The opening game of the 2024 Major League Baseball season is coming to South Korea. Kim Ha-seong’s San Diego Padres and National League West powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers will play the opening two games of the 2024 season at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on 20 and 21 March next year. The long-anticipated ‘MLB Seoul Series’ has become a reality.바카라사이트
Major League Baseball announced on 13 March (KST) that the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers will play the opening two games of the 2024 season on 21 and 22 March 2024. The announcement was made today following reports in the U.S. media earlier this season.
San Diego and the Dodgers are two of the most popular Major League Baseball franchises in South Korea. San Diego is currently led by Kim Ha-seong. The Dodgers are well known in South Korea, as Park Chan-ho, Ryu Hyun-jin, and Choi Hee-seop have played for them in the past.
After the official announcement, the Dodgers also released a statement. They expressed their excitement for the move.
“We look forward to playing meaningful games in front of Korea’s outstanding baseball fans next season,” said Dodgers CEO Stan Kastan.
“The Dodgers have a proud history of travelling to countries like Mexico, China and Australia to help grow the game. We are thrilled to add Korea to that list. I know that players like Chan Ho Park, Hee-seop Choi, and Ryu Hyun-jin have come from a country rich in baseball tradition and talent.”
Kim Ha-seong shared his thoughts via the San Diego club’s official Twitter account. “@SanDiegoPadres I’m Ha-Sung Kim of the San Diego Padres. When I joined the Padres, I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to represent the San Diego Padres and Major League Baseball in my home country,” he said.
“I can’t tell you how happy and excited I am to be playing in Korea in a San Diego uniform, and to be able to invite my teammates, staff, and coaches to Korea and experience this great opportunity is so special and will be a great memory for me. We hope to see a lot of Padres fans in Korea come out and support us, and we look forward to seeing you in Seoul.”
[Poster for the 2024 Major League Baseball Seoul Series (above), with Ryu Hyun-jin and Park Chan-ho, and Dodgers CEO Stan Kastan. Photo: San Diego Twitter capture, Getty Images Korea].