MLB announced on Tuesday it will open its 2019 regular season with two games between the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners at the Tokyo Dome, in addition to a postseason tour of the country by MLB stars set for this November.
The American League (AL) West rivals will meet on March 20-21 in Tokyo with the A’s serving as the home team, and each major league club will face Japanese professional teams in exhibition games March 17-18.
The A’s and Mariners previously opened the 2012 major league season in Tokyo in a similar series. This will mark the eighth time MLB has opened its season outside North America.
The postseason all-star tour of Japan is back for the first time since 2014, when a team that included Jose Altuve, Robinson Cano, Yasiel Puig and Evan Longoria made the trip to face a roster featuring a young Shohei Ohtani.
This year’s games will begin November 8 with an exhibition against the Yomiuri Giants before the MLB and NPB all-stars face off for six games in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagoya on November 9-15.
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association, and all those making a great effort in preparation for the Japan-U.S. All-Star Series,” Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Atsushi Saito said in a release.
“It has been four years since Samurai Japan and MLB last met. With our goal of winning a gold medal in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, this gives our players experience in high-level games against MLB players.
“Many Japanese players have made their way to the U.S., and that has certainly brought MLB close to baseball fans throughout Japan. I am also looking forward to the 2019 MLB Opening Series in Japan, which enables us to feel a very different excitement from that of NPB. This long-awaited Japan-U.S. All-Star Series will be a great opportunity to further deepen our bilateral relationship.”
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