The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will play Major League Baseball’s first regular-season games in South Korea, opening next season in Seoul on March 20-21, 2024 as part of MLB’s World Tour with games in four countries outside of the United States and Canada next season as its international ambitions broaden.
MLB will have three sets of international regular season games next year. The Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies will play in Mexico City on April 27-28, MLB said Wednesday. A two-game series in London on June 8-9 between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies was announced last month.
“We can’t wait to play meaningful Major League games for the very first time in front of the outstanding baseball fans of South Korea next season,” said Dodger President and Chief Executive Officer Stan Kasten. “The Dodgers have a long and proud history of helping to grow the game abroad, highlighted by our trips to Mexico, China and Australia. It’s very exciting to add Korea to the list.”
In addition to the three international regular season series, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays will meet for a pair of Spring Training contests at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on March 9-10.
The international opener will be MLB’s ninth, following 1999 in Monterrey, Mexico; 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2019 in Tokyo; 2001 in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and 2014 in Sydney. The MLB World Tour represents MLB and the MLBPA’s largest ever international play plan featuring up to 24 regular season games and up to 16 exhibition games in Asia, Mexico and Latin America, and Europe between the 2023-2026 seasons.
For the Dodgers, this will mark their first international trip since playing the Padres in Monterrey in 2018. Los Angeles has also played in the 2014 Sydney opener; 2010 exhibition games in Taiwan against the Chinese Professional Baseball League All-Stars; 2008 exhibition games against the Padres in Beijing; 2003 exhibition games against the Mets in Mexico City; and 1988 exhibition games against the Montreal Expos in San Juan and Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The Dodgers have also played additional exhibition games and done barnstorming tours in Japan, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
In addition to the aforementioned games against Los Angeles, the Padres have participated in the 2023 regular season series against the San Francisco Giants in Mexico City; 2016 exhibition games against the Astros in Mexico City; a 2002 exhibition game against the D-backs in Hermosillo, Mexico; a 2001 exhibition game against the Rockies in Culiacan, Mexico; the 1999 season-opener against Colorado in Monterrey; and a three-game regular season set in 1996 against the Mets in Monterrey.
Houston last played internationally in 2019 against the Los Angeles Angels in Monterrey. Prior to that series, the Astros also played in the aforementioned 2016 exhibition series against San Diego in Mexico City; 2004 exhibition games against the Florida Marlins in Mexico City; 2001 exhibition games against the Cleveland Indians in Valencia, Venezuela; 2000 exhibition games against the Red Sox in Santo Domingo; and a pair of exhibition games in 1982 against the Baltimore Orioles in San Juan and Bayamon.
The Mets made their most recent trip in 2010, when they played a three-game series against the Florida Marlins in San Juan. They have also participated in regular season games against the Expos in San Juan in 2003 and 2004; the 2003 exhibition games against Los Angeles in Mexico City; MLB’s first regular season games in Japan during the 2000 Opening Series with the Cubs; 1999 exhibition games against the Expos in Santo Domingo; the first-ever regular season games played in Mexico during a three-game series in 1996 against the Padres in Monterrey; and exhibition games in San Juan against the Pirates in 1976 and 1979.
The Rockies will make their first international trip since taking on the D-backs in 2019 exhibition games in Monterrey. Colorado has also played in the aforementioned games against San Diego in 2001 in Culiacan and the 1999 Opening Day contest in Monterrey. The Phillies played two games in San Juan against the Pirates in 1977.
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