Water cannons spray the stands during a Korea Baseball Organization game between the Kiwoom Heroes and LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Yonhap]
Water cannons spray the stands during a Korea Baseball Organization game between the Kiwoom Heroes and LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

As a record-breaking heat wave continues to grip the country, the Korea Baseball Organization said Saturday it would begin managing pro baseball games more flexibly to protect players and fans. Games in Busan and Changwon were canceled the same day after the Korea Meteorological Administration issued an extreme heat alert for both cities.

The KBO said it would monitor real-time weather conditions and forecasts in each host city and make game-day decisions with the safety of spectators and players as the top priority.

Under the new policy, games at all stadiums except Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome — the country's only domed ballpark — may be delayed by up to one hour, subject to consultation between KBO operations officials and club game managers. In areas under an extreme heat alert, the KBO said it would actively consider cancellations in addition to delayed start times.

As its first decisions under the policy, the KBO canceled Saturday's Samsung Lions-Lotte Giants game in Busan and the KIA Tigers-NC Dinos game in Changwon. The KBO secretariat said it made the cancellations after an extreme heat alert had been in effect in both cities since Friday, with forecasts showing temperatures remaining above 37 degrees Celsius at game time.

KBO league rules already allow for game cancellations based on weather conditions including strong winds, heat, fog, fine dust and yellow dust. Under the heat provisions, a heat advisory is issued when daily high temperatures are forecast to reach at least 33 C for two or more consecutive days, while a heat warning is issued when highs are expected to hit at least 35 C for two or more consecutive days.

When a weather alert at the warning level or higher is in effect, the KBO's operations official decides on cancellation before a game begins, while the umpire crew chief makes that call during a game — both after checking with the Korea Meteorological Administration.

The extreme heat alert is a new tier introduced by the Korea Meteorological Administration this year. It is issued when an area has already seen apparent high temperatures of at least 35 C for two or more consecutive days and the apparent high reaches 38 C or above, or the actual high hits 39 C or above. Heat alerts are currently in effect across Busan, Ulsan and all of South Gyeongsang Province, with Changwon under an extreme heat alert since Thursday.


eyre@heraldcorp.com