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Baseball with no fans? Korean league opener shows glimpse of possible MLB future

Even the LG Twins mascots wore masks during the team's Korea Baseball Organization season opener against the Doosan Bears on Tuesday.
(Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times)
By Austin KnoblauchStaff Writer 
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A new baseball season started in South Korea on Tuesday with one glaring omission — fans.

The Korea Baseball Organization is one of the few sports leagues in the world to restart during the COVID-19 pandemic. The opener between the LG Twins and Doosan Bears in Seoul offered a glimpse into what baseball in the United States could look like if Major League Baseball starts its season.

While there might not be cheerleaders in the empty stands of MLB ballparks like there are in South Korea, the eerie silence of the spectacle was probably the most glaring takeaway that Victoria Kim, The Times’ Seoul correspondent had from covering the game.

Here are tweets from Kim during the game:

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INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA - MAY 05: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Hanwha Eagles players wear masks before the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) League opening game between SK Wyverns and Hanwha Eagles at the empty SK Happy Dream Ballpark on May 05, 2020 in Incheon, South Korea. The 2020 KBO season started after being delayed from the original March 28 Opening Day due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The KBO said its 10 clubs will be able to expand their rosters from 28 to 33 players in 54 games this season, up from the usual 26. Teams are scheduled to play 144 games this year. As they prepared for the new beginning, 10 teams managers said the season would not be happening without the hard work and dedication of frontline medical and health workers. South Korea is transiting this week to a quarantine scheme that allows citizens to return to their daily routines under eased guidelines. But health authorities are still wary of "blind spots" in the fight against the virus cluster infections and imported cases. According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 new cases were reported. The total number of infections in the nation tallies at 10,804. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

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Austin Knoblauch

Austin Knoblauch is a senior editor in Sports at the Los Angeles Times, overseeing NFL coverage and digital initiatives. He previously worked as an editor and writer at NFL.com. He initially joined The Times in 2005, serving in various web editing and reporting roles. Knoblauch’s favorite sports are football, hockey and auto racing. He is a native of Southern California and graduated from Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles.

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