Korea Times: No Night Baseball Games to Save Energy?

Will MLB see more Cubs-like schedules in its future?

On Tuesday 6:30 p.m., six lighting towers in Jamsil Stadium in southern Seoul, began shining over the 30,000-seat baseball field.

More than two thirds of the seating was empty yet it was bright enough to play the game without artificial light. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., the match between LG Twins and Doosan Bears was over at around 10:00 p.m., and the lights remained turned on for another 30 minutes to clean the venue.

The stadium consumed 3,120 kilowatts (KW) of electricity that night alone, according to the game management office. Given a household consumes an average of 500 KW a month, the ballpark used the same amount of electricity that a household can use for more than six months in only four hours.

``Personally, I think a night game consumes too much electricity,’’ said Suk Eung-man, a manager of facility operation team. ``But we have no choice but to follow the schedule issued early this year by the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO).’’ [...]

``As of now, we won’t consider changing the game schedule,’’ said Chung Geum-jo, a KBO general manager. ``If this energy crisis continues, however, we may consider changing.’’

The official said playing fast largely contributes to saving energy.