ES CON Field Hokkaido in Kitahiroshima, Japan, will be the host site of the second annual “2025 Dream Players Game”, an exhibition contest between retired stars from the Korea Baseball Organization in South Korea and Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.
According to the Korea Times, the Japan-based firm Fighters Sports and Entertainment wants to recognize the game as a celebration of 60 consecutive years of diplomatic peace between the two nations. Es Con Field Hokkaido is the home field of NPB’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.
Former Yomiuri Giants third baseman and skipper Tatsunori Hara will manage Japan in the exhibition game on Nov. 30. He won six championships during his NPB career, three in 15 years as a player and three more in 17 years as a manager.
Kim In-sik, South Korea’s manager at the 2006 and 2009 editions of the World Baseball Classic, will return to the dugout for a second straight year.
Notable players on Japan’s roster include Kosuke Fukudome, submarine pitcher Shunsuke Watanabe, and the recently retired Sho Nakata.
Fukudome hit 42 home runs in five Major League Baseball seasons from 2008-12, and played 19 seasons in NPB with the Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers. Watanabe spent 13 seasons on the mound with the Chiba Lotte Marines and won two WBC titles (2006, 2009) with Samurai Japan. Nakata, a first baseman, played 26 games this season with the Dragons, hitting .159 with two homers, and announced his retirement after a 17-year NPB career.
Notable players on South Korea’s roster include Lee Dae-ho, Lee Jong-wook, and Koo Dae-sung. The first Lee is a former first baseman who played one season with the Seattle Mariners in 2016, and hit 374 home runs in 17 seasons in the KBO with the Lotte Giants. Lee Jong-wook won a Gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and enjoyed a 13-year KBO career in the outfield with the Doosan Bears and NC Dinos. Koo was an ace starting pitcher with the Hanwha Eagles and became a rookie in MLB at 35 in 2005 with the New York Mets.
Last July, Japan defeated South Korea 10-6 in the inaugural Japan-Korea Dream Players Game.
Photo: Fans cheer during game between the 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)
