KBO aims for 8 million attendance mark
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Coaches and players of the ten KBO league clubs attend the media day, Monday. / Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul, Park Jin-hai
With the new Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season scheduled to begin, the baseball league aims to reach the 8 million attendance mark in its 35 years after it was inaugurated.
Ten KBO clubs will each play 144 games beginning with a three-game series at 7 p.m., Friday, in five stadiums nationwide. Reigning champion Doosan Bears will play the Samsung Lions in Daegu; the Nexen Heroes will host the Lotte Giants at their new home, the Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul; the NC Dinos will meet the Kia Tigers in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province; the LG Twins will host the Hanwha Eagles in Seoul; and the SK Wyverns will play the KT Wiz in Incheon.
The KBO League announced their goal for the new season is to attract about 8.7 million spectators (12,060 per game). This is 18 percent more than last season, in which the league had its best-ever attendance of 7,360,530. The KBO expected to meet the 8 million attendance mark last year, but the league missed its target due to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
After completing the preseason Sunday, a KBO Media Day was held at Blue Square in central Seoul, Monday, attended by managers and key players from the ten clubs.
Among them, Kim Tae-hyung of the Bears said, “We clinched the title last year, and this year’s goal cannot be anything less.
“Obviously, the ultimate goal for us is to win the Korean Series again. We are prepared for that.”
When asked who is likely to take the top five spots in the standings this season, Kim only chose three teams ― the Lions, the Dinos and Eagles. He added he will start the game with American pitcher Dusting Nippert on Friday’s opening game against the Lions.
The Lions’ manager Ryu Joong-il, who suffered defeat in the Korean Series, ending their title streak at four, said, “we were so close to the fifth straight title. This year we will do our utmost in every game.” He said the Lions will start with left hander Cha Woo-chan against the Bears.
The Dinos’ manager Kim Kyung-moon confidently revealed that his team will stand top of the league.
“We did great last year, but didn’t get a good conclusion. Including players, coaching staff and all, we are endeavoring to make sure we will be able to laugh at the end of the season,” Kim said.
The Changwon-based Dinos finished in third place after losing to the Bears in the second round of the post season last year.
Only one official ball to be used for new season
As the KBO had allowed using official balls manufactured by multiple companies up to last season, there has been a debate of “juiced-up balls.”
Hence, the KBO has decided to use one official ball beginning this season as every team will use the Skyline AAK-100, manufactured by Skyline Leports for two years.
The KBO also adopted a new rule on home-plate collisions for the safety concerns of players.
Under the new rule, which the league already used in the preseason, a base runner may not run out of a direct line to the plate in order to make contact with the player covering home plate. If the runner makes this move, the home plate umpire can call him out.
Also the catcher may not block the pathway of a runner when he doesn’t have the ball. If the catcher blocks the runner without holding the ball, an umpire can call the runner safe.
In other rule changes, the KBO clubs can demand a video review twice per game. Previously, teams could only challenge one call a game and received an extra chance if the original ruling was overturned. But from this season, they will be allowed to call two video reviews regardless of whether the original call is overturned.
Another difference this year is the debut of two new stadiums. The Daegu-based Lions will host teams in their newly built stadium at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, which can accommodate 24,000 fans. Also the Seoul-based Heroes will use the Gocheok Sky Dome, the country’s first domed ballpark beginning this season.
The Lions win spring league
Prior to the season’s beginning, the 10 KBO clubs finished their spring exhibition league Sunday.
The Lions, the runner-up last year after being defeated in the Korean Series by the Bears, topped spring training with 11 wins and five losses. In their last game, the Lions defeated the Wyverns 11-1.
The Suwon-based Wiz, which joined the league last year, placed second with 10 wins, one tie and five losses while the Giants were ranked in the cellar with three wins, three ties and 11 losses.