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Workers clean the top of the Los Angeles Dodgers\' dugout as they preparefor the Major League Baseball opening game between the Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Sydney Cricket ground in Sydney, Saturday, March 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

G’day, Major League Baseball! Dodgers, Diamondbacks go Down Under on opening day

SYDNEY – The most quintessential of American sports took top billing at the symbolic home of Australia’s national game as the 2014 Major League Baseball season began Down Under at Sydney Cricket Ground.

At a venue steeped in the history of another bat and ball game, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks opened the season Saturday night before a sellout crowd of around 40,000.

The two-game series marks the first regular-season games in Australia. Previous MLB season openers were held in Japan, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The gameday menu was popular, and expensive. It cost $36 for a 2-foot-long hot dog. There also were ice-cream sundaes served in batting helmets.

Another novelty for the crowd involved balls that got hit into the stands. Fans could keep them, unlike cricket where the ball is returned to play.

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