The Los Angeles Dodgers were tuning up for the 2024 MLB season with a set of exhibition games in South Korea, and the nation welcomed them with open arms and their very own dance crew.
In quite the sultry display of choreography, the squad of lovely ladies hyped up fans in attendance by busting some moves to “S&M” by Rihanna.
Boy, that escalated quickly. A bold song choice indeed that invokes some rather graphic imagery. But hey, all things considered, the dancers kept it classy and showed out with this little number.
Dodgers players were also watching intently when South Korean actress Jeon Jong-seo tossed out the first pitch:
That’s hospitality if I’ve ever seen it. Can’t blame the gents, either. It’s not like you have to really lock in for baseball at this point in the calendar year. The Dodgers are fresh off three straight 100-win seasons and a World Series title the year before that run. They even added Shohei Ohtani to their already-loaded roster. This club could sleepwalk through half the season and still win 100 games again. The trick will be to avoid another one-and-done fate in the NLDS, which has befallen the Dodgers in each of the last two postseasons.
For now, though? Let the good times roll. The Seoul Series features the Dodgers facing off with the NL West rival San Diego Padres, along with a couple other exhibition matchups with local teams at Gocheok SkyDome.
I’m sure the players who made the lengthy trip to Seoul are eager for the experience of traveling to an exotic country, but as far as the baseball playing itself goes, I wouldn’t be too jazzed about that if I were them. The MLB regular season is already 162 games, plus the postseason if you make it that far. That’s excessive if you ask me. The fact that this Seoul Series will be more interesting and memorable than any given arbitrary four-game stretch of the Dodgers’ 162-game schedule kind of tells you all you need to know about the state of baseball.
All that said, good on Seoul for bringing some buzz to their baseball with the Dodgers and Padres. What an opportunity for the Korea-based players to face off with some of MLB’s biggest stars. Check out teenage pitching prodigy Taek-yeon Kim getting to work on the mound!
