Mariners and A's to Open 2012 MLB Season in Japan

Mariners and A's to Open 2012 MLB Season in Japan
John Raffel

Tokyo, Japan

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced the full schedule of the 2012 season, lining up a two-game season opener between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics on March 28-29 in Japan.

The Mariners and Athletics are set to open up their 2012 regular-season in Japan, making it only the sixth time the MLB opens a season abroad.

Tokyo Dome, which hosted the season-opener between the Red Sox and the Athletics in 2008, will also stage next year's two-game baseball spectacle.

There are only 10 ball clubs (New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies) to open their season abroad.

Aside from giving Japanese fans top-notch baseball, the Mariners-Athletics game also seeks to raise funds for rebuilding effort in the wake of the Feb 2011 Tohuko earthquake and tsunami.

"Major League Baseball is very pleased to give Japanese fans a chance to see the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics, two franchises with great popularity in Japan," Commissioner Bud Selig said according to MLB.com Wednesday.

A week after the Japan season opener, Ozzie Guillen's Miami Marlins will host the St. Louis Cardinals at the new Florida's new ballpark on April 4 to formally jump-start the 2012 regular-season.