Los Angeles Dodgers Get First Home Run From Former Stanford Cardinal

Mar 19, 2025; Bunkyo, Tokyo, JPN; Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Tommy Edman (25) rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the third inning against the Chicago Cubs during the Tokyo Series at Tokyo Dome. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The MLB season in underway, and former Stanford Cardinal Tommy Edman started it off with a bang. In the early hours of the morning on the west coast, the Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman took a 90 mile per hour heater from Justin Steele and deposited it deep into the Tokyo Dome stands in left field.

Tommy with the first Dodger homer of 2025! pic.twitter.com/suYBfw5YxP

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 19, 2025

The home run was the first of the 2025 MLB season, and obviously the first for the Dodgers themselves.

The Dodgers would go on to win the game, 6-3, over the Chicago Cubs, sweeping the quick two game series in Japan. They also managed to win these games without two of their best players, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, in the lineup.

Part of the reason for those two wins against a formidable foe is the resurgence of Edman, who won the NLCS MVP last postseason against the New York Mets. The other part of the equation (aside from the pitching, of course) was Shohei Ohtani, who also went yard in this game.

The Dodgers are a loaded team, which led to a number of baseball fans on social media to look for a solution to counter Los Angeles' spending habits this winter.

Every fan wishes their team operated like the Dodgers, and since many owners around the sport chase profits instead of championships, they would rather have the competition come to where they are operating. To a degree, it makes sense. The Dodgers have won nearly every NL West title since 2013.

At the same time, they invest in their roster, analysts, and a slew of programs in player development that get the most out of each player in their system. Baseball isn't as predictable as some of the other sports out there, and for all of the Dodgers' winning during the regular season for over a decade now, they hav two World Series wins.

One of those a number of fans don't even count, given that it came during the Covid-shortened 2020 season.

They also add guys like Tommy Edman, who offers the roster a bit of flexibility, being able to man a few different positions depending on what the team's needs are. After missing a large chunk of the 2024 campaign, the hope is that health will be on his side in 2025, and that he will return to more of the player he has shown he can be throughout the regular season in his career.

That said, the Dodgers don't need much help getting through the regular season with a postseason berth in some form or fashion. FanGraphs has them projected for 98 wins this season, and gives them a 98.3% chance to make it to October.

In the series, Edman went 2-for-10 with that home run, a single, and two RBI. The Dodgers will now return to Los Angeles, where they will play the L.A. Angels for three more exhibition games--one at Dodger Stadium and two at Angel Stadium--from March 23 to 25.

From there, they'll have another day of rest before taking on the Detroit Tigers in their home opener, which is set to kick off on March 27.