The '12 MLB season began this morning when the Mariners beat the A's 3-1 in 11 innings before a crowd of 44,227 at the Tokyo Dome. The two teams will play again tomorrow morning in Tokyo at 5:04am ET (THE DAILY). SI.com's Tom Verducci reported baseball has "grown into an international sport," and the success of the World Baseball Classic along with a "growing network of foreign broadcast partners have demonstrated strong worldwide interest." Starting the season by playing two games in Japan is "but a small recognition of MLB's reach." MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said, "I know it's tough on Seattle and Oakland, but this is a very important part of growing the game. It's about China and Japan and Korea and Central America and Europe. ... My dream, and it will probably not happen until after my commissionership, is to one day have regular season games in Europe." Verducci noted for sheer "economic power, however, there is nothing like the interest in Japan." Almost 70% of MLB's int'l revenues "are derived from the Japanese market," and playing regular-season games in the country for the fifth time in the past 14 years "has helped drive such interest." MLB's longest-running int'l broadcast partner is the Japanese company Dentsu, which began its partnership with the league in '99. The company in '09 "signed a six-year extension (through 2015) that has been reported to be worth" about $475M. MLB understands that it is "important to recognize such a devoted fan base with its genuine product, not some meaningless exhibition." It is also "fitting" that Japanese fans get a chance to watch Mariners RF Ichiro Suzuki, one of their "most beloved stars, play in his homeland in a major league uniform for the first time" (SI.com, 3/27). FOXSPORTS.com's A.J. Perez notes as U.S. pro sports leagues "increase their footprint abroad, aspirations of a franchise based outside the continent tend to follow." MLB Senior VP/International Business Operations Paul Archey: "I don’t think it’s a matter of if, but when. Thirty percent of the players in baseball are foreign-born. Between the majors and minors, we have players from 44 countries. It’s a global game, and (an overseas) team is not out of the question” (FOXSPORTS.com, 3/28).
STAR OF THE SHOW: REUTERS' Alastair Himmer noted the A's are the home team for both games in Japan, but the "majority of fans filling the cavernous Tokyo Dome will be there to pay homage" to Ichiro. His "'homecoming' is major news, competing with a planned North Korean rocket launch which has Japan on red alert" (REUTERS, 3/27). Root Sports' Dave Sims said of the loud greeting prior to Ichiro's first at-bat today, “Here’s the ovation we expected for Ichiro.” He added, "You’d think the Beatles” had arrived at the hotel from the reception the fans gave the Mariners (“Mariners-A’s,” Root Sports, 3/28). MLB Network’s Kevin Millar said, “He is the closest thing to Elvis Presley. I mean seriously, this is ‘The King.’ ... There’s something about Ichiro that you just don’t know” (“Intentional Talk Live,” MLB Network, 3/27). The DAILY YOMIURI noted Ichiro has played in Japan for the WBC and MLB's All-Star tours of the country, but this is the first time Japanese fans will see him "playing for the Mariners." The A's and Mariners were scheduled to play two games in Japan in '03, but that series was "canceled as tensions grew over the Iraq situation." As a result, Ichiro's "emotions about this opening series have been building." He said, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I want to treat it specially" (DAILY YOMIURI, 3/25).
RISE AND SHINE: YAHOO SPORTS' Tim Brown wrote the timing of the game "isn’t awful unless you happen to live on the West Coast. In, say, Seattle or Oakland." The games will be played "at a reasonable hour only in Japan." Although there are "some wonderful things to say about the series, its globalization of the sport ... you don't schedule a baseball game for last call" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/27). In Seattle, Larry Stone writes, "Such are the time-zone vagaries of playing games in Japan, wreaking havoc with both sleep patterns and newspaper deadlines." Today's edition of the Seattle Times "had to be put to bed even before resolute Mariners fans crawled out of theirs to watch, bleary-eyed, as the M's and A's grappled" at 3:00am PT (SEATTLE TIMES, 3/28).
