KBO club's home games relocated in aftermath of stadium tragedy

Korea Herald

04-04-2025

The NC Dinos will play an upcoming series of home games at an opponent's stadium amid ongoing safety checks at their own ballpark in light of a fan's death.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced Friday that the three-game set between the Dinos and the Lotte Giants, scheduled to run April 11-13 at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will instead be played at the Giants' home, Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, just east of Changwon.
The Dinos will still be the home team and bat last in those three games.
Earlier this week, the Dinos had suspended sales of tickets for that series, as it was awaiting a decision by the league office on the status of those three games.
The KBO canceled a three-game series between the Dinos and the SSG Landers from Tuesday to Thursday this week after a fan died Monday from a head injury she'd sustained two days earlier at Changwon NC Park.
A piece of aluminum panel fell off a window of the Dinos' office above a concession stand and hit the roof of the snack bar before landing on the late fan and her younger sister, who suffered a broken collarbone.
The KBO initially planned to have the Dinos-Landers series played without fans before scrapping all three games. The league canceled all the other games scheduled for Tuesday and designated Tuesday-Thursday as a leaguewide mourning period. Teams that returned to action Wednesday played their next two games without their usual cheering squads and players wore black ribbons on their jerseys in honor of the deceased fan.
The Dinos and the city of Changwon conducted emergency safety inspections Tuesday. Separately, the Dinos began their own checks of stadium facilities Wednesday.
The ball club, the municipal government and the city-run Changwon Infrastructure Corp. formed a joint task force Thursday to handle the aftermath of the tragic incident and to devise preventive measures.
The ongoing safety inspections by the new task force could take up to two weeks.
"The safety of our spectators takes precedence over everything else," Dinos CEO Lee Jin-man said. "In light of the recent incident, we are working with the city of Changwon to ensure a safer environment for our fans."
The Dinos will resume their season Friday in a three-game series against the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
Even though the official mourning period ended Thursday, both the Heroes and the Dinos have agreed to play their series without cheerleading squads, out of respect for the victim.
Dinos manager Lee Ho-joon offered his condolences to the late fan and her family in his pregame chat with reporters.
"We are all shocked and devastated with this tragic loss," Lee said. "As you can see, we're going to be playing with a heavy heart."
Lee's players went through a subdued pregame practice. Captain Park Min-woo said he has asked his teammates to tone down their celebrations of big plays.
"I told the guys not to cross the line and do unnecessary things," Park said. "We're all saddened, but it's our job as professional athletes to play hard and make sure our mood doesn't affect our performance on the field."
After the weekend, the Dinos will play three more road games, from next Tuesday to Thursday, against the KT Wiz in Suwon, some 30 kilometers south of Seoul.
Following the Giants series, the Dinos are scheduled to play three more games at home against the Doosan Bears from April 15 to 17.
If the KBO doesn't postpone those games, the Dinos may once again be forced to play them at their opponents' stadium or at a neutral venue. (Yonhap)