$700M Ohtani Debuts for Dodgers in Opener in SKorea

(Ahn Young-joon/AP)

Baseball fans from around the world flocked to Seoul for Major League Baseball’s first opening series in South Korea on Wednesday, excited to see Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani despite an earlier bomb threat at the stadium.

Ohtani signed a record 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers in December.

South Korean police investigated a bomb threat at the Gocheok Sky Dome where the Dodgers play their season opening game against the San Diego Padres, but no sign of an explosive device had been detected, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Roger Aranda, 49, said he flew from California with his son to cheer for Ohtani and the Dodgers.

“My favorite player is Mookie Betts, now I’m becoming a big fan for Ohtani,” he told Reuters, wearing a blue Dodgers jersey and a hat. “I hope our Dodgers win. I want to see a victory here today.”

Kim Myeong-seo, a 33-year-old Dodgers fan from the southeastern South Korean city of Daegu, was not concerned about the bomb threat.

“I have no worries as our country has very strict security,” he said. “It was very difficult to get a ticket … I’m just so excited and want to go in as soon as possible.”

When asked about the bomb threat, Padres manager Mike Shildt said it was “unfortunate” news but he had “full confidence” in security authorities.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he did not “pay too much mind” to the threat after hearing that it was cleared.

The threat, written in English, was sent in an email to an official at South Korea’s consulate general in Vancouver, Canada, and said the sender was a Japanese lawyer, Yonhap said.

Officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Guro Police Station in the district where the stadium is located did not immediately confirm the report or could not be reached for comment.

Drew Jackse, 26, traveled from San Diego for the two-game series and said he just wanted to see game baseball.

“The Dodgers are a good team, but we’re good too,” he said. “It’s going to be a very tough game but yeah, it’s going to be exciting to see what it’s like on the inside.”