San Diego to open season against the Dodgers in Seoul next March 20-21
Major League Baseball’s (MLB) San Diego Padres outfielder Ha-Sung Kim, 28, has expressed his excitement about playing the opening game in South Korea.
After the MLB Office of the Commissioner announced that the Padres will host the regular-season opener between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in Seoul on March 20-21, 2024, the team posted a video of Kim on its official social media accounts.
“When I joined San Diego, I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to represent MLB baseball in my homeland with San Diego,” Kim said in the video.
“I can’t tell you how excited and happy I am to be able to play in Korea in a San Diego uniform,” he said in the video, “and to be able to invite my teammates, coaches, and staff to Korea and experience this great opportunity with them will be very special and a great memory for me.”
“I would be grateful if there were many San Diego fans in Korea to come and support us,” Kim said, adding, “See you in Seoul.”
In addition, the San Diego team announced their participation in the MLB World Tour Seoul Series with the phrase “Baseball at the center of Korea” written in Korean.
Earlier today, the MLB Office of the Commissioner unveiled plans for the 2024 World Tour.
Prior to the start of the regular season, there will be an exhibition game in the Dominican Republic on March 10-11 between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. The Seoul series will be followed by a series in Mexico on April 28-29 (Houston Astros-Colorado Rockies) and a series in London on June 9-10 (New York Mets-Philadelphia Phillies).
Next year will be the first time an MLB regular season game will be played in South Korea.
It will be the ninth time an MLB regular-season opener has been held outside the United States, joining Monterrey, Mexico in 1999, Tokyo, Japan in 2000-2004, 2008-2012, 2019, San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2001 and Sydney, Australia in 2014. It will be the second in Asia after Tokyo.
MLB has not released a specific venue for the Seoul Series, but it will likely be held at Gochuk, South Korea’s only dome ballpark, to avoid cold weather in late March and rainout concerns.
If Gocheok is chosen, the Seoul Series will be even more special for Kim. 한국야동 When he was playing for the Kiwoom Heroes, the Gocheok Sky Dome was his “home” stadium.