Sports
Column: Baseball diplomacy: How Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish bridge the Japan-South Korea divide
The day after the Dodgers deplaned at Incheon Airport, pictures of Shohei Ohtani and his wife were on the pages of every major newspaper in this country.
Not just any pages. The front pages.
On the evening news, segments on Ohtani were aired before those featuring the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers’ opening-day opponents. The Padres have a couple of Korean players in shortstop Ha-Seong Kim and right-hander Woo-Suk Go.
Ohtani is almost as popular here as he is in his home country.
“Right now,” journalist Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News Agency said, “I think he’s the most beloved Japanese athlete in Korea.
“Ever.
“In any sport.”
For a Japanese athlete to be embraced by South Koreans to this degree is extraordinary, considering the history between their countries. Wounds remain from Japan’s brutal 35-year occupation of Korea in the early 20th century.
Such widespread admiration of a Japanese player would have been unimaginable as recently as 15 years ago, when baseball games between Japan and South Korea were as politically charged as soccer games between Argentina and England or India and Pakistan.
“Back then, with the old-school players, there was definitely tension between the two countries every time they would play each other,” Go said through an interpreter.
Yu Darvish, the Padres’ opening-day starter, played for Japan in the World Baseball Classic in 2009 and again last year. Japan played South Korea both times, but Darvish said the atmospheres were entirely dissimilar.
“There was a feeling in 2009 that South Korea was a rival, an enemy,” Darvish said in Japanese.
Japan won the first two WBCs, in 2006 and 2009, with Ichiro Suzuki as their star. Suzuki is disliked in South Korea to this day.
During a 1997 exhibition series in South Korea, Suzuki complained of the country smelling like garlic. Before the inaugural WBC, Ichiro said he wanted to teach opponents such as South Korea and Taiwan that they “couldn’t beat Japan for the next 30 years.”
South Korea defeated Japan in the first-round stage and again in the second-round group stage, after which then-Dodgers pitcher Jae Seo planted a South Korean flag on the mound in a game played at Angel Stadium.
Ichiro screamed in frustration, and later called the defeat “the most humiliating day of my baseball career.”
Japan later won the tournament.
Ohtani is considerably more respectful, which is one of the reasons he is adored here.
Asked about his popularity in South Korea this week, Ohtani replied in Japanese, “From long ago, Japan and South Korea have played games in international competitions that were extremely intense and I watched them from the time I was a child. I thought South Korea was a great team. Because of that, I’m looking forward to playing in South Korea, and I was grateful to be welcomed at the airport like that.”
Ohtani was also complimentary of South Korea and other Asian countries during the WBC last year.
Independent South Korean journalist Daniel Kim, who operates a YouTube channel with 151,000 subscribers, mentioned how Ohtani included a South Korean flag emoji in a recent caption for an Instagram post. Kim said the small gesture was appreciated, enough to where it made news.
Chan Ho Park, pitching for the Dodgers during a 2008 game, was the first South Korean-born player in MLB.
(Matt Sayles / Associated Press)
Chan Ho Park, a former Dodgers pitcher who was the first South Korean-born major leaguer, counts himself as one of Ohtani’s admirers. Park said South Koreans were right to view Ohtani as a role model.
“Ohtani is a perfect example,” Park said. “In the amateur leagues, they all talk about how Ohtani grew up. Obviously, working hard is the No. 1 priority, but it’s also how to behave to be the right student, the right son.”
As polite as Ohtani is, as unprecedented as his on-field performance is, why wouldn’t South Korea welcome him? The country has already welcomed plenty of other things Japanese.
Yoo mentioned that he drives a Honda and wears clothes by Uniqlo.
“There’s a good portion of the Korean population that likes Japanese culture,” Kim said. “Even when the relationship between the two nations is bad, you see Koreans traveling to Japan.”
Japan has in turn incorporated South Korean culture into its own culture.
“Like, 20 years ago, [Korean dramas], they took off in Japan first,” Kim said. “Before Japanese audiences started watching K-dramas, they were mostly a domestic thing. Somehow, they took off in Japan. K-pop took off in Japan. And then they started going all over the world.”
Baseball has also contributed to cultural exchanges.
San Francisco Giants rookie outfielder Jung Hoo Lee is the son of Jong Beom Lee, who played on South Korea’s WBC team in 2006. The younger Lee was born in Japan while his father was playing for the Chunichi Dragons in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Jung Hoo Lee’s childhood hero?
“As a kid, I loved Ichiro,” Lee said through an interpreter.
Lee shared a clubhouse in spring training this year with a Japanese player, Yoshi Tsutsugo.
“We’ve gone to dinner together and talked baseball,” Lee said.
When Go joined the Padres, he appreciated how Darvish approached him and greeted him in Korean: “Annyeonghaseyo,” or hello.
Padres relief pitcher Woo-Suk Go talks with Yuki Matsui, center, and Yu Darvish during spring training last month.
(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
“We’re both from Asia,” Darvish said. “I know he has some uneasiness. At the same time, he wants to prove his strength, his personal strength, Korea’s strength. I understand that feeling.”
Go and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim now make it a point to say good morning to Darvish every day in Japanese: “Ohayo gozaimasu.”
Darvish said he purchased a translator application for his phone to communicate with his South Korean teammates.
More than anyone, Park understands the big differences that small actions like that can make. Park, who will deliver the ceremonial first pitch before the season opener on Wednesday, played with the Dodgers alongside Hideo Nomo.
Park and Nomo became lifelong friends. Nomo attended Park’s wedding. Nomo also traveled to South Korea for the opening of Park’s museum.
Park is hopeful that watching South Korean and Japanese players interact will make South Koreans and Japanese less suspicious of each other. Darvish has the same hope, saying the passing of time could heal the traumas and extinguish the prejudices of the past.
“I think it’s mostly older people who say, ‘I don’t like Korea’ or ‘I don’t like Japan,’” Darvish said.
Daniel Kim, who will be part of ESPN’s broadcast team for the Dodgers-Padres games, described the Japanese players on the Dodgers and Padres as the ultimate diplomats.
“What Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish have done for the last 48 hours is a lot more than what the political leaders have done on both sides in the last 10 years,” Kim said.
Darvish visited a cafe in Seoul run by a fan he befriended on Twitter.
Ohtani continued to share his fondness of South Korea, recalling a visit he made with a junior national team.
“I was still in high school at the time, so it was different than it is now,” Ohtani said. “But from that time, this was one of the countries I liked. At that point, I’d only been to Taiwan and South Korea, so in that sense, it was special. I think it’s also special that I’ve been able to come back [this week] to play baseball.”
It’s been special in other ways too — ways that extend far beyond balls and strikes and wins and losses.
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LAS VEGAS – Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio were once brothers in arms in the Judgment Day. The two helped the faction run “Monday Night Raw” for several years.
As championships and opportunities came and went, the rift between Balor and Mysterio grew. It came to a head when Balor caused Mysterio to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. Balor leaving the Judgment Day left Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the leaders with JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez sticking around.
Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The latter four chose to ride with Mysterio and attacked Balor on one episode of Raw.
The bitter war led to a match Sunday night at WrestleMania 42. To make matters more interesting, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match a street fight hours before the show was set to begin.
Balor had vowed to bring the “Demon” out and he certainly did.
JACOB FATU PUTS DREW MCINTYRE IN THE ‘REAR VIEW’ IN UNSANCTIONED MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 42
Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Balor made his way to the ring in his “Demon” gear, dripping with red and black paint. Mysterio was in a mask with other Mysterio supporters.
The two then proceeded to beat the crud out of each other.
Mysterio wrapped Balor’s head in between a chair and hit a 619 on him. He tried to pin Balor, but to no avail. At another point, Mysterio tossed Balor through a table set up in the corner.
As many have learned, it’s hard to keep your demons down. Mysterio learned the hard way.
Balor would not give up. Balor clotheslined Mysterio, hit him with a chair multiple times before wrapping his head in between the chair and drop-kicking him into the corner. Balor put Mysterio onto a table and hit the Coup de Grâce for the win.
Dominik Mysterio is introduced before his match against Finn Balor during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Balor excised his own demons, while Mysterio is still haunted.
DENVER — What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.
With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.
Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.
Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.
Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.
(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.
“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.
Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.
“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”
And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?
It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.
Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.
“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”
He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.
The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.
Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.
The Dodgers fell behind 6-5 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.
The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.
The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.
Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.
“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”
If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.
“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’
“I used it as fire to keep working.”
That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.
In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).
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LAS VEGAS – Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.
While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.
The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”
Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.
WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”
Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.
“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”
Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
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On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.
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