A's/Red Sox Might Open Season in Japan

Which could explain why neither of then have released their home schedules yet.

Notes: A's likely to open '08 in Japan
Oakland to tweak spring schedule for opener vs. Boston
By Mychael Urban / MLB.com

OAKLAND -- All signs are pointing toward the A's opening the 2008 season in Japan against the American League champion Red Sox, so it's likely that Oakland's pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Spring Training several days earlier than normal.

The opening series, tentatively scheduled for March 22-23 at the Tokyo Dome, is expected to be formalized at the owners' meetings in Florida, Nov. 14-15.

"It's all speculative at this point, so we haven't really started planning anything," A's assistant general manager David Forst said Friday. "And we can't get started too early, because it's not like we can start playing [Cactus League] games any earlier. But yeah, the pitchers will need some extra time.

"So, if we typically bring them in on [February] 14th or 15th, they'd probably come in the ninth or 10th, something like that."

Manager Bob Geren said he recently spoke with traveling secretary Mickey Morabito, who hadn't heard anything definitive regarding the potential trip, but Geren doesn't think changing his club's spring schedule would pose any major problems.

"The starting pitchers would be the guys you really need to look at as far as making everything work," said the skipper. "But really, you just look at the departure date, and what starters we'd have working those two games over there, and just go backwards to make sure they get the same amount of work in that they'd get for a regular start.

"And really, it'd kind of be a little bit of an advantage, because the two guys you start over there could come right back and be rested and ready to start again for the first two games over here."

Forst said the team would leave their Spring Training home in Phoenix for good on March 19 if the plan goes through. After arriving in Japan, the A's would play two exhibition games against Japanese League teams before opening the regular season against the Red Sox, then return to the Bay Area for the annual preseason Bay Bridge Series against the Giants.

A similar plan had the A's scheduled to open the 2003 season in Japan against the Mariners, but the war in Iraq forced the cancellation of the series.

"That was a big disappointment," said Braves righty Tim Hudson, who was scheduled to pitch for Oakland in one of the 2003 games in Japan. "I understand why they [cancelled] it, but everyone was pretty jacked up about going."

Current A's players have said they'd love to take part in the 2008 series, despite concerns about jet-lag and the tweaked schedule it would bring.

"I don't really see any negatives, except that we'll be playing the Red Sox," outfielder/first baseman Nick Swisher said. "There won't be a single person in the stands rooting for us, but that's all right. It's still something we'll always remember."

The Red Sox pitching staff features right starter Daisuke Matsuzaka, who led Japan to the inaugural World Baseball Classic title in 2006, and countryman Hideki Okajima, who hasn't allowed an earned run out of Boston's bullpen in 9 2/3 innings of postseason action.

Quote :

I don't really see any negatives, except that we'll be playing the Red Sox.
- Nick Swisher

Great quote!

Why's it have to be the A's! I want their damn schedule! I go to more games at McAfee Coliseum than anywhere (except 2007 when I had Dodgers full season season tickets).

It's official:

Red Sox, A's Japan-bound in 2008
Meeting marks fifth international MLB regular-season opener
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com

NAPLES, Fla. -- Major League Baseball is opening its regular season in Japan's 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome next March for the third time, it was announced on Wednesday, with the defending World Series-champion Red Sox facing the A's.

The five days of festivities include regular-season games between the two clubs on March 25 and 26, exhibition day-night doubleheaders against Nippon Professional Baseball teams on March 22 and 23, and an off-day workout sandwiched in between on March 24.

The announcement coincided with the owners gathering for their final quarterly meetings of the year on Wednesday and Thursday at a local resort hotel.

"Opening our regular season in Japan for the third time is another example of Major League Baseball's commitment to the continued global growth of the game," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "We are extremely excited that the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics have accepted our invitation to participate in this international event and look forward to working again with our long-time partner, The Yomiuri Shimbun, to bring these games to the great baseball fans of Japan."

As it has been done in the past, Yomiuri, which owns the Central League's Giants and is one of the largest media corporations in the world, will sponsor and host the games in Tokyo Dome.

It's the fifth time MLB is playing it's season-opener internationally. It first happened in 1999, when the Padres opened against the Rockies at Monterrey, Mexico. But this will be the first time the Red Sox or A's play regular-season games outside of North America.

The Red Sox, with former Japanese League pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, are anticipated to be the principal draw in Tokyo -- much like the Yankees were in 2004 when former Yomiuri Giants slugger Hideki Matsui returned for the first time wearing the famous pinstripes.

The Yankees played Tampa Bay there in 2004 and the Mets played the Cubs in the first Japan opener in 2000.

In 2001, the Blue Jays and Rangers opened in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the Expos also played 22 of their "home games" during each of the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The Padres and the Mets were the first teams to play a regular-season series internationally when they met in Monterrey during the 1996 season.

"On behalf of John Henry, Tom Werner, and the entire ownership and organization, we are honored to be invited to represent Major League Baseball, and open the 2008 MLB season in Japan, one of the greatest baseball nations in the world," Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said.

Oakland missed its first Japanese opportunity when a two-game opener of the 2003 season against the Mariners in Tokyo Dome was canceled because of the beginning of the war in Iraq.

"The Oakland A's are very excited and honored to be opening the 2008 season in Japan," Michael Crowley, the team's president, said. "Baseball is truly a game without borders and we are pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of the game's growth on the international level."

Both the A's and Red Sox will return to the U.S. to conclude Spring Training before resuming their regular-season schedules.

Because the second World Baseball Classic is scheduled for March 2009, MLB officials have been working feverishly for months to set up next year's Asian extravaganza.

Signs also point to the Padres and Dodgers playing exhibition games in Beijing, China, on March 15-16, 2008. Beijing will be host to the Summer Olympics from Aug. 8-24, 2008, and is staging what may be the final Games' medal competition in two small baseball stadiums outside the city. Demonstration games were already played there this past summer and the exhibition games are slated for the larger of the two facilities, which holds 12,000 people.

It would be the first MLB games of any kind in that country, which banned baseball during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. But Japan, which has hosted MLB All-Star tours every other year for decades and the last time in 2006, is a mainstay.

"We are extremely pleased that the 2008 season will open in Japan," said Don Fehr, executive director of the MLB Players Association, which has partnered with MLB on the recent global expansion. "Japanese fans will have the opportunity to see two extremely talented teams, the Red Sox, this year's World Series winners, and the Oakland A's, a squad that has won its division four out of the last eight years.

"It will also be an opportunity for Major League players to see firsthand just how enthusiastic, and knowledgeable, Japanese fans are."

That means opening day is 3/25! Go A's!

the sooner the better!