Changwon: In the latest disruption to their schedule, the South Korean baseball club NC Dinos will have their home series scheduled for next week swapped with an away series set for August.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced Tuesday that the three-game set between the Dinos and the Samsung Lions set for April 25-27 at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will instead be played at the Lions' home, Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, about 70 kilometers north of Changwon.
The Lions will be the home team for that series. Instead, the Aug. 19-21 series between the two teams set in Daegu will be played in Changwon, with the Dinos serving as the home team. The decision was made due to ongoing safety checks at Changwon NC Park, where a fan suffered a traumatic head injury in a freak accident during a game March 29 and died two days later.
A piece of aluminum panel fell off a window of the Dinos' office above a concession stand and struck the late fan and her younger sister, who suffered a broken collarbone. The Dinos and the municipal government of Changwon launched extensive safety inspections in the aftermath of the tragedy. The KBO said Tuesday it remained unclear when those checks will conclude.
The Dinos already had their March 30 game postponed, and their three-game series against the SSG Landers scheduled for April 1-3 was also pushed back. The Dinos were then forced to play their home games against the Lotte Giants from Friday to Sunday at the Giants' home, Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, just east of Changwon.
The Dinos' home games against the Doosan Bears scheduled for Tuesday to Thursday this week have been postponed. The league was not able to move them to the Bears' home in Seoul, Jamsil Baseball Stadium, as their co-tenants, the LG Twins, will play there during the same Tuesday-Thursday window. The Dinos' next home series is scheduled for April 29-May 1 against the Kia Tigers.
Last Friday, police raided the offices of the Dinos and Changwon City Hall during their investigation into the fatal incident. KBO stadiums are owned by their respective municipal governments and are operated by the home teams. Those stadiums may be subject to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which penalizes employers or corporations for fatal accidents at a public place. The league office informed teams of that possibility at the board of directors meeting in January 2022, soon after the law took effect. Under this act, corporate owners or CEOs may face a minimum of one year in prison or a fine of up to 1 billion won (US$701,460).