Dodgers’ welcome in Tokyo make it obvious Andrew Friedman’s efforts have paid off

The Dodgers got a warm welcome last season when they landed in Seoul to open their season against the Padres, but that's paled in comparison to the one they just got in Tokyo. The team arrived on Thursday after a long flight, and had to exit from a separate terminal because the fan and media crush at their arrival terminal was so intense.

The Tokyo Dome sold tickets just to Dodgers workouts, and they sold out within an hour to allow over 10,500 fans a view into the team's batting practice and drills. Fans in attendance even knew who 31-man add-ons like Jack Dreyer were, and were cheering for Freddie Freeman's son Charlie. A post-workout press conference featuring Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki was held in a massive hotel ballroom to accommodate the media presence.

This is exactly what Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers' front office wanted when they expanded their scouting to include Asia about 10 years ago. Friedman has prioritized making the Dodgers an international brand, specifically in Japan, an organizational mandate, and it's pretty clear that it's paid off.

Dodgers' dominance in Japan is clear after frenzied welcome ahead of Tokyo Series

The Dodgers already have three massive calling cards to NPB players looking to making the transition to MLB in Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki; they didn't exactly need the Tokyo Series to help, but it sure doesn't hurt. Guys like Kiké Hernández and Anthony Banda are even getting love from fans; Hernández held a meet-and-greet at a store in Harajuku, and fans were lined up around multiple blocks.

The Cubs, handpicked by MLB to face the Dodgers no doubt because of Shōta Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki's presence on their roster, also received a warm welcome in Tokyo, but not nearly to the same extent as the Dodgers. Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic noted that, while there were a few Cubs caps scattered around the workout spectator crowd, it was dominated by Dodger blue.

A similar imbalance was noted last year, when the Dodgers received a far more frenzied welcome to Seoul than the Padres, and former KBO star Hyeseong Kim's signing made it clear that the Dodgers' reach in Asia doesn't only extend to Japan.

During Team Japan's run to the finals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Japanese viewership completely blew US ratings out of the water, and they're all but guaranteed to do the same on Tuesday and Wednesday.