Everything you need to know about the Seoul Series
Dodgers and Padres set to open 2024 season in South Korea on March 20-21
Thomas Harrigan
@HarriganMLBThe MLB season will get underway when the Dodgers and Padres square off in the 2024 Seoul Series in Seoul, South Korea, on March 20-21.
Here's everything you need to know about the Seoul Series.
What is the Seoul Series?
The 2024 Seoul Series is part of the MLB World Tour, a historic slate of games that will bring MLB teams and players to the league¡¯s global fan base. The tour features planned regular-season and exhibition games to be played in Asia, Europe, Mexico and Latin America through the 2026 season.
The MLB World Tour will continue with two other international series during the 2024 season:
- Mexico City Series (Astros vs. Rockies, April 27-28)
- London Series (Mets vs. Phillies, June 8-9)
When are the games and how can I watch them?
Additionally, there will be four exhibition games prior to the Dodgers-Padres matchups.
The Dodgers will take on the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization at 11 p.m. ET on March 16. On March 17, the Padres will face Team Korea at 6 a.m. ET and the KBO's LG Twins at 11 p.m. ET. The Dodgers will match up with Team Korea on March 18 at 6 a.m. ET.
The Dodgers' exhibition games will be broadcast on SportsNet LA and MLB.TV, while the Padres' exhibition games will stream live on Padres.TV.
Where are the games being played?
The Gocheok Sky Dome will host the 2024 Seoul Series (including all exhibition games). The domed stadium opened in 2015, serving as a replacement for Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium in Seoul. It is the current home of the Kiwoom Heroes and hosted Pool A games in the first round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
The Gocheok Sky Dome was revamped in preparation for the Seoul Series, with a new playing surface, updated lighting and refurbished clubhouses.
The stadium is 400 feet to dead center and 325 feet down the left-field and right-field lines.
What is the history of MLB season openers played abroad?
The Seoul Series will mark the ninth time that the MLB season has opened outside the 50 U.S. states and Canada. Previous international openers include:
- 1999 -- Monterrey, Mexico (Rockies vs. Padres)
- 2000 -- Tokyo, Japan (Mets vs. Cubs)
- 2001 -- San Juan, Puerto Rico (Rangers vs. Blue Jays)
- 2004 -- Tokyo, Japan (Rays vs. Yankees)
- 2008 -- Tokyo, Japan (Red Sox vs. A's)
- 2012 -- Tokyo, Japan (A's vs. Mariners)
- 2014 -- Sydney, Australia (Dodgers vs. D-backs)
- 2019 -- Tokyo, Japan (A's vs. Mariners)
Has MLB played any games in South Korea before?
This will be the first time MLB regular-season games are played in South Korea.
Have the Dodgers and/or Padres participated in any other international games?
The Padres were involved in the first MLB regular-season games played outside the U.S. and Canada when they faced the Mets for a three-game series in Monterrey from Aug. 16-18 in 1996.
San Diego returned to Monterrey on two other occasions, playing the Rockies to open the 1999 season and facing the Dodgers in 2018. The Padres also squared off against the Giants in Mexico City in April 2023.
The Dodgers have played multiple series on the international stage as well, opening the 2014 season in Sydney against the D-backs before playing the Padres in Monterrey in 2018.
The Dodgers threw a combined no-hitter against the Padres in Monterrey on May 4, 2018, making it the first no-no thrown outside the 50 U.S. states and Canada.
Who are the starters for both games?
Yu Darvish will take the ball for the Padres in Game 1, while Tyler Glasnow gets the nod for the Dodgers.
Entering his fourth season with San Diego, Darvish has posted a 3.87 ERA and a 9.7 K/9 over 84 starts in a Padres uniform.
The Dodgers acquired Glasnow in a trade with the Rays this past December and signed him to a five-year, $136.5 million extension. Glasnow has dealt with persistent injuries during his career, but he recorded a 3.20 ERA with a 12.2 K/9 over 71 starts with Tampa Bay.
The Dodgers are set to start Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2. He¡¯ll face off against the Padres¡¯ Joe Musgrove.
Los Angeles inked Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million deal in free agency, the richest contract ever signed by a pitcher. The right-hander had a decorated career in Japan, winning the Eiji Sawamura Award (annually bestowed upon the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball) in each of the past three seasons and earning five All-Star selections in seven years.
Like Darvish, Musgrove is beginning his fourth season with the Padres. He made just 17 starts due to a right shoulder injury last season but has registered a sparkling 3.05 ERA with a 9.5 K/9 over 79 games (78 starts) with the club.
Who is the home team?
The Padres are the designated ¡°home¡± team in Game 1, so they¡¯ll bat last. The Dodgers will have that distinction in Game 2.
Are there any Korean players expected to participate in the Seoul Series?
The Padres have two South Korean-born players on their roster in infielder Ha-Seong Kim and reliever Woo-Suk Go.
Kim has become one of San Diego¡¯s best players, recording 12.9 WAR (per Baseball-Reference) over three seasons with the club. He finished with 5.8 WAR in 2023, recording 17 homers with 38 steals and winning a Gold Glove Award. Kim primarily played second base last year, but San Diego has moved him to shortstop for the upcoming season, with Xander Bogaerts sliding over to second.
Kim is plenty familiar with the Gocheok Sky Dome, the site of the 2024 Seoul Series. He played for the Kiwoom Heroes, who play their home games at the Gocheok Sky Dome, during his KBO career.
The Padres signed Go to a two-year deal this past offseason. The right-hander racked up 139 saves with a 3.18 ERA over seven seasons with the LG Twins in the KBO. Go is the brother-in-law of Jung Hoo Lee, who signed a six-year, $113 million deal with the Giants in December after seven seasons in the KBO, where he was teammates with Kim on the Kiwoom Heroes.
What is the history of baseball in South Korea?
Baseball has become an integral part of South Korean culture since its introduction to the area more than a century ago, growing into a beloved pastime with unique customs and a fervent fan base. Philip L. Gillett, an American missionary with the YMCA, is credited with bringing baseball to Seoul in 1905, though there are documented references to the sport being played on the Korean peninsula as early as 1894 or 1896.
Korea was under Japanese rule from 1910-45, a period when baseball began to flourish in Japan. The sport¡¯s popularity also grew gradually in Korea during this time and continued to surge in South Korea after the peninsula was split into two entities after World War II. However, it would still be decades before the first South Korean professional baseball league was established.
On March 27, 1982, at Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium in Seoul, the MBC Chungyong defeated the Samsung Lions 11-7 in the Korea Baseball Organization¡¯s inaugural game. The KBO is now one of the highest-ranking baseball leagues in the world, and baseball is South Korea¡¯s most popular sport.
Chan Ho Park made his MLB debut for the Dodgers in 1994, becoming the first South Korean-born Major Leaguer and blazing a trail that has been followed by dozens more. Meanwhile, the South Korean national team has become a global baseball power, winning multiple Olympic medals -- bronze at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing -- and placing among the top three in each of the first two World Baseball Classics.
What community events are planned in conjunction with the trip?
In partnership with Park, the Padres will host a Youth Baseball Play Ball clinic at Yongsan Children¡¯s Park in Seoul on March 16. As part of the clinic, local children and United States military dependent children stationed in South Korea will participate in different drills and have the opportunity to visit with various Padres players.
Is there anything else fans should know?
- The Seoul Series will see two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani make his regular-season Dodgers debut after signing a 10-year, $700 million deal with Los Angeles in December. Ohtani¡¯s pact shattered the MLB record for the richest contract, surpassing Aaron Judge¡¯s $360 million deal with the Yankees, and is believed to be the largest contract in worldwide sports history, eclipsing soccer superstar Lionel Messi's $674 million deal with FC Barcelona from 2017-21.
- When he participates in the Seoul Series, Padres second baseman Xander Bogaerts will become the second player in MLB history to play in five countries (USA, Canada, England, Mexico, South Korea), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt became the first to do it when he played in the 2023 London Series.