▲ A heat-related illness prevention notice is displayed on the scoreboard at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on August 11, when professional baseball games resumed after being suspended due to extreme heatwaves.
The start times for KBO League professional baseball games, which had been pushed back due to heatwaves, will return to normal starting on the 25th.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced today (the 18th) that "as the recent level of heatwaves has eased more than initially forecasted, we have readjusted our heatwave-related game operation guidelines by comprehensively considering the status of heat-related illnesses at each stadium and the opinions of clubs and field staff."
Accordingly, from August 25 to 31, weekday games will begin at 6:30 PM, and Saturday and Sunday games will start at 6:00 PM.
From September 1 to 6, in accordance with KBO regulations, weekday games will start at 6:30 PM, and weekend games on Saturdays and Sundays will begin at 5:00 PM.
However, if it is determined that game start times need adjustment depending on on-site conditions, they can be delayed by up to 7:30 PM.
The 4-minute cooling breaks applied during inning changes after the end of the 3rd, 7th, and 9th innings will be implemented starting today (the 18th) only when a heatwave advisory or higher warning is in effect as of 1:00 PM on the day of the game.
The cleaning time after the end of the 5th inning will be operated at a basic 4 minutes, but can be extended up to 6 minutes if necessary.
Other operational standards regarding heatwaves, such as game cancellations and delayed starts, will remain in place.
For the Futures League, game start times adjusted to 7:00 PM from August 29 to 31 will also be reverted to their originally scheduled times.
Previously, the KBO held an emergency executive committee meeting on the 6th and implemented heatwave countermeasures, including pushing back the start times of certain games to 7:00 PM starting on the 11th.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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