MLB to play a game in LONDON next year ?

[Munkfish]

Exactly - Yankee Stadium already hosts soccer games for New York City FC and it certainly doesn't work.

I watched Man City play at the yankees stadium it was crap.

Personally this is just a huge gimic to get in on the act. It doesnt work which is a shame. Some of the baseball stadiums in America are the most iconic stadiums in the world. Baseball at the olympic stadium or likewise just doesnt seem right.

Would it be one game or a full series?

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Give me baseball over basketball any day. Bounce, bounce, jump, score or miss, ball now with other team to do same

It seems you don't get basketball in the same way I don't get baseball.
But I would never call it rounders and I am sure you would not call basketball netball for tall blokes.

 

[Cantona's Flying Dropkick]

They could play a game at the iPro stadium, Derby

 

[maltaseagull]

Why would anyone want to see rubbish like this anyway ? it's only Rounders with chewing gum and hats ad infinitum.

Don't forget the endless stats !

 

[Guinness Boy]

Baseball's a funny old one for me. The statistics base, the number of games per season and length of any one game plus the sense of history and Americana make almost any writing about it compelling. Latest example for me was Bryson's 1927 talking about Babe Ruth's record home run season and how Ruth and the Yankees lived in general. Fascinating stuff.

Unfortunately I tried watching it in Japan and Taiwan where it's huge and it bored me shitless.

 

[blue'n'white]

Give me baseball over basketball any day. Bounce, bounce, jump, score or miss, ball now with other team to do same

Have to agree with this - I can't get excited over games that end up 121 to 119 and where EVERY play is expected to end in a scoring shot for the team.
I saw that the powers that be were trying to bring a MLB game over here and i would be very excited to go. Whether it would have the excitement of a game in the States I don't know (they probably wouldn't sell drink at your seat and if they did it'd be twice the price of in an American stadium) but I'm certainly willing to give it a go

 

[Lower West Stander]

Baseball games at Yankee Stadium are great. But it's very American. Loads of food scoffing, people wandering about chatting, turning up at the start of the 6th inning. Shitloads of breaks in play for commercial tv. I love going but just don't think it fits culturally with sports in the UK.

Now hockey.........

 

[Gwylan]

Baseball games at Yankee Stadium are great. But it's very American. Loads of food scoffing, people wandering about chatting, turning up at the start of the 6th inning. Shitloads of breaks in play for commercial tv. I love going but just don't think it fits culturally with sports in the UK.

... and the beer's crap too.
I've been to the Yankee stadium to see them play the Red Sox, it was a great experience but I don't think I'd want to do it a couple of times a week. Would definitely be interested in a game in the UK though

 

[Napier's Knee]

No no, not baseball. We need Aussie Rules - amazing sport. And as I've said before when he is in Melbourne Uncle Tony ought to sign a deal with Alastair Calrkson, the Hawthorn coach, to come over here and provide motivation for the Albion. Imagine Guardiola, Ferguson and Shankly all moulded into one - that's Clarkson

 

[Simster]

If you think it's rounders, I'd venture to suggest you've missed some of the subtleties. Okay, all of them ...

Yes, this.

Baseball is the best of the big 4 North American sports (just ahead of ice hockey), IMO.

 

[Easy 10]

Would it be one game or a full series?

Thats what I was wondering.

It would make sense for it to be a 3 or 4 game series. They never just play a singular game in isolation during the regular season, its always a series over there, and this would be a long way to travel just to play 1 game. They could maximise it by having at least one of the games as an evening one as well. I would EXPECT it to be 3 games at least, on consecutive days.

 

[Guinness Boy]

No no, not baseball. We need Aussie Rules - amazing sport. And as I've said before when he is in Melbourne Uncle Tony ought to sign a deal with Alastair Calrkson, the Hawthorn coach, to come over here and provide motivation for the Albion. Imagine Guardiola, Ferguson and Shankly all moulded into one - that's Clarkson

Now there's a sport I did fall in love with on my travels. I was a regular at Sydney Swans. Started off in the O'Reilly, I suppose the SCGs West Upper equivalent but was soon talked down to pitch level on the other side by the Aussie rules regulars in our office. It's one of those where the closer you are to the action the more you appreciate how double hard the players are. Basically non stop running round a cricket oval (they don't bother stopping for injuries) chasing a ball while having the shit kicked out of you. Still look for Swannies results now and followed the whole Adam Goodes affair.

 

[Simster]

It would surely be a full series.

I think the question of which two teams will be an interesting question. I think it'll be a mistake to send two small clubs over, and that will be the temptation seeing as both clubs would be forgoing home games. If they do that, they'd probably make more money in the short term sending their games to London because clubs like the Cubs/Angels/Red Sox/Yankees all have huge support and don't need to antagonise their local fans by playing a series in the UK. But two small clubs would send the wrong message about how MLB regard baseball fans in this country.

 

[Stat Brother]

If I go then don't bother going.

Most seasons I try to get into it.
I pick games and watch 'with' an NSC seamhead.

Without fail our conversations end with 'sure that wasn't a good match, but the next one will be better'.

I have a knack of picking the equivalent game to Bristol City v The Albion on a Tuesday night, a couple of years ago.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Yes, this.

Baseball is the best of the big 4 North American sports (just ahead of ice hockey), IMO.

This, this, this.

What's so great about baseball in the context of American sport is that - somehow, amongst all that hype and drivel - it has a proper integrity to it.

Not many other US sports have a tendency sometimes to be a bit SLOW for long stretches of the game, for example, but baseball does and people embrace it. This means that, a bit like cricket, you get the stuff that comes with that, like entertaining, chatty radio commentary, people nattering away to each other during a game etc. Plus it goes without saying that sometimes baseball can also be thrillingly exciting. I love it.

I think this game over here will have some curiosity value but that's about it.

 

[Easy 10]

It would surely be a full series.

I think the question of which two teams will be an interesting question. I think it'll be a mistake to send two small clubs over, and that will be the temptation seeing as both clubs would be forgoing home games. If they do that, they'd probably make more money in the short term sending their games to London because clubs like the Cubs/Angels/Red Sox/Yankees all have huge support and don't need to antagonise their local fans by playing a series in the UK. But two small clubs would send the wrong message about how MLB regard baseball fans in this country.

NFL only seems to send over the "smaller" teams to Wembley, but then there's only 8 home games a season, so that's quite a sacrifice.

The fact that there are 81 home games in the regular season in baseball lessens the impact of losing a home series to London, so I wouldn't be surprised to see at least one of the bigger boys making the trip, maybe against a smaller team (please please please be the Twins).

 

[Peter Grummit]

If they played it at the Olympics Stadium it would be in athletics mode rather than West Ham mode I'd guess.

View attachment 71825

The dimensions of the stadium, whilst not standard, play a big part in the game. For example, the A's in Oakland play in the old NFL stadium and the foul territory is huge which leads to a lot more foulouts. Where is that picture? I would guess the catcher and 3rd baseman spent half the game chasing foulballs.

Whilst I'm a huge fan of the sport, I'm not a huge fan of taking any sport's 'home' game halfway across the world. How would we like it if it was announced one of our home games had been moved 3,000 miles away? Having said that if it was the Rangers I'd be first in the queue (hypocrite!)

PG

 

[Easy 10]

Whilst I'm a huge fan of the sport, I'm not a huge fan of taking any sport's 'home' game halfway across the world. How would we like it if it was announced one of our home games had been moved 3,000 miles away? Having said that if it was the Rangers I'd be first in the queue (hypocrite!)PG

But when you get 81 home games a season (all within the space of 6 months), its not quite such a big deal losing a handful of those games to another country. I doubt there are many fans who go to every home game....you'd have to be retired or unemployed !

 

[8ace]

The dimensions of the stadium, whilst not standard, play a big part in the game. For example, the A's in Oakland play in the old NFL stadium and the foul territory is huge which leads to a lot more foulouts. Where is that picture? I would guess the catcher and 3rd baseman spent half the game chasing foulballs.

Whilst I'm a huge fan of the sport, I'm not a huge fan of taking any sport's 'home' game halfway across the world. How would we like it if it was announced one of our home games had been moved 3,000 miles away? Having said that if it was the Rangers I'd be first in the queue (hypocrite!)

PG

It's the Dodgers at the LA Coliseum.

 

[Peter Grummit]

But when you get 81 home games a season (all within the space of 6 months), its not quite such a big deal losing a handful of those games to another country. I doubt there are many fans who go to every home game....you'd have to be retired or unemployed !

The principle just smacks of 'franchise sport' to me. But yes, I did recognise that point. And it would be a good excuse to visit London for a vacation.

Looking forward to a trip to the Eastern seaboard with the family myself this summer and taking in a couple of Rangers games at Camden Yards (Baltimore), and maybe a game at Fenway or in NY.

PG