Welcome to the International Beat newsletter. I'm MLB.com's Michael Clair and I'm glad you're here. 

When the Dodgers and Padres take the field at Gocheok SkyDome in Seoul on March 20 to open the regular season, big league history will be made. For the first time ever, a Major League regular season contest will be held in Korea, home to one of the most passionate baseball fanbases and cultures in the world. 

With this groundbreaking game coming up, we thought it was long past due to honor some of the Korean trailblazers who have paved the way. 

First Korean-born MLB player: Chan Ho Park

It can be hard to remember how enormous the impact Park made when he signed with the Dodgers while he was a sophomore at Hanyang University in Seoul before the 1994 season. The L.A. Times called it “Chan-Ho Mania,” while Tom Byun of the English edition of the Korean Times said, “from elementary students to old people, there’s much interest in Chan Ho Park." The newspaper even sent a reporter to Vero Beach, Fla., for Spring Training for the first time that year. 

Expected to pitch in the Minors that season, Park’s Spring Training performance quickly earned him a spot on the big league roster. On April 8, 1994, he made his big league debut when he entered in the 9th inning of a 6-0 loss to the Braves -- his debut getting overshadowed by Kent Mercker’s no-hitter. 

Park would go on to have a productive 17-year MLB career, earning election to the All-Star Game in 2001 and winning 124 games -- still the most by a Korean-born player in MLB history. 

First Korean-born position player: Hee-Seop Choi

Signed to a $1.2 million contract with the Cubs following South Korea’s second-place finish at the 1998 Baseball World Cup, Choi was one of the game’s biggest prospects as he moved through Chicago’s Minor League system. While he would display light-tower power in the Minor Leagues, crushing 26 home runs in Triple-A in 2002, big league pitchers were able to exploit a hole in his upper-cut swing with a steady diet of breaking stuff. Still, Choi finished with 40 career big league homers and became a cult hero for his time with the Marlins. 

First Korean-born player to win a World Series: Byung-Hyun Kim

Armed with a frisbee slider and rising fastball, the submarining reliever may have been scapegoated for blowing leads in Games 4 and 5 of the 2001 World Series, but he was a crucial member of the D-backs bullpen all season long. That year, Kim saved 19 games with a 2.94 ERA before doing even better in 2002 -- posting a 2.04 ERA with 36 saves. 

First Korean-born position player to reach the All-Star Game: Shin-Soo Choo 

No matter how you slice it, Choo is atop the leaderboards for Korean-born MLB players. He leads in WAR (34.6), HRs (218), hits (1,671), and stolen bases (157). An all-around star with one of the sharpest batting eyes in the game -- Choo finished his big league career with .377 OBP, the same as Hall of Famers Fred McGriff and Derek Jeter -- Choo returned to play in the KBO in 2021 and recently announced that this upcoming season will be his last. 

Largest contract for a Korean-born player: Jung Hoo Lee

He’s yet to make his MLB debut and he’s already got a record to his name: When the Giants signed the outfield phenom earlier this winter to a six-year, $113 million contract, it broke Hyun Jin Ryu’s record of a four-year, $80 million deal he signed with the Blue Jays in 2019 (Ryu will be returning to the KBO after signing an eight-year deal with the Hanwha Eagles this winter). 

It’s not hard to see why Lee earned the deal: Just 25-years-old, Lee is an exceptional all-around athlete, hitting .340 for his career in the KBO with 65 home runs and 69 stolen bases. 

First American-born player to play for Team Korea: Tommy Edman

While many U.S. born athletes have gone to play in the KBO over the years, the Cardinals' second baseman made history last spring when he joined Team Korea for the World Baseball Classic. Though Korea’s tournament may not have gone as planned as they failed to advance out of the group stage, Edman's place in history is secure.

Tiago Da Silva has played everywhere. The Brazilian-Italian national has appeared for both nations in World Baseball Classic games and qualifiers and has pitched professionally in Taiwan, Italy, Mexico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and in America in the Blue Jays' Minor League system. The 38-year-old -- who recently  won the Caribbean Series with Tiburones a few weeks ago -- has now been called up by his former Team Italy manager, Marco Mazzieri, for the upcoming Global Baseball Games pitting Team Europe vs. Samurai Japan. Da Silva briefly spoke with MLB.com ahead of the competition. Here are a few of his answers. 

MLB: You have played all over the world. Where was your favorite place to play? 

Da Silva: I have played in a lot of places. But the thing that has impressed me the most are the fans in Venezuela. They are on top, vibrating with every hit, with every out, with every play.

Just last month, we won with the Tiburones in Venezuela. That's the first title for that team in 37 years. And then we won the Caribbean Series. When we went back to Venezuela, we had a parade and there were thousands of people. They treated us like heroes. It was really amazing.

MLB: You've been so many places and played in so many big games. What's your favorite game in your career? 

Da Silva: I think my favorite game will have to be my start against the Dominican Republic in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. I threw five and one-third of an inning. We were up 4-2 when I left the game. After that, I started getting calls from different leagues, different teams asking me to play with them. That also got me the opportunity with the Toronto Blue Jays. 

MLB: How do you always keep pitching? Do you ever take a break?

Da Silva: I think God blessed me with this arm. I had my Tommy John surgery two years ago, so I think I've played 20 years and now have another 20 years left in this arm. I really like baseball. I really like playing baseball. I can't be standing still. 

Thanks to Efrain Ruiz for translation. 

• 13-year-old Mathieu Silva -- a native of Bollate, just outside of Milan in Italy -- could be a big part of the country's baseball future. He's currently attending middle school and playing baseball in the United States on a cross-cultural scholarship thanks to Rays senior director of player development Blake Butera and his father, Barry. Casey Drottar has the story.

• Drottar also took a look at the incredibly fun atmosphere at baseball games in Taiwan. This is the story of how cheerleading helped save baseball in the country.  

• With Yoshinobu Yamamoto now on the Dodgers, which phenom could be next? Noah Yingling looked at five Japanese pitchers who could be the next MLB ace. 

• Back in 1996, the Braves thought they might have found their next ace on the Czech Republic Olympic team. I wrote about world record-holding javelin thrower Jan Železný's tryout. 

• You might remember Bhutan baseball from last year's incredibly viral photo that went around the world. Well, there's a new chapter in the story: The Hudson Valley Renegades are going to host a Bhutan Baseball Day with Bhutanese players being brought to the United States to see their first professional game. They're also selling jerseys to raise money to bring as many players over as possible. 

• Unfortunately, we have some very sad news to share. Czech national team coach and head coach of Draci Brno's youth academy David Winkler passed away at the age of 43. Our condolences to his family, friends, and everyone whose lives he touched in the baseball community. 

March 6-7: Japan vs. Team Europe

March 9-10: Dominican Series: Red Sox vs. Rays

March 20-21: Seoul Series: Dodgers vs. Padres

March 28: MLB Opening Day 

After Tommy Fine threw a no-hitter against Venezuela in the Caribbean Series on Feb. 21, 1952, it took until Feb. 7, 2024, when Venezuela's Ángel Padrón threw another one, this time against Nicaragua. That's 72 years -- an entire lifetime between no-nos!

Padrón -- who was in the Red Sox system from 2015-19 -- struck out four batters with only an eighth-inning walk coming between him and perfection in Venezuela's 9-0 win. If that's not enough to win player of the month, well, I don't know what is. 

"I wanted to cry, I really didn't have words, I don't have words yet to describe what happened. But hey, when the out was made I believed it and said to myself, 'Wow, I'm history'. Thank God I did it," Padrón told Las Mayores' Efrain Ruiz when describing what he felt after the game. 

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For tips, hints, or just to talk about international baseball, find me @michaelsclair on X/Twitter and IG or email me at Michael.Clair@MLB.com.

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