The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said on Feb. 2, “We sincerely apologize to the KIA team and fans for the video review misreading situation that occurred at the end of the third inning of the KBO League game between Samsung and KIA at Pohang Stadium yesterday (Jan. 1).” “The KBO suspended the main umpire in charge of the game at the video review center for 10 games from today (Feb. 2), the assistant umpire and the head of the review center for five games, and imposed a sanction of 1 million won on the umpiring team of the game for making inaccurate decisions and showing inexperience in game management.” 메이저놀이터
Earlier, in the Samsung-KIA game in Pohang on Jan. 1, Samsung’s Ryu Ji-hyuk (29) hit a big shot toward the right field fence in the bottom of the third inning. However, the ball did not clear the fence, but instead hit the top of the fence and bounced. A fan tried to catch the bounce with his glove, but missed and the ball went back into the ballpark. In principle, this was a double, not a home run.
However, the umpires ruled it a home run despite the protests of KIA right fielder Na Sung-beom (34). Kia manager Kim Jong-guk immediately requested a video review, but the video review center confirmed the original call as a home run. Samsung took a 6-0 lead thanks to Ryu Ji-hyuk’s two-run homer, but Kia eventually won the game 11-8.
The Pohang Baseball Stadium, Samsung’s second home, does not have a video replay system. “Yesterday’s decision on whether a home run was called by the video replay center was made through the broadcast replay screen transmitted to the replay center,” the KBO said, explaining that the misreading occurred because the umpires failed to check the previous situation when the ball hit the top of the fence and bounced.
The KBO further promised to do its best to prevent misjudgments and misreadings from occurring by strengthening the training and management of umpires and video reviewers. In addition, the KBO emphasized that it will inspect the stadium facilities before hosting games in the second ballpark to ensure that nothing untoward happens in the officiating and officiating, including the safety of the players.