Shohei Ohtani makes winning debut for Dodgers in Seoul MLB opener. ‘The best player you’d see in 100 years,’ says one fan

Shohei Ohtani’s Los Angeles Dodgers brought Major League Baseball (MLB) to South Korea on Wednesday night, overshadowing Seoul hometown star Kim Ha-seong’s San Diego Padres in a 5-2 victory.

Shohei Ohtani’s Los Angeles Dodgers brought Major League Baseball (MLB) to South Korea on Wednesday night, overshadowing Seoul hometown star Kim Ha-seong’s San Diego Padres in a 5-2 victory. The first clash of the two-game Seoul Series opened the MLB season and showcased an international appeal brought to the sport by an increasing lineup of Asian stars led by two-way Japanese star Ohtani, who joined the Dodgers in the offseason, signing the richest deal ever made by a major leaguer. Earlier on Wednesday, South Korea police said they had received a report about an email threatening to detonate a bomb during the game to hurt Ohtani. About 150 police officers were dispatched to the stadium to search for any threats, but they found no explosives. Clearly, thousands of those in Seoul’s Gocheok Skydome were there to see Ohtani, who delivered two hits, an RBI and a stolen base to please the crowd. Ohtani’s wife – Japanese basketball player Mamiko Tanaka – was also in attendance, with the ESPN broadcast showing her giving high fives to some of the women in nearby seats after one of her husband’s hits.