With the team going with a bullpen day for their first exhibition game in Japan, Merryweather opened for the Cubs against the NPB’s Hanshin Tigers. And after a relatively subdued first half inning, the chants began soon after Merryweather took the mound for warmup pitches.

A cacophony of chants, horns, drums and cheers greeted Julian Merryweather as he faced the Hanshin Tigers, while the Chicago Cubs hitters experienced a very different atmosphere in the 3-0

Catch the Chicago Cubs and the Hanshin Tigers in the Tokyo Series on Marquee Sports Network this Friday. The Cubs have made the trip to Japan and will play in this exhibition game before starting the regular season against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

This week, Suzuki returned to his hometown of Tokyo, representing the Cubs in his fourth MLB season. “My goal is to stay in this league and play for as long as I can, until my body stops working,” Suzuki said. “Here [in MLB] it’s so hard with age, but also, whenever your performance drops, there’s always that next guy up.”

Facing the Hanshin Tigers and hearing the team’s cheering section was a blast from the recent past for the former Hiroshima Carp star.

Seiya Suzuki remembers being in the Tokyo Dome when Hideki Matsui returned with the Yankees as part of MLB’s season-opening series in 2004. Matsui launched a mammoth home run deep into the right-field stands and a 9-year-old Suzuki was within the wild,