OT: Yankees vs. Red Sox in London

Submitted by Hotel Putingrad on June 29th, 2019 at 12:44 PM

Quick two-game series starts within the hour. This seems like a great novelty for the dog days of summer.

Will you be watching?

What other rivalry contest would you like to see in an untraditional setting?

Perhaps Michigan vs. OSU played in Mexico City?

jerseyblue

June 29th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^

I'll watch because I'm a Yankee fan but I don't like the idea of all this. It's just to sell jerseys. Same feeling I have for NFL in London. The people there don't care.  It's been barely written about in their sports pages. A radio host found 1 column written about it yesterday. A darts article had more views. If they had a Chelsea vs Man U premier league game over here the Brits would riot and I wouldn't blame them. The Japan or Mexico games I can understand more because they love baseball. Even if the had a game in South America or South Korea I can get. But London? Nah. Just wreaks of billionaire owners digging their snouts deeper into the cash trough.

snarling wolverine

June 29th, 2019 at 1:18 PM ^

I get that London is apparently the trendy place to play overseas games but it's kind of pointless as far as spreading the game goes.  British people already play a bat-and-ball game (cricket).  They're not likely to adopt ours.

Wolverine 73

June 29th, 2019 at 1:25 PM ^

Gimmick games.  Hope they both manage to lose.  And the idea of Michigan v. OSU in Mexico City or anywhere other than Ann Arbor or Columbus is abhorrent.

Perkis-Size Me

June 29th, 2019 at 1:40 PM ^

I don’t know what the MLB is trying to accomplish, aside from selling jerseys, by having this series in London. Locals do not and will not ever give a shit about baseball. I know the stadium is full, but how many of those are American expats living in town? I imagine you’ve got a ton of expats from the East Coast, especially from NYC and Boston, living in London. The UK has cricket. They’re not interested in adopting baseball. If this was done in, say, Mexico City, Tokyo, Seoul, or some other country that has a vested interest in baseball, it might make sense. But I can’t imagine there was any real coverage of this game in the London sports media this week. They. Do. Not. Care. 

And I hope you’re fucking kidding about playing OSU anywhere other than Ann Arbor or Columbus. The only way that would ever be acceptable is in: A) Indy (assuming they ever realigned the divisions), B) a playoff semifinal, or C) a national title game.

NittanyFan

June 29th, 2019 at 2:04 PM ^

There are 2,430 regular-season MLB games a year.  As opposed to 380 Premier League matches, 256 NFL games or 56 B1G conference football games.  MLB has more "bandwidth" to try stuff like this.  

I don't think this will work as well as Tokyo and Monterrey (as others have said, the British have their own bat-and-ball game).  But it's worth a shot.

Late Bluemer

June 29th, 2019 at 5:55 PM ^

I get that it's a huge rivalry but those two teams play some boring baseball against each other.  This may be anecdotal, but it seems at least half of the game is spent w/ the batter stepping out to take umpteen practice swings.

chatster

June 29th, 2019 at 6:38 PM ^

There was an NFL football score in a five-hour game between United States baseball teams played in a soccer stadium in London where Prince Harry and his wife Duchess Meghan Markle were in attendance while (a) the English National Women's Team was practicing for their next match against the United States Women's National Team in the semifinals of the Women's World Cup soccer tournament being played across the English Channel in France and (b) professional tennis players were descending on London to prepare for the Wimbledon Championships that start on Monday. #SPORTS

seksdesk

June 30th, 2019 at 4:58 PM ^

currently in London with my family. While we did not attend the game (picked up the commemorative hat however), many people in our hotel were attending and were out of their minds because the first inning lasted an hour and 20 minutes and the whole game was over 6 hours... During the hottest day of the year!

Shit tons of Boston and Yankees gear walking around London Saturday and Sunday. Kind of fun!