Samsung-KIA Playoff Game 1, Grass Trimmed to 2cm and Started One Day After Typhoon Postponement

Playoff Game 1 between Samsung and KIA, delayed one day by rain from Typhoon Champi, was confirmed to have started in Daegu at 6:30 p.m. on the 26th. From the morning, KBO checked the drainage and mowed the infield grass to 2cm.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

Three-Line Summary

Game 1, originally set for 2 p.m. on the 25th, was canceled by rain from Typhoon Champi and postponed to 6:30 p.m. on the 26th.
KBO sent in game supervisor Heo Sam-yeong to check the drainage and mow the infield grass to 2cm.
Samsung, the regular-season 2nd-place team (win pct. 0.589), and KIA, 3rd place (0.556), began a best-of-five series.

In the fall of 2021, Heo Sam-yeong was in the Samsung dugout. That year, they led the team to postseason baseball for the first time in six years. Five years later, they stood again at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, their former home ballpark. This time, they are a KBO game supervisor. The task of getting Game 1 of the playoffs, which the typhoon had wiped out for a day, back on track fell to them.

Heo Sam-yeong Assigned as Supervisor; Drainage Checked and Infield Grass Mowed to 2cm

OSEN·Chosun Biz According to reports, KBO deployed game supervisor Heo Sam-yeong and on-site operations staff to the stadium from the morning of the 26th. They checked the drainage and ground conditions in both the infield and outfield. This is the stadium where the game was canceled the previous day due to typhoon rain. The focus of the maintenance was reducing the risk of player injury after rain. The person who led the introduction of Trackman at this stadium during their front-office days was this time in charge of the soil and grass.

Yonhap News reported that KBO mowed the infield grass, which had been pressed flat under the tarpaulin, to 2cm, the recommended mowing height in the ground maintenance manual. The previous height in cm was not confirmed, and no change to the mowing standard was confirmed. That evening, a photo article showing a batting moment from the game, from SPOTV News, was posted, confirming that Game 1 had started.

Samsung-KIA Playoff Game 1 Schedule Delayed by 28 Hours and 30 Minutes

Stock photo · A view of the outfield side of the baseball stadium with spectators seated. The scoreboard shows the lineups for “Samsung Lions” and “Heroes,” and the advertising board displays “Daegu Department Store.” Several outfielders stand on the grass. / Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Choi2451), CC BY-SA 3.0

Game 1 was originally scheduled to start at 2 p.m. on the 25th. According to Newspim, the game was canceled without being played due to rain from Typhoon Champi. Based on KBC Gwangju Broadcasting's report, the rescheduled game is set for 6:30 p.m. on the 26th, still in Daegu. It was pushed back from the original start time by 28 hours 30 minutes. This is not a “resumption” of a game that was halted midway and then continued. Rather, a game canceled before it started has been held as a rescheduled game.

2026 KBO Regular Season Final Top 5 Teams (KBO tally, as of October 12, 2026)

Rank	Team	W-L-T	Win Pct.	Games Behind 1st
1	KT	90-49-5	0.647	-
2	Samsung	83-58-3	0.589	8
3	KIA	79-63-2	0.556	12.5
4	LG	78-65-1	0.545	14
5	Doosan	73-66-5	0.525	17

The table shows the weight of this matchup. Samsung was 2nd, 8 games behind 1st-place KT, and KIA was 3rd, 4.5 games behind Samsung. Games behind were calculated as (difference in wins + difference in losses) ÷ 2. By win percentage, it is 0.589 vs. 0.556, a difference of 0.033. The gap with LG, just below KIA, was only 1.5 games.

Heo Sam-yeong's Manager Contract Worth 900 Million Won, From Pitcher to Game Supervisor

Heo Sam-yeong was a pitcher at Daegu Sanggo (now Sangwon High School). They joined Samsung in 1991, but their KBO first-team record consists of just 4 games, 2⅓ innings, and a 15.43 ERA. After five years, they retired from uniform play due to a back injury. Their path reopened in the front office, where they served as head of the performance analysis and operations team and led the introduction of Trackman at Lions Park in 2018. In September 2019, they became Samsung's 15th manager.

According to Segye Ilbo, the three-year total contract announced by the Samsung club was 900 million won (signing bonus of 300 million won and annual salary of 200 million won). In the 2021 season, they led the team to the playoffs, marking its first postseason in six years. The following year, after a 13-game losing streak dropped the team to 9th place, they stepped down on August 1, 2022. They later served as a performance analysis committee member for the 2023 WBC national team and as a member of the KBO Team Strengthening Committee. Their current game supervisor salary has not been confirmed.

KBO carried out drainage checks and ground maintenance before proceeding with the game. Scores and detailed records have not been confirmed as of 19:00 on October 26, 2026. KBO plans to continue managing ground conditions at each stadium for the rest of the postseason. KBO's explanation on the 26th was brief: “We carried out thorough ground maintenance.”

Related Official Sites

KBO Official Game Center — Check playoff schedules and live records
KBO Official Team Standings — Check KBO team standings records
Samsung Lions Official Website — Check official Samsung club information
KIA Tigers Official Website — Check official KIA club information

Representative image · Stock photo · This is not an on-site photo of the current game described in the article · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Neoalpha), CC0