South Korean baseball preseason underway in empty stadiums

The South Korean baseball league announced it will start its delayed season on May 5, and wasted no time getting preseason games going.

It was a distinctly quiet start on Tuesday to two weeks of exhibition games and training for the 10 teams of the top-flight Korean Baseball Organization, with no fans allowed in the stadiums.

In one of the five games on Tuesday, the LG Twins beat defending Korean Series champion Doosan Bears 5-2 in an echoing stadium in Seoul, with more than 20,000 empty seats.

Umpires wore masks and gloves, and some coaches and team staff wore masks in the dugouts.

Some of the players and a coach wore messages on their caps that read "Corona 19 Out." The initial preseason from March 14-24 and opening day, originally scheduled for March 28, were pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has virtually shut down top-level sports around the world.

The KBO's decision to restart comes with a catch, though. Fans will only be able to see early regular season games on TV. League organizers are planning to gradually open the games to fans once they're assured the threats of COVID-19 are largely reduced.

Kim Kwang-hwan, head of marketing for LG Twins, said any playing conditions were better than not playing at all, noting that there would have to be some quick fine-tuning with the season "only 15 days away."
"Although it will start with crowd-less games, they will be able to show good performances to fans and also will be happy to play in front of them once the coronavirus crisis is past us."