In an indication that MLB games might be a possibility during the coronavirus outbreak, the KBO league is set to kick off uninterrupted on May 5th.
While MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has already indicated that he “fully anticipates baseball will return this season,” fans have received even better news this week. According to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News, the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) is set to kick off its 2020 season on May 5 and will run uninterrupted through November 4.
The postseason, according to Yoo who covers Korean Baseball, could potentially run through November 28, “if the Korean Series goes seven games.” Yoo also added that “games that go beyond November 15th will be played at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul as a neutral venue.”
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For MLB fans looking for any signs of hope, recently the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) kicked off and is streaming Rakuten Monkeys games on Eleven Sports Taiwain’s twitter page. Now with the Korean League’s announcement, it could mean that American baseball may soon be on the horizon.
For baseball’s part, some creative ideas have been floated around ever since the novel coronavirus outbreak forced us all to observe social distancing restrictions.
Initially, a plan to play games in a hub city in Arizona was proposed, but recently players like Zack Wheeler, Mike Trout, and Clayton Kershaw poured cold water over the idea. Then, ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian reported through sources that MLB has considered sharing stadiums with NPB teams in Japan. That idea was quickly dismissed as “ridiculous.”
The latest reports have suggested that that baseball is considering hubs in three states with domed stadiums (Arizona, Texas, and Florida) to begin the 2020 MLB season. No word has been said about the progress of that idea.
The point is, to his credit, Rob Manfred and the higher-ups are taking extreme measures to assure that when baseball returns, its in a form that is safe for the staff and players of each team and the league.
The KBO has provided baseball with a blueprint for that. Extensive testing, wearing facemasks and playing in front of empty stadiums. Eventually, and hopefully sooner rather than later, American baseball will follow suit.