Major League Baseball has officially kicked off the 2025 season with the opening game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs in Japan, as part of the so-called “Tokyo Series“. In this event, it was not only the Californian team’s 4-1 victory, but also a cultural exchange between the two countries, which will lead to a greater number of Japanese players coming to Major League Baseball.
For Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith, Opening Day felt like a homecoming thanks to the overwhelming Japanese fans, who took this moment to call Japan “his new home”. With the success of the current League champion in Japan, a link has been opened that will also benefit Major League Baseball to conduct international tours, commercial exchanges, broadcasting rights and also a way to enlist fans from Japan to join an MLB franchise
Japanese fans dub them ‘Japan Dodgers’
The Opening Day caused great admiration in the Dodgers’ front office with the response of the local fans who packed the Tokyo Dome, making the place feel like Dodger Stadium in the Far East. Even the streets of Tokyo showed a great display of the great support that Japan has received from the team. Clearly, this love is not limited to a single sport; the Land of the Rising Sun’s passion for baseball reflects the important connection with MLB teams
It was a perfect plan by the Dodgers’ management. A trip to Japan, the signing of three local stars and you get the full support of an entire country. In addition to the sporting qualities of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, they set a purely commercial and marketing path for the “Tokyo Series” to be an overwhelming success in every sense.
Will the business with Japan encourage MLB or just the Dodgers?
The availability of the team has generated great interest in the NPB audience for an MLB team, something that only a few teams have achieved with this amount. The Dodgers’ investment in the country’s talent is not limited to winning games, but to securing an international fan base that expands the global reach of the sport.
Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave his best in his stellar appearance where each of the members of the Los Angeles Dodgers were cheered in every action of the game. Probably the overwhelming acclaim of the Japanese fans lifted the team’s morale, but it certainly highlighted the universal language of baseball, uniting cultures and continents.
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