The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers are preparing to play in Major League Baseball’s first games in Japan since 2019. The National League teams will square off in the 2025 MLB Tokyo Series from March 18 to 19 at the Tokyo Dome.
The Tokyo Series is part of MLB’s World Tour, which brings MLB teams to play in foreign countries. It expands the live, regular-season offering to grow a global audience.
Last year, teams played in Seoul, Mexico City, London, and Santo Domingo. This year, the Dodgers and Cubs will play in Japan on March 18-19 to open the MLB season.
Every regular-season MLB game played in Japan occurred at the Tokyo Dome. What other organizations have played in Tokyo?
March 29-30, 2000 – Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets
The Cubs and Mets played in Japan’s first regular-season MLB games. The Cubs won game one 5-3, and the Mets won game two 5-1. The Mets became the first team in MLB to play games in two countries besides the United States and Canada. New York took on the San Diego Padres in Mexico in 1996.
March 30-31, 2004 – New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Yankees’ outfielder Hideki Matsui returned to Japan after leaving Nippon Professional Baseball in 2003. Matsui was familiar with the Tokyo Dome, the home stadium of the Yomiuri Giants, the NPB team he played 10 seasons with. Both games sold out at an announced attendance of 55,000. The Devil Rays won game one 8-3, and the Yankees took game two 12-1.
March 25-26, 2008 – Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland Athletics
Fresh off a World Series title in 2007, the Red Sox took the first game against the A’s 6-5, but fell 5-1 in the second game. Former Saitama Seibu Lions starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out six in five innings in game one for Boston.
March 28-29, 2012 – Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics
Ichiro Suzuki had four hits in the Mariners’ 3-1 win in game one, but the A’s and starting pitcher Bartolo Colon spoiled the fun in game two, winning 4-1. Colon threw eight innings of one-run ball. That season was Ichiro’s last with the Mariners until 2018.
March 20-21, 2019 – Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics
At 45, Ichiro announced his retirement from professional baseball during the series at the Tokyo Dome. In the bottom of the eighth of game two, he received a standing ovation from the crowd as he exited right field one last time. The MLB Hall of Famer’s career began in Japan as an 18-year-old with the Orix Blue Wave in 1992 and fittingly ended in Japan. The Mariners won game one 9-7, and they swept the two-game series the next day with a 5-4 win in 12 innings.
