Dodgers and Padres in Seoul: Here's what you need to know

Baseball

Published: 16 Mar. 2024, 11:34 Updated: 16 Mar. 2024, 17:59

Dodgers and Padres in Seoul: Here's what you need to know

Kim Ha-seong [AFP/YONHAP]

The 2024 Major League Baseball season will begin in Seoul next week as the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Diego Padres in the first regular season games ever to be held on Korean soil.

The two-game series, on Wednesday and Thursday, will be preceded by a series of exhibition games pitting the Dodgers against stadium hosts Kiwoom Heroes and the Korean national team, while the Padres take on reigning KBO champions the LG Twins and the Korean squad.

The Padres have also brought some familiar faces back to Seoul: Gold Glove winner Kim Ha-seong, who started his career with the Heroes, and new closer Goh Woo-suk, who signed with the club over the offseason after playing a crucial role in the Twins’ title-winning campaign last year.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, roll up with perhaps the biggest name in baseball: Shohei Ohtani. Arriving with his new wife by his side, ShoTime himself will likely be making his first regular season appearance in a Dodgers’ uniform here in Seoul.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Seoul Series.

What’s the schedule?

Both the Dodgers and Padres have already arrived in Seoul and are set to begin training Saturday. The exhibition games will be held on Sunday and Monday, with the regular season openers on Wednesday and Thursday.

Sunday, March 17, 12:07 p.m.: Dodgers vs. Heroes [first pitch at 8:07 p.m. PT on Saturday]

Sunday, March 17, 7:07 p.m.: Team Korea vs. Padres [first pitch at 3:07 a.m. PT on Sunday]

Monday, March 18, 12:07 p.m.: Padres vs. Twins [first pitch at 8:07 p.m. PT on Sunday]

Monday, March 18, 7:07 p.m.: Team Korea vs. Dodgers [first pitch at 3:07 a.m. PT on Monday]

Wednesday, March 20, 7:07 p.m.: Dodgers vs. Padres [first pitch at 3:07 a.m. PT on Wednesday]
Yu Darvish (SD) vs. Tyler Glasnow (LAD)

Thursday, March 21, 7:07 p.m.: Padres vs. Dodgers [first pitch at 3:07 a.m. PT on Thursday]
Joe Musgrove (SD) vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD)

A full schedule including batting practice and interview schedules can be found at the bottom of the page.

The venue

All six games will be played at west Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome, home of the Heroes.

Gocheok is the KBO’s only covered dome stadium and is one of the newest stadiums in the league. It was completed in 2015, and can hold just under 17,000 spectators.

The newly revamped Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul provided. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said the domed baseball stadium has been refurbished ahead of Korea's first-ever opening of the MLB regular season on March 20 and 21. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]

Gocheok has already played host to the first round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic and the 2019 WBSC Premier 12. In 2020, it provided a safe-haven for the KBO after the Covid-delayed season pushed too far into the winter, hosting all post-season games that year.

In preparation for the Seoul Series, the turf in the stadium has been relayed with a new two-tone design. G-max shock absorbers have been newly installed and the ground lighting has been updated. Other facilities, including the player lockers, cafeteria and sky boxes, have been refurbished.

Who to watch out for

The return of Kim Ha-seong to a KBO stadium is obviously a huge attraction for Korean fans, but the excitement of seeing Ohtani in a Dodgers shirt is also not lost on anybody here.

San Diego Padres' Kim Ha-seong adjusts his glasses in the dugout during a spring training baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Peoria, Arizona on March 9. [AP/YONHAP]

Kim left Korea at the end of 2020 after a phenomenal career in the KBO, but he arrived in the majors in a difficult spot.

Neither a pitcher nor a slugger, quick-footed Kim is a versatile infielder who’s defensive prowess easily matches his skill at the plate — a crucial role for any baseball team, but not one that Korean players are known for filling.

Kim had to work hard to prove his potential and returns to Korea with the ultimate proof of his success — as the reigning utility National League Gold Glove winner, the first Korean player ever to win an MLB Gold Glove.

Despite the longstanding historic tension between Korea and Japan, the popularity of Ohtani is also not lost on baseball fans here.

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani faces the Seattle Mariners during a spring training game in Phoenix, Arizona on March 13. [USA TODAY/YONHAP]

Already established as baseball’s answer to Lionel Messi, Ohtani is already considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time, and he hasn’t even turned 30 yet.

The Japanese two-way star joined the Dodgers over the offseason on an unprecedented 10-year, $700 million contract, the largest contract in professional sports history, and got married a couple of weeks ago to Japanese former professional basketball player Mamiko Tanaka.

The return of Go to Korea will be of particular interest to Twins fans, although he has not actually been gone long enough to miss a game yet. A solid closer, Go favors his fastball and slider. It remains to be seen whether the 25-year-old (son-in-law of Korean baseball legend of Lee Jong-beom and brother-in-law of the San Francisco Giants’ Lee Jung-hoo) has done enough to earn any game time.

San Diego Padres relief pitcher Go Woo-suk jogs during spring training baseball workouts in Peoria, Arizona on Feb. 18. [AP/YONHAP]

Alongside the local favorites, the Dodgers and Padres’ rosters are a veritable who’s who of the biggest names in baseball, including stars like Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Walker Buehler, Teoscar Hernández, Tyler Glasnow, Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Joe Musgrove.

Seoul style

The Seoul Series promises to offer a unique combination U.S. and Korean baseball culture, with both sides bringing different elements of the spectator experience to Gocheok over the next week.

Both big league clubs have imported some of their stadium concessions, including the famous Dodger Dog, for the week, offering Korean fans some different options to the fried chicken and dried squid that are popular at games here.

LG Twins cheerleaders fire water pistols at the crowd during a game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Aug. 11, 2023. [NEWS1]

In recognition of the different supporting style here — Korean baseball is a raucous affair with loud entrance music, player-specific cheers and almost constant crowd participation — the Dodgers and Padres have also both reportedly recruited Korean cheerleaders to help the big league teams hold their own in a stadium full of rowdy Korean fans.

To really get into the Korean spirit, there will also be performances from K-pop girl groups aespa and (G)I-DLE during the Seoul Series on Wednesday and Thursday. The two teams have also been given the Korean treatment, with merchandise on sale featuring Korean-language hangul versions of both logos.

The two baseball cultures will also be bridged by the very man who brought them together in the first place — Dodgers legend and the first Korean ever to play in the MLB Park Chan-ho will throw out the ceremonial opening pitch before Game 1 between the Dodgers and Padres on Wednesday.

KT Wiz fans cheer during Game 4 of the 2023 Korean Series against the LG Twins at Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Nov. 11, 2023. [NEWS1]

Who will Korean fans be supporting?

That’s the million-dollar question, and the answer is not as simple as you might think.

The Padres have Kim and Go, which will obviously pull a lot of support, so there has been an assumption, particularly by some U.S. media, that this will be a San Diego crowd.

Park Chan-ho [JOONGANG ILBO]

But support for the Dodgers runs deep in Korea. Through Park Chan-ho, the Dodgers essentially got here first, embedding themselves deep in Korean fan cultures long before any big-league team. The club was then home to the likes of Ryu Hyun-jin, further cementing that support, and Dodgers caps are still visible on the streets of Seoul on a daily basis.

It could prove to be a pretty even split between the two teams at Gocheok next week, but if one team is going to edge it, it may just be the Dodgers.

Where can I watch?

If you’re in Korea, all six games will be broadcast through streaming service Coupang Play. Coupang Play is available to Coupang Wow customers, a membership service offered by the ecommerce giant.

Coupang Play has also been responsible for ticket sales, and although they all sold out initially, there are now a handful of tickets available for the exhibition games as of press time.

In the U.S., ESPN will broadcast the official season opening Seoul Series games nationwide. The four exhibition games will be available via each team's network broadcast.

Full schedule

Saturday, March 16
2 p.m. – 5 p.m. – Dodgers workout
5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. – Padres workout
Both managers and key players from both teams will be available for interview throughout the afternoon.

Sunday, March 17
9:25 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. – Heroes batting practice
10:15 a.m. – 11:05 a.m. – Dodgers batting practice
12:07 p.m. – Dodgers vs. Heroes [first pitch will be at 8:07 p.m. PT on Saturday]
4:25 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. – Padres batting practice
5:15 p.m. – 6:05 p.m. – Team Korea batting practice
7:07 p.m. – Team Korea vs. Padres [first pitch will be at 3:07 a.m. PT on Sunday]

Monday, March 18
9:25 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. – Twins batting practice
10:15 a.m. – 11:05 a.m. – Padres batting practice
12:07 p.m. – Padres vs. Twins [first pitch will be at 8:07 p.m. PT on Sunday]
4:25 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. – Dodgers batting practice
5:15 p.m. – 6:05 p.m. – Team Korea batting practice
7:07 p.m. – Team Korea vs. Dodgers [first pitch will be at 3:07 a.m. PT on Monday]

Tuesday, March 19
2 p.m. – 4 p.m. – Padres workout
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. – Dodgers workout
Both managers and Opening Day starters Yu Darvish (Padres) and Tyler Glasnow (Dodgers) will be available for interview.

Wednesday, March 20
4:15 – 5:05 p.m. – Padres batting practice
5:10 – 6 p.m. – Dodgers batting practice
7:07 p.m. – Dodgers vs. Padres [first pitch will be at 3:07 a.m. PT on Wednesday]
Both managers and Game 2 starters Joe Musgrove (Padres) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers) will be available for interview.

Thursday, March 21
4:15 – 5:05 p.m. – Dodgers batting practice
5:10 – 6 p.m. – Padres batting practice
7:07 p.m. – Padres vs. Dodgers [first pitch will be at 3:07 a.m. PT on Thursday]

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]