Major League Baseball and the Los Angeles Dodgers had a very obvious motive when they invited BTS’s V, aka Kim Taehyung, to throw out the first pitch at the game last night. There has always been a relationship between sports and entertainment. Sports is entertainment. Athletes, musicians, actors, models, directors, writers – they’re all part of the cultural ecosystem. The difference in this case, where MLB, the Dodgers, and V is concerned, is that he is a non-American superstar whose first language is not English. And yet the league and one of its most high-profile teams were out to leverage his celebrity and influence, as a member of the biggest band on the planet, to draw attention to their sport. 

 

I want to be clear about that because V and BTS does not need MLB and the Dodgers. His appearance was 100% to the advantage of them, he was doing them a favour. We’ve already talked about how the ticketing site crashed after they made the announcement that he was coming. Ticket sales went up, merch sales went up, the impact was immediate. Many media members yesterday could be heard on and off air remarking on the buzz that accompanied, and it’s not like the Dodgers can’t draw a crowd, but they had to acknowledge that last night’s energy was that much more electrifying, especially for a regular season Monday. So, credit to them, when game time came around, they were ready and respectful. And all about fan service, LOL. 

 

Take a look at the Dodgers TikTok account. Most of the posts are game and player related but this? Straight out of a K-drama. 

@dodgers

Welcome to Dodger Stadium, V! #dodgers #sports #losangeles #bts #kpop

♬ original sound - Los Angeles Dodgers
 

BTS’s “Mic Drop” was steadily playing throughout V’s visit to Dodgers Stadium, along with a steady soundtrack of BTS hits. That’s the bare minimum. Referencing “IDOL”, one of BTS’s signature tracks, in all-caps for his meeting with Shohei Ohtani was a nice touch, and multi-layered. 

The way he introduces himself, “I’m Tae, nice to meet you”, is too much for my purple heart! 

Here’s another good pun. 

 

Now look at MLB’s post confirming the Dodgers 7-0 win over Cincinnati:

Tae was the league’s mascot last night, MLB and the Dodgers involved him as much as they could, at every opportunity. And that included a 30-minute-plus livestream during pre-game that brought in over half a million views as ARMY from around the world tuned in to watch Tae warm up and participate in the festivities. He did them a favour too and stayed for the game so that there wasn’t a mass exodus from fans who, let’s be honest, were only there to watch him. 

 

As for the pitch itself, the Korean Southpaw represented well. This is a good pitch, and he looked GREAT doing it. At our ETALK morning meeting today we were all talking about his jeans. Two angles:

 

In addition to throwing out the first pitch, he also gave the Dodgers’ traditional call, followed by a bow. Stop it, he’s too cute I can’t stand it. And I don’t think Dodgers Stadium has ever seen so many bows. 

V chose to wear the number 7 on his jersey – 7, of course, is for OT7, BTS is 7. And then the Dodgers won by 7. What is this magic?! 

Kim Tae-Hyung, also known as V of BTS, threw the first pitch at a baseball game at Dodger Stadium on August 25, 2025.
Photo credits: John Salangsang/ Shutterstock

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