The Los Angeles Dodgers arrived at Incheon International Airport in South Korea to plenty of fanfare ahead of playing in the Seoul Series next week.
Although it’s the San Diego Padres with a Korean-born player on their roster in Ha-Seong Kim, the Dodgers’ popularity in Asia has skyrocketed since their signings of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto during the offseason.
Ohtani’s status as a global superstar has put an even larger spotlight on the Dodgers and there’s been an increase in the level of interest in his personal life as well since revealing he was married. Ohtani shared the first public photo of his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, who is a former Japanese basketball player, as the Dodgers were boarding their flight.
There were plenty of cheers for the couple as they walked through the airport, escorted by not only Dodgers and MLB security personnel but also South Korean police officials.
#Ohtani & his wife just arrived at Incheon international airport #SeoulSeries !! pic.twitter.com/tHcdtYsTF7
— Joseph Kim (@blackwings2011) March 15, 2024
#Ohtani & his wife just arrived at Incheon international airport #SeoulSeries !! pic.twitter.com/tHcdtYsTF7
— Joseph Kim (@blackwings2011) March 15, 2024
Mookie is here, too. #Dodgers #SeoulSeries pic.twitter.com/nNgf1IIOiK
— Jeeho Yoo (@Jeeho_1) March 15, 2024
Seoul, we have arrived. pic.twitter.com/0LSmoRLkvv
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 15, 2024
Not all were well received, however, as one person allegedly threw an egg at manager Dave Roberts as he walked through the airport.
Coming off a long flight, the Dodgers will quickly need to begin acclimating their bodies to a new time zone ahead of playing their first exhibition game.
The first game of the Seoul Series — Opening Day for the 2024 season — is Wednesday, March 20.
Dodgers international history
The Dodgers are playing their first international games since participating in the 2018 Mexico Series at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey. They began the 2014 regular season by facing the Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney, Australia.
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