MLB back in Britain with two-feet hot dogs, beer bats, Phillies vs Mets rivalry and an uncertain London Series future
PHILADELPHIA Phillies manager Rob Thomson wants MLB’s London Series to “last forever” – but the future of the games is unclear.
Thomson’s Phillies jetted across the Atlantic to take on their rival New York Mets at the London Stadium this weekend.
APThe New York Mets took on the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2024 MLB London Series[/caption]
The London Stadium transformed from a football pitch to a baseball fieldThe Sun
APBryce Harper pulled out a slide celebration after hitting a home run for Philadelphia[/caption]
Major League Baseball brought a taste of the American summer to London for the third time.
Home runs, two-feet long hot dogs and beer bats were just some of the US-themed attractions on offer for fans in east London.
The home of West Ham United in the Premier League underwent a dramatic 18-day transformation from football to baseball in time for the showcase.
But there are currently no plans for a game in 2025 after attempts to stage a series in Paris struck out.
London is next set to host an MLB series in the summer of 2026.
But a new labor deal from 2027 not yet signed is proving to be a curveball for international plans.
“I hope it lasts forever,” Thomson said, speaking on the eve of the 2024 series.
“I think this is a great experience for everyone, growing the sport all over the world.
“If we can have competitive baseball in every country the sport’s only going to be better.”
New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was also part of the first London series in 2019.
He was on the New York Yankees coaching staff when they took down the Boston Red Sox in both games.
London also hosted the Chicago Cubs vs St Louis Cardinals last season after a four-year absence due to Covid.
“Players love it,” Mendoza said. “We all do – this is a great event.
“The MLB is doing a good job of trying to continually grow the game and this is part of it, it’s a great show.”
‘A missed opportunity’
By Sunni Upal, Deputy US Sport Editor
The MLB London Series is a spectacular event with no stone left unturned by organizers when it comes to the fan experience.
The London Stadium genuinely feels like a ballpark and players also seem to really enjoy the trip over.
MLB’s problem is they were already late to the Euro party compared to the NFL and NBA, and now risk falling further behind.
Baseball didn’t make a regular-season appearance in England until 2019.
The NFL started out in London way back in 2007 while the NBA brought regular-season games to the UK for the first time in 2011.
Next year the NBA will take Victor Wembanyama back to Paris for two games in January.
And the NFL will add a fixture at Real Madrid’s iconic Santiago Bernabeu to an international schedule that already includes games in London and Germany.
Baseball has ambitions to go global and will be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Not having any regular-season games in Europe in 2025 feels like a massive missed opportunity.
The games this weekend are being played in front of a capacity 60,000 crowd each day.
The MLB also staged a takeover of Trafalgar Square in central London on Friday night.
The pop up fan park in the heart of the city also featured UK Gladiators Apollo and Fire in a challenge against Mets legend Daniel Murphy and Phillies icon Chase Utley.
London remains an attractive stage to host MLB games, but there will be a blank space on the European baseball calendar next year after Paris fell through.
Speaking to the Associated Press, MLB chief operations and strategy officer Chris Marinak admitted the plans to host games in France never got off the ground.
“That particular one, I would say, really just had never left the conceptual stage to the point where it was scheduled or officially calendared,” he said.
“We would have had to make a lot of leaps forward from where we started.
“We ultimately just felt like there were just too many moving parts at the time to make it happen.
“We’ve clearly identified the U.K. as a priority market and an area that we plan to emphasis for international growth of Major League Baseball.”
Philadelphia landed the first blow of the weekend by winning Saturday’s game in front of 53,882 fans.
The Phillies were powered by a six-run showing in the fourth inning in their 7-2 victory.
Bryce Harper and Whit Merrifield hit home runs in the fourth while Nick Castellanos smashed one down the left field line in the eighth inning.
Food options included a two-foot hot dog or two-foot bed of nachos (center), a New York deli pastrami (left) and a Philly cheesesteak (right)The Sun
PAFans could buy beer bats with London Series branding on[/caption]
APFans enjoyed a taste of the American summer in London[/caption]
APThe Philly Fanatic mascot enjoyed the trip to London[/caption]
PABaseball is not due back in London until 2026, leaving a hole on the calendar next year[/caption]
