2008 MLB Season to Begin in Japan?

SI.com reports that the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics will start the 2008 Major League Baseball season in the Tokyo Dome. MLB has started the season in Japan in 2000 and 2004. A draft of next years schedule has been sent to the Major League Baseball Players Association on Monday for approval.

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NEW YORK (AP) -- The Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics are lined up to meet in a Tokyo Dome opener next season.

Major League Baseball gave the players' union a draft 2008 schedule on Monday, and the Red Sox would open the United States portion of their schedule at Oakland, according to Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer.

Baseball officials have spent several months formulating a plan in which the Red Sox -- with Japanese stars  Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima -- would start the season in Japan against an AL West opponent, then return to the United States for a series at that same AL West team.

Orza said that while Boston and Oakland are leading candidates, it's not a done deal yet.

"Nothing is fixed. Nothing is certain. Obviously, that's one of the things we're looking at," he said.

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