ESPN announces deal to televise Korean games

Those craving live baseball can soon get a fix.

ESPN announced Monday an agreement with Eclat Media Group to televise six live Korean Baseball Organization games per week. KBO Opening Day is Tuesday (Monday night in Houston). ESPN was begin its telecasts at midnight with a game between the NC Dinos and Samsung Lions.

Former Astros outfielder Preston Tucker is among the handful of Americanborn players set to start his season. Tucker’s Kia Tigers will play at 4:30 a.m. on Friday against the Samsung Lions on ESPN. KBO games will not have fans.

ESPN’s deal includes the KBO postseason and bestof-seven championship series. ESPN’s familiar crew of broadcasters and analysts — Jon Sciambi, Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez, Jessica Mendoza and Kyle Peterson — will call the games remotely from their home offices.

South Korea reported only 13 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday. The country’s death toll is 250 during the pandemic, allowing it to resume its baseball season far quicker than the United States.

In an interview last month, Tucker detailed the many steps taken by the KBO to get its season back. Tucker must take his temperature in the morning, at night and before he enters the ballpark. Any player or staff member with an elevated temperature is not allowed to enter the facility.

The KBO issued new regulations and guidelines that included a ban on spitting and cautioned against high-fiving or handshakes. Tucker said players have been advised not to go to malls or movie theaters, but are permitted to go out to dinner or take walks around their home city.

“If you’re on the field, they’ve checked you out 100 percent that you’re at least not sick and not running a fever,” Tucker said. “If you make it into the stadium, they’ve pretty much cleared you if you’re healthy.”