Korea rains on baseball's Children's Day parade

Baseball

Published: 06 May. 2024, 15:39

Korea rains on baseball's Children's Day parade

Lotte Giants fans wait in front of the exit of the club bus to see the players as the game between Lotte Giants and Samsung Lions, scheduled to be held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the afternoon of Children's Day, was canceled due to rain from the morning. [NEWS1]

Downpours across Korea on Sunday rained out all five of the KBO’s Children’s Day games, shutting down baseball on one of the most highly-anticipated days of the year.

Games scheduled to take place in Gwangju in the south to Seoul in the north were postponed as showers began Sunday morning and continued through Monday, with make-up dates yet to be announced.

The weather put a damper on what could have been one of the most widely attended weekends of the year, with stadiums selling out both Saturday and Sunday games as crowds booked their tickets for games that typically promise extra giveaways, play zones and other Children’s Day events for the teams’ young fans.

Families leave after the Children's Day game between Lotte Giants and Samsung Lions on Sunday at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu is canceled due to the rain. [NEWS1]

It was an otherwise stable week on the KBO table, with the Kia Tigers remaining in first place with 23 wins, 12 losses and zero draws with the NC Dinos trailing close behind with 22 wins, 13 losses and zero draws.

The only movement on the table came from the Hanwha Eagles and the KT Wiz, who switched places after the incomplete weekend series. The Eagles moved a spot down to sit in ninth place with 14 wins, 21 losses and zero draws as the Wiz inched up to eighth place with 15 wins, 21 losses and one draw.

No team achieved a clean three-game sweep this week as the rain held off the Dinos, the Doosan Bears and last-place Lotte Giants from finishing the job, each 2-0 going into their postponed Sunday games.

The Dinos, the Bears and the Giants had survived getting swept over the midweek action, the Kiwoom Heroes going 2-1 over the Giants — 9-7, 6-3, 5-6 — at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan; Samsung nabbed two wins over the Bears at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul — 0-4, 9-2, 4-2.
— while the LG Twins picked up two wins over the Dinos at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang — 0-8, 10-1, 5-4.

Meanwhile, the Wiz visited the Tigers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, picking up two wins and a loss — 11-4, 1-9, 12-5 — while the SSG Landers visited the Eagles at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon and picked up two wins and a loss of their own — 2-8, 8-7, 4-3.

Things started to look up for the Giants over the weekend at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, picking up two wins — 8-7, 9-2 — to stretch their winning streak to three after finally breaking into the double-digits this week, with 11 wins, 22 losses and one draw after Saturday.

The Bears picked up two wins over the Twins — 6-4, 3-2 — in a Jamsil derby while the Dinos continued to narrow the gap at the top of the table with two wins, including one particularly high-scoring victory, over the Landers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon — 19-5, 8-6.

Elsewhere over the weekend before Sunday’s rain, the Eagles managed one win over the Tigers in Gwangju — 4-2, 2-10 — and the Heroes went 1-1 with the Wiz at Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi — 1-2, 2-6.

Heading into this week, the Bears will make the cross-city trek to meet the Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, the Dinos will visit the Wiz in Suwon, the Tigers head up to Lions territory in Daegu, the Landers hop over from Incheon to meet the Twins at Jamsil in southern Seoul and the Eagles fly south to Busan to face the Giants.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]