“Isn’t that unreasonable?”
The KBO’s Kiwoom is the only one of the 10 teams to call a dome stadium (Gocheok Sky Dome) home. Compared to other teams, they are relatively less affected by the weather. They’ve even had fewer rainouts on the road this year. As of September 29, they have played 119 games. That’s a whopping 15 games more than the lowest-ranked team, KIA (104). The pros and cons are obvious. We had to play a slightly tighter schedule than everyone else, so we have the rest of the season to spare.
Contrary to expectations, the remaining fixtures are not easy. Originally, Kiwoom was scheduled to play a three-game weekend series against Hanwha in Gochuk from September 8-10. The KBO rearranged the remaining schedule and rearranged the 9th game into a doubleheader. Kiwoom will play a three-game midweek series against NC in Changwon from September 5-7. After traveling such a long distance, they would have to play a doubleheader on the 9th and a day game (2pm) on the 10th.
The KBO even reserved September 11 and 13-14 for the Hanwha-Kiwoom game. In effect, the Gocheokdome doesn’t need a reserve day. From Kiwoom’s point of view, it would be much better to play a doubleheader instead. Not only is it better for the players’ fitness, but it’s also better for crowd mobilization. “It seems unreasonable,” said Kiwoom coach Hong Won-ki, “why play a doubleheader when there is a reserve day?”안전놀이터
The KBO is also in a quandary. There’s nothing specific in the rules. Nevertheless, there are many issues to consider. The basic principle is to minimize the advantage or disadvantage for each team. The idea is that if there is a doubleheader, the other teams should also play one. This year, there is also the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) in November. It’s hard to delay the postseason (PS).