Seoul Series + Roundup
Edition #68
HEADLINES:
JD MARTINEZ HEADING THE NEW YORK. WHICH SIDE???
G-LEAGUE IGNITE WILL NO LONGER EXIST AFTER THIS SEASON
NBA STAFF THREATENED BY GAMBLERS
PARIS CAMPBELL HEADING TO PHILLY
CAM SUTTON RELEASED AFTER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
INTRO:
As of Thursday morning at 9:05 A.M. EST, the first games of the MLB season are in the books.
But, it definitely wasn’t a normal series or even a normal international series. And it was WAY more active than you could ever imagine.
From a bomb threat to a firing, here’s what happened during the first two games of the MLB season.
Seoul Series
The Business
International Games = Big Business for the MLB.
I read an amazing story in The Los Angeles Times, talking about Shohei Ohtani’s biggest fan. This guy devoted a whole room in his house for him! He created a Shohei Ohtani fan club in South Korea, even during the World Baseball Classic! Crazy! But, that’s the kind of people the MLB targets, making them great fans of the game, the league, and their team. This causes international fans to buy merchandise, baseball cards, tickets, etc. That’s crazy money. Here’s one reason why. The Nike Authentic Shohei Ohtani Dodgers jersey, which sells at $346.99.
Tickets to the season-opener between the Dodgers and the Padres sold out within the first hour! The tickets started at $90, there are only 16,000 seats in the Gocheok Sky Dome, and ticket scalpers were asking as much as $3,035! 5 times the price!
Game 1:
WIN/LOSS/INNINGS
SCORING PLAYS:
Padres: Bottom 3rd
STATS:
Pretty dang exciting Game 1 in Seoul, but it was slow. The only thing that saved the Dodgers was this by Jake Cronenworth. I think the fans called him the MVP (P.S.: Me included).
Other than that, this was a Sho-Day. He got his first RBI and hit as a Dodger, he also stole a base, and he got another hit! On the Padres, it was Xander Bogaerts with the best stats, going 2-4 with an RBI!
The worst on the Dodgers was none other than Gavin Lux. He was the only one on the Dodgers with no hit or walk, but he didn’t strike out. The Padres? Jake Cronenworth, the man who sold the game? Although Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Campusano finished with the same stats (0 hits in 4 at-bats), Cronenworth struck out twice, which was the deciding factor.
Things were looking pretty up for the Dodgers, especially because a few hours before the game, there was a bomb threat. The main target was Shohei Ohtani…
25+ commandos and 100+ personnel scanned the area, and it turned out that it was a fake. Even so, it still gave many Ohtani fans a heart attack and maybe even the MLB. After all, the business is gone without Ohtani.
Game 2:
WIN/LOSS/INNINGS
SCORING PLAYS:
STATS:
Game 2, did not start all that well. Actually, it ain’t start well at all. We had a gambling situation including, who else other than?
Shohei Ohtani!
So, he wasn’t the guy who gambled. The guy who actually gambled was his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
So, what happened?
The first thing Ippei Mizuhara commented to the media was that Ohtani knew all about his gambling, and since he was in debt of $4.5 million and couldn’t pay it back, he asked Ohtani for help. He paid the illegal bookmaker, whose name is Matthew Bowyer in installments for what Ippei owed. This was what he said first.
The next day, he took back every word he said and told the media that Ohtani knew nothing about his gambling and had no knowledge of any of this. He also did not transfer any money to an illegal bookmaker.
This is very suspicious, but I completely agree with what he said first. Look, maybe Ippei knew nothing about the illegal bookmaker stuff. After all, Shohei isn’t a gambler (from what we infer). I feel like Mizuhara just blurted out the truth, not knowing how it will affect Ohtani. Why did he say something different the next day? He found out about the illegal bookmaker rule. I mean, how can you just change something like the snap of a finger after having a 90-minute session?
Ippei Mizuhara got fired from the Dodgers. Just. Like. That.
That was the story of the day. Heck, that’s the HEADLINE of the day. Nobody cared about Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s upcoming debut in the next few hours. Everyone’s eyes were locked on Ohtani, again, but this time… In a bad way.
“I hope Sho is good, but you know, at the end of the day we have to make sure we take care of our jobs," said Mookie Betts. "No matter what cards we’re dealt, we better go play them.”
That despairing mood was towering over the Dodgers and looks like Yamamoto touched it because he looked like TRASH when he pitched. His MLB debut lasted… ONE INNING! ONE!
Well, Yamamoto thinks not.
“I feel regret that I just couldn't keep the team in the game from the get-go, so I do feel the responsibility for it,” Yamamoto said through a translator. “I just got to get ready for the next outing.”
Do you want the truth? Don’t care if you don’t. For a team that didn’t even have good starting pitching, putting up that many runs of offense is amazing, LA. The Padres? I mean, I did not expect that from you guys. I don’t even have you guys cracking #3 in the division this year (check out Monday's article). To beat a team that added a billion dollars worth of players, that’s rad.
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Friday Roundup??
Since we had a shorter edition today, I wanted to add our weekly Wednesday Roundup (which I missed this week) here.
. You’re crazy right? Talking about Chase Edmonds! Seriously! If you aren’t subscribed to Go Long right now, you’re missing out on the best of the best of the best of the best of the best of the best (I can go on forever) articles! . It does matter, Neil. It does matter if the Oilers and Stars don’t beat good teams. I don’t think they’re aiming for first-round playoff losses. They want the Stanley Cup. But, the points you proved in this article are way too good to combat my opinionated idea here. Again, another AMAZING article by Neil.: Indian Wells Final Article. SO GOODConclusion:
Alright! That’s it for this one! Make sure to check my schedule note late Saturday or early Sunday to see the schedule for the next week. The reason I’m highlighting this is that we have an exceptional week ahead of us at Sports Square.
(And if you have time, shoot me a DM saying Happy Birthday. My birthday is March 25th!)
Much love! Appreciate it!