Tradition

[Longhorn20]

Is there no sense of tradition left in baseball? Opening Day in Korea sucks.

[UMFan83]

This will be the 8th time over the last 25 years (roughly 1/3 of seasons) where the season has started internationally day(s) before the other teams so it’s not exactly a new concept:

1999 - Mets and Padres in Monterrey, Mexico

2000 - Cubs and Mets in Tokyo

2004 - Devil Rays and Yankees in Tokyo

2008 - Red Sox and Rays in Tokyo

2012 - Mariners and A’s in Tokyo

2014 - Dodgers and Diamondbacks in Sydney

2019 - Mariners and A’s in Tokyo

2024 - Dodgers and Padres in Seoul

I think it’s cool personally

[Stratos]

I don't really care where they have Opening Day, but profits > tradition for the MLB.

Even if Cubs Opening Day were in Korea they'd have some other kind of 2nd Opening Day with their first game at Wrigley.

Edited March 20, 2024 by Stratos

[jersey cubs fan]

There’s way too much tradition in baseball as it is. 

[BigbadB]

Wait, this baseball announcement on my phone at 5am was for a regular season game? 

[cl smooth]

32 minutes ago, BigbadB said:

Wait, this baseball announcement on my phone at 5am was for a regular season game? 

Same. Had my fantasy baseball draft last night and didn’t even realize that the Korea series are official games and not exhibition. Looked at my team this morning and already obtained numbers towards week 1. 

[squally1313]

No problem at all with them doing this somewhere weird, trying to grow the base, etc. Do think they might be stretching the limits of logistics here....these teams come back and play two more spring training games after this one, whereas the Cubs still have eight more. Have definitely argued that spring training is incredibly drawn out anyways, but seems a little tough to get fully up to speed down in Arizona, take like 10 across the world playing one meaningful game, and then spend a week readjusting back to our time zones with just a couple live action games before the rest of the regular season starts. 

[Outshined_One]

If I were a rich man...

[CubinNY]

39 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

If I were a rich man...

 Not enough people will appreciate this. 
 

Well done. 

[Longhorn20]

9 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

This will be the 8th time over the last 25 years (roughly 1/3 of seasons) where the season has started internationally day(s) before the other teams so it’s not exactly a new concept:

1999 - Mets and Padres in Monterrey, Mexico

2000 - Cubs and Mets in Tokyo

2004 - Devil Rays and Yankees in Tokyo

2008 - Red Sox and Rays in Tokyo

2012 - Mariners and A’s in Tokyo

2014 - Dodgers and Diamondbacks in Sydney

2019 - Mariners and A’s in Tokyo

2024 - Dodgers and Padres in Seoul

I think it’s cool personally

Knew that. And all 8 sucked.

[Post Count Padder]

Baseball has plenty of traditions. This is expanding the game to a broader audience and fans and is a fun idea. 

[Bertz]

I'm pretty pro international openers.  That said 3 AM west coast time first pitch is pretty dumb.  Do a weekend series and start the games in the early afternoon local so the time difference brings you to a more attainable 9/10 PM for the US fans.