Baseball is one of the most popular sports worldwide. As the Cubs are less than a week away from their season-opening series in Tokyo, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the Cub’s history of playing internationally. As Major league baseball continues to grow its international brand, they have continued to schedule series all over the world. In recent years MLB games have been played in Japan, Korea, Australia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom. The Cubs have been more experienced in these series than most.
The first Tokyo Series
In 2000, the Cubs faced off against the Mets on opening day for the first MLB game to take place in Tokyo. Similarly to this, the Cubs opened that 2000 season by playing a two-game series overseas.
The Cubs and Mets played in front of 55,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome. The Cubs took the first game 5-3 before dropping the second game 5-1. In game 1 the Cubs were led by superstar slugger Sammy Sosa. Sosa had a big day going 2-3 with a double. Pitcher Jon Lieber had a great day, going seven innings while only allowing 1 run.
The best hit of the series came from the bat of Mets slugger Benny Agbayani as his game-two pinch-hit grand slam lifted the Mets over the Cubs in extras.
Mets superstar slugger Mike Piazza said “We were the home team, but we felt like an away team. Once you got between the lines, it was just a regular game.”
Playing their rivals in London
The most recent Cubs international series came in 2023 when the Cubs traveled to London to face the Cardinals. The Cubs took the first game in dominant fashion winning 9-1. This was aided by Ian Happ’s two-homer game off of Adam Wainwright and Dansby Swanson’s late homer that put the game out of reach. Starter Justin Steele was excellent, tossing 6 innings and striking out 8 batters while only allowing one run.
The second game wasn’t as kind to the Cubs as they dropped it 7-5 to split the series. Despite sprinting out to an early 4-0 lead, the Cubs crumbled. Starter Marcus Stroman had a rough outing allowing 8 hits and three runs in 3.1 innings. In Game 2 the Cubs were haunted by former catcher Willson Contreas as he had a four-hit day. The crowd for his atmosphere was packed as well with at least 54,000 fans attending each matchup.
When asked about the London series by MLB.com Cubs ace Justin Steele said “It’s special to me and I’m really glad to be a part of it”. Additionally, Cubs star Dansby Swanson said “It’s so unique to be able to go to different places” and “I know all of us are going to be able to enjoy this experience”
So far the Cubs have split in every international series they have played. But none of their prior opponents had a roster quite like this Dodgers team. If the Cubs can get another split, they should consider that a win. Regardless of the result, this is a great experience for both the players and international fans of baseball.
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