Korea defeated Japan, 7-1, on Sunday afternoon at Es Con Field Hokkaido in the “Dream Players Game,” a legends exhibition featuring retired stars from both nations. Japan had come out on top in last year’s matchup at the same venue, 10-6.
Dae-ho Lee earned MVP honors after recording three hits, including a sixth-inning home run off former teammate Tadashi Settsu.
The 43-year-old slugger enjoyed a decorated career that spanned the KBO’s Lotte Giants (2001-11, 2017-22), NPB’s Orix Buffaloes (2012) and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2014-15), and MLB’s Seattle Mariners (2016) before returning to Lotte and retiring in 2022. He hit 486 career homers between the three leagues.
Byung-kyu Lee, 51, opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second inning. Japan’s only run came via a solo homer in the fourth from recently retired slugger Sho Nakata.
The starting lineups were as follows:
JAPAN
LF – Seiichi Uchikawa
2B – Tsuyoshi Nishioka
DH – Michihiro Ogasawara
1B – Sho Nakata
CF – Yoshio Itoi
3B – Toshiaki Imae
SS – Takashi Toritani
RF – Nobuhiro Matsuda
C – Motonobu Tanishige
SP – Yoshihisa Naruse
KOREA
2B – Keun-woo Jeong
RF – Jin-young Lee
LF – Jong-beom Lee
1B – Dae-ho Lee
DH – Tae-kyun Kim
CF – Byung-kyu Lee
C – Kyung-oan Park
SS – Siheon Son
3B – Seong-hoon Jeong
SP – Suk-min Yoon
Photo: Fans cheer during game between Saitama Seibu Lions and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters at ES CON Field Hokkaido on March 14, 2023 in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, Japan. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)
