TOKYO (AP) – The Boston Red Sox are putting advertisements on their uniforms for the first time.

The World Series champions said Wednesday they will wear sleeve patches with the logo “EMC” when they open the season with a two-game series against the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome on March 22 and 23.

EMC Corp. is a data-storage company based in Hopkinton, Mass.

Ads usually are prohibited from uniforms in Major League Baseball, but the sport has made exceptions for games in Japan.

The New York Mets and Chicago Cubs wore uniform patches for AIU insurance when they played in Tokyo in 2000 and batting helmet stickers for AM-PM markets.

When the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays played at the Tokyo Dome in 2004, their uniforms had white 3-inch patches on the shirt sleeves with the word “Ricoh” in red. Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina kept running his fingers over the patch to smooth it out.

“Chico’s Bail Bonds?” he suggested, a reference to the team sponsor in the movie “The Bad News Bears.”

MLB hasn’t determined whether the A’s will have a uniform ad, spokesman Michael Teevan said. Both teams will have Ricoh logos on their helmets.