MLB travels to Mexico for a historic first-ever regular season series in the nation's capital between the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants in 2023
MLB has always strived to be a global league. This time around, they will travel south of the border to the capital city of Mexico—Mexico City. For the first time ever, the MLB will play a regular season series at the Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú on April 29 & 30, 2023.
The San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants are slated to clash in a city that is around 7,200 feet above sea level. MLB has a history of playing in the proud nation of Mexico. They've previously played regular-season games at the Estadio de Beisbol in Monterrey.
The tradition of playing in Mexico went way back in 1996 when the Padres battled the New York Mets in the aforementioned Monterrey. As recently as 2019, the league held games in the stadium between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Angels.
History will be made! For the first time MLB will play a regular season series in Mexico City.
See you in April 2023. #MexicoSeries #YoAmoElBeis https://t.co/aVn5g5ydnp
"History will be made! For the first time MLB will play a regular season series in Mexico City. See you in April 2023. #MexicoSeries #YoAmoElBeis" - @ MLB
The scheduled series between the Padres and Giants will be the fifth regular season series played in the country and the first in its capital. The Padres currently don't have any Mexican-born players in the squad. Nonetheless, excited for the opportunity to play in the country as expressed by their CEO Erik Greupner.
"We are fortunate to have a loyal and passionate fan base in Mexico, and it will be an honor to showcase our team in Mexico's capital city at the beautiful new ballpark built by and named after Padres minority owner Alfredo Harp Helú." - Greupner
The Giants, on the other hand, have one Mexican player in their squad in the form of outfielder Luis Gonzalez. Giants president Larry Baer shared his thoughts on the upcoming series.
"It will be an honor to represent Major League Baseball, as well as San Francisco, at historic Mexico City for the first time ever." - Baer
The occasion will be the first regular-season series outside of the U.S. or Canada since rivals Yankees and Red Sox clashed in London in June 2019.
MLB as a global sport
Just like every other sport, baseball is an expanding game. In Opening Day 2022, 38% out of the 975 players listed were of diverse backgrounds. Baseball has become a staple sport in the Dominican Republic, Curacao, and Aruba and these island countries are exporting more players to the league than ever before.
The games scheduled in Mexico City on April 2023 are the 25th and 26th respective games held outside the United States and Canada. Despite internal criticisms that the sport is becoming less popular stateside, this is a testament that the league has managed to attract worldwide audiences.