Seiya Suzuki was too young and not yet into baseball when the Chicago Cubs last played at the Tokyo Dome 25 years ago. But the memory of being in the ballpark in 2004 and watching Japanese great Hideki Matsui slug a home run for the New York Yankees still resonates with the 30-year-old Suzuki.

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,

Seiya Suzuki, right, and Shota Imanaga, left, of the Chicago Cubs, pose for photographers after attending an official news conference Friday, March 14, 2025, in Tokyo, before the Cubs play their MLB opening baseball games against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Tokyo Dome next week.