Seasoned sports talk host Dan Patrick didn’t hold back on his show, slamming Major League Baseball’s decision to kick off the 2025 season with the Dodgers-Cubs Tokyo Series.
With the games wrapping up yesterday in Japan—where the Dodgers swept the Cubs 4-1 and 6-3—Patrick argued that “exporting” Opening Day overseas disrupts player prep.
He pointed to the absurdity of teams jetting off mid-spring training for actual games, only to return and chill before the stateside opener on March 27th.
“Do I want us exporting Opening Day? I don’t. I understand its business,” Patrick said. “Certainly, with the Dodgers and the number of players, whether it’s Korea, whether it’s Japan — I get it. I understand it. I don’t like it, but I understand it.”
“It’s business. Ten years ago, five years ago — I remember the Yankees went over there.”
Patrick went on to suggest shipping the games overseas is a disruption for the teams involved.
“How about we think of the players? You’re in spring training, totally chill; now let’s go to Japan, play a couple of games, they count, and then let’s come back, let’s chill again,” he said.
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"How about we think of the players?"
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) March 18, 2025
– DP on MLB's Opening Day in Japan today. pic.twitter.com/yydyfNLtKw
MLB’s Overseas Opening Day Is An Affront To Fans Too
Opening Day is a springtime tradition for a sport that is considered America’s pastime. So, MLB might want to think of the fans, too.
Why should any other nation enjoy the spoils of Opening Day before America? Give them a couple of games during the season. Maybe around the All-Star break.
Or, as Patrick says, maybe a couple of Spring Training games.
“I don’t know if the fans in Japan would be that upset if you said, ‘We’re going to play two spring training games over there,’” he surmised. “Are they going to be upset?”
“I think just having Shohei Ohtani over there, some of the players who are from Japan, that would be enough. We don’t need to have Opening Day over there,” Patrick continued. “Have Opening Day here.”
Here here, Dan.
It’s An Affront To All That Is Right
Again, we get the business end. The NFL does it as part of its global expansion efforts. The NBA has the Paris Games set for 2025. It’s all about the money.
The logistics, though, make things difficult for the teams involved.
“I know we’re trying to grow the business there,” Patrick continued. “And the Dodgers have done a wonderful job, and Japan is a great market… Then, they resume spring training again.”
Which is just ridiculous. Opening Day for other MLB teams will be on the 27th, over a week after the Dodgers and Cubs leave Japan.
Los Angeles kicked off their defense as World Series champions by sweeping the Cubs in Tokyo.
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