South Korean musical's success spurs hope for more global hits
As NHK World's Kim Chan-ju explains, that comes as Seoul is investing in its future musical theater stars.
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Former Seibu player David MacKinnon hopes to connect baseball world with new podcast
David MacKinnon had a colorful career for a player who was not taken until the 32nd round of the MLB draft — which no longer exists since the event was shortened — in 2017. He brushed shoulders with Shohei Ohtani as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. He hit a home run against Yoshinobu Yamamoto while playing with the Seibu Lions in NPB. He also played with the Samsung Lions in the Korean Baseball Organization. MacKinnon retired earlier this year, in part to spend more time with his kids, ages 3 and 1. He is also staying busy with a baseball organization he is helping to start in Houston and is even considering writing a book. He is also keeping busy with "Pacific Swings," the podcast he recently started that he hopes can connect the baseball cultures of North America, Japan and South Korea. MacKinnon plans to paint this cross-cultural picture by connecting with current and former players to help pull back the curtain on Asian baseball. He wants Pacific Swings to be fun and unfiltered, and is hopeful the project can attract even more fans and, eventually, sponsors that will help spur growth. 'Just kind of trying to show you what baseball players are like, what the baseball locker rooms are like, and give you stories that you will never hear unless it's two baseball players talking about what we went through and stuff like that,' MacKinnon told The Japan Times. 'Just bring fun to the game. Because a lot of times, it's so serious all the time. Then a lot of times, baseball players give the politically correct (answer). Like, 'You got to trust the process, you got to do this.' People want to see the other side of it, where you're a little more emotional. It's like, 'Yeah, dude, I've been trusting the process, but I'm just bad, you know? I'm not good, I'm just not good right now. Like, I'm doing everything right, but I just can't buy a hit.' So, the honesty side of it, too.' MacKinnon drew upon his own experience for an episode that compared the 1992 film 'Mr. Baseball' (which revolved around a U.S. star player embarking on a career in Japan) with reality and also included tips on how to prepare for playing in Japan. He has already released episodes featuring former Yomiuri Giants pitcher Tyler Beede, 2024 KBO Home Run King Matt Davidson and former Seibu teammate Dietrich Enns, now with the Detroit Tigers. Mackinnon said there is much more in the pipeline. The former Seibu player is also hopeful of attracting some of his former Japanese teammates, mentioning Kaima Taira as a target. For MacKinnon, pulling back the curtain on baseball in Japan and South Korea also means giving fans a fresh perspective on Japanese and Korean players. 'Just kind of introduce them not as gods of baseball, but normal people who are just really good at baseball, that can joke around,' he said. 'A lot of the time, it's very serious, structured. It's great, they take care of their business, but also there's a different side of guys that you might not see on a daily basis. 'Like Taira, one of the coolest guys. Kona (Takahashi, another Lions pitcher), awesome. They're just awesome guys. Ideally, we want to be able to move the podcast into having Japanese players on and having foreign players on to connect both worlds. 'So the goal is to eventually have a bunch of really good Japanese and Korean players on at some point. I don't want our American fans to be like, 'Where did this guy come from?' It's like, this dude has been raking for seven or eight years in Japan or Korea. This dude's been punching out tickets for seven or eight years. He's been there, people just don't know about them unless it's covered on MLB network.' MacKinnon cohosts Pacific Swings with Dutch journalist and baseball fan Jasper Spanjaart, who he says does most of the heavy lifting. 'He's unreal at the whole editing process and stuff,' MacKinnon said. 'That's not me editing that. Obviously, I'm there for the vibes. I'm there to tell good stories. I am not doing the editing. I'm just kind of posting stuff and interacting with fans on the posts. He does a great job with that stuff.' MacKinnon was teammates with Shohei Ohtani while with the Angels. | USA TODAY / VIA REUTERS MacKinnon played college baseball for the University of Hartford before being drafted in 2017, batting .359 in 198 games across four seasons. He played 22 games for the Angels, where he was briefly teammates with Ohtani, and the Oakland Athletics in 2022. He hit .318 with 15 home runs for those organizations in Triple-A that season. MacKinnon moved to Japan in 2023, hitting one of the only two homers Yamamoto allowed that season. He batted .259 with 15 home runs. He hit .294 in KBO the next season. 'I was a 32nd-rounder,' he said. 'Obviously, I was not supposed to get to the big leagues. It's kind of like, 'We'll see if you can play, (or) he had a good college career.' I did rake in college. I just always had the issue of hitting the ball in the air consistently. I would hit the ball pretty hard on a line. But that's been my problem my entire life. So that's never really changed. I got a little bit better at it when I got to Double-A, Triple-A, over to Japan.' MacKinnon could have continued playing, but he wanted a chance to get back to the big leagues or play in the top leagues in Asia. Anything else, he said, would be giving up too much time that he could spend with his family. Through the podcast, he is maintaining a connection with the game and the fans he met along the way, and trying to give fans a new perspective on the sport in Japan and South Korea. 'I loved every second of playing, but it's hard,' he said. 'It's just hard to play. Priorities definitely change. So for me to get to the big leagues and play where I was playing, I had to give 110%.'
