "only way baseball or any other sport can operate during this pre-vaccine period." Lennon: "It can’t be easy for MLB to see the KBO now occupy its airtime, from live ESPN broadcasts to highlight roundups on SportsCenter. To get daily reminders that we’re not ready for baseball here in the States. That we have no choice but to watch -- through bleary, sleep-deprived eyes -- another country play our national pastime in the middle of the night" (NEWSDAY, 5/5).
