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.
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.