league of nations

well i was up early enough to catch the dodger/padre game in seoul this morning. it was good to see the dodgers put together a rally (albeit one aided by jake cronenworth's faulty equipment) and a strong pitching performance from the bullpen. it's weird that the season is officially begun, yet there are still spring training games going on for the next week.

anyway, you are probably expecting some chan ho park cards (he threw out the first pitch before today's game) so i don't want to disappoint.  here's his 1998 upper deck national pride insert

as well as his 2000 upper deck united nations insert

both of which prominently include south korea's flag into the design. here's the back of the 2000 card:

i recall park being the first korean player to debut in the major leagues, but i did not recall that he skipped the minors altogether. since park debuted in 1994, there have been 26 more players from korea appear in the majors. that number will increase in 2024 once the giants kick off their season and jung-hoo lee takes the field.

i have a couple more country themed cards to show, including mike piazza's national pride card

as well as a couple of cards from the 2023 topps wbc set. here's mookie betts

and freddie freeman

freeman's card is an insert of some sort.

and, because the 2024 season is no underway, here's a 2024 card of betts

there were no home runs today, so i'm not sure what the hr trot thing will be this year.

i'm looking forward to the dodgers closing out the series tomorrow and returning to the states. i'll be heading out to target field to see them in april, and am looking forward to seeing a couple of players from japan in particular.

happy opening day!