Asia

MLB heads to South Korea for four-game series

Major League Baseball (MLB) is heading to South Korea for the first time in a century later this year with fixtures scheduled for Seoul and Busan.

The 2022 Korea Series will consist of four matches and feature players from the MLB and Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

The event will be hosted in Busan at the 24,500-capacity Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium on November 11-12 and at Seoul’s 17,000-capacity Gocheok Sky Dome on November 14-15.

“Major League Baseball is excited to travel to Busan and Seoul for this historic series,” said Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief operations and strategy officer.

“This tour is the next step of MLB’s plan to deliver regular baseball events in Korea in the coming years and follows our upcoming Home Run Derby X, scheduled for September 17 in Seoul.

“South Korea’s rich baseball tradition has produced many accomplished Major League players, including All-Stars Chan Ho Park and Shin-Soo Choo, as well as current Blue Jays pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu and Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi. We thank J-One and the KBO for partnering with us and the MLBPA on this great event.”

The 2022 Korea Series is a part of the MLB World Tour, a slate of games that will bring MLB teams and players to the league’s global fan base.

The MLB World Tour represents MLB and the MLBPA’s largest ever international play plan, featuring up to 24 regular season games and up to 16 exhibition games to be played in Asia, Mexico and Latin America, and Europe through the 2026 season.

“South Korea’s rich baseball history and its knowledgeable, fun-loving and highly engaged fan base make it an ideal place to showcase our Major League Players as we continue expanding our game globally,” said Leonor Colon, MLBPA’s senior director of international and domestic player operations.

“Among today’s elite Major League stars are first-class South Korean athletes who are also premier standouts in international tournaments like the World Baseball Classic.”

The Korea Series will mark the first time that MLB players have travelled to the country to play games since 1922, when a group that included Casey Stengel and Waite Hoyt travelled to Asia to play in Japan, South Korea and China.

The MLB London Series will be reprised next year with a two-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs at London Stadium.

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