Intro:

Japanese baseball fans gathered at Tokyo airport on Friday to catch a glimpse of the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics ahead of their season-opening series next week.

Script:

The Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics' players caused a bit of a stir in Tokyo on Friday when they arrived ahead of their 2012 Major League Baseball season opening series next week.

For the Mariners, the player all the locals were looking to catch a glimpse of was 10-time All-Star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.

Along with Ichiro, Seattle have also arrived with a squad that includes new utility infielder Munenori Kawasaki and pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, and as such are likely to garner plenty of support.

As for the Athletics, the most famous in their travelling party is likely to be general manager Billy Beane after the club spent the winter dumping their high-priced stars.

Beane was recently portrayed by Brad Pitt in the film 'Moneyball' but will be keen for his players to make the headlines when the season openers take place On Wednesday and Thursday.

This will be the fourth time the MLS season has begun in Japan, with Oakland contesting the last series against the Boston Red Sox in 2008.

The MLS will dedicate the series to the continuing recovery of Japan's north east region following last year's devastating earthquake and Tsunami, with players from both teams set to visit affected areas.