The long-awaited KBO postseason will run from the 19th to the 15th of next month. While the regular season schedule was delayed due to many rainy weather cancellations this year, the ‘Early Winter Korean Series’ became a reality.
On the 13th, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) confirmed and officially announced the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO postseason schedule. This KBO postseason begins with the first wild card game on the 19th.
This 2023 KBO postseason will begin with the wild card match between the 4th and 5th place teams in the regular season, followed by the semi-playoffs, playoffs, and Korean series. First, the wild card match will be played for a maximum of two games. The team ranked 4th in the regular season will advance to the semi-playoffs if it wins or draws one of the two games. On the other hand, the 5th place team must record 2 wins to advance to the semi-playoffs. All wild card matches will be held at the home stadium of the fourth-place team.
◆ The long-awaited Korean Series starts on November 7… Games 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7 will be held at Jamsil Stadium, and games 3 and 4 will be held at the home stadium of the winning team in the playoffs.
The semi-playoffs and playoffs will each be played in a best-of-five format. The first round of the semi-playoffs will be held on October 22nd at the home stadium of the 3rd place team in the regular season. Games 1, 2, and 5 of the semi-playoffs will be held at the home stadium of the third-place team, and games 3 and 4 of the semi-playoffs will be held at the home stadium of the wild card winning team. Next, the first round of the playoffs will begin at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 30th. In the playoffs, like the semi-playoffs, the 1st, 2nd, and 5th games are played at the home stadium of the second-place team, and the 3rd and 4th games are played at the home stadium of the semi-playoff winning team.
The long-awaited Korean Series will be played in a best-of-seven format. Game 1 of the Korean Series will begin on November 7 at Jamsil Stadium, the home stadium of the regular season champion LG Twins. Games 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7 of the Korean Series will be played at Jamsil Stadium, the home stadium of the LG Twins, and games 3 and 4 will be played at the home stadium of the winning team in the playoffs. At least one day between all series is a travel day. Postseason games are held at 6:30 PM on weekdays and 2:00 PM on weekends, and are subject to change due to broadcast schedules, etc. If a postseason game cannot be held due to rain, etc., it will be postponed to the next day. Even if a game is postponed, if it does not affect the established game schedule, it will be played as scheduled.안전놀이터
Overtime will last up to 15 innings. If there is no winner or loser after 15 rounds, it becomes a draw. If the game ends in a draw, the game will be played as a series without any moving days at the stadium where the draw occurred after the final game of each series. If there are two or more draws in a series, the games will be held one day apart.
In addition, if a suspended game is established, if the same match is held on the next day, it will be played before the game on that day. If the next day is a moving day, the game is played on the moving day and the entire schedule is postponed for one day. If the next day is the final game of the series, the game will be played on the following day or on the moving day, and then the entire schedule will be postponed by one day. Video review can be requested up to two times per team per regular inning. If both attempts are overturned in the regular inning, the team in question will be given one additional opportunity, and if overtime is entered, each team will be given one more opportunity.
There is currently a very fierce battle for rankings in the KBO league. The LG Twins have already won the pennant race for the first time in 29 years since 1994 and advanced directly to the Korean Series. LG is in first place in the league with 85 wins, 54 losses, and 2 draws (as of the morning of the 13th). LG now has three games left this season. After playing a two-game series with the NC Dinos in Changwon on the 13th, they will play a ‘Seoul Rivalry Game’ with the Doosan Bears on the 14th and 15th at Jamsil Stadium. With the rankings of both NC and Doosan at stake, LG coach Yeom Kyung-yeop also expressed his intention to do his best in the remaining games to avoid any misunderstanding.
The main character who went straight to the playoffs is the KT Wiz, who achieved dramatic miracles this season. KT completed its regular season schedule the fastest among the 10 teams in the KBO league. This season, they recorded 79 wins, 62 losses, and 3 draws, confirming second place regardless of the results of the remaining teams. The first round of the playoffs will be held at KT Wiz Park, the home stadium of the KT Wiz, on the 30th. KT, which went on a break after finishing the game on the 10th, gained about 20 days of time to rest and conduct self-training. Considering the past, this means that they have gained the same amount of time as teams that advanced to the Korean Series. The battle for 3rd, 4th, and 5th place is even more of a hassle. While SSG Landers, NC Dinos, and Doosan Bears are in 3rd, 4th, and 5th place, each with a half-game gap, the KIA Tigers are aiming for a miraculous comeback.
KT Wiz players are greeting fans in front of the banner after successfully advancing to the postseason for four consecutive years.
The 2023 KBO League regular season schedule had to continue to be delayed as many games were canceled due to rain. Ipdong (立冬), which is said to mark the beginning of winter, falls on November 8 this year. Therefore, players and baseball fans are expected to enjoy the baseball festival in cold weather for the first time. A fireplace is also expected to appear in the dugout. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration’s long-term forecast, there is a 50% chance that the weekly average temperature from November 6 to 12 will be higher than normal (9.1 to 10.7 degrees Celsius). Also, on November 15 last year, the highest temperature in the Seoul area was 12.3℃, and the lowest temperature even dropped to 4.0℃. The latest season in which the Korean Series was played in the KBO League in history was in 2020, and on November 24 of that year, NC won the championship by defeating Doosan in Game 6 of the Korean Series held at Gocheok Dome. In addition, the APBC (Asian Professional Baseball Championship) 2023 tournament is scheduled to be held at Tokyo Dome in Japan starting November 16 this year. Starting with the first game against Australia at noon on November 16th, they will face the Japanese national team at 7pm on the 17th and then face Chinese Taipei at 7pm on the 18th. After playing the full league for three days, the ‘3rd place match’ or ‘final match’ will be held on the 19th, the last day of the competition, depending on the results of the preliminary round.
Meanwhile, the KBO said, “If a game postponed due to rain in the regular season is between teams unrelated to the postseason or the series, it can be played during the postseason period.” He also added, “Games between teams unrelated to the teams participating in the wild card match can be held on the moving days between the final day of the regular season and the first game of the wild card match.”