Reliving The London Series: A Mets Fan’s Perspective

This is a Fan Shot by former MMO writer Satish Ram.

At some point in your life as a masochist (or Mets fan, as the kids say), you begin to realize your normal level of suffering just will not cut it anymore. The blown leads, the questionable roster management, and the inability to hit with men on base just became a regular Tuesday night. You start to think, Satish (your name is Satish too in this scenario, so bear with me), how can I spice it up?

Well, luckily for me, Major League Baseball had the answer. They decided to schedule our lovely Mets to play a two-game series across the pond in London, England. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the Mets take a loss in a completely new time zone and continent! This was objectively the change that I needed, so when the opportunity arose, I took a shot and put the trip together.

Quips aside, the idea of traveling all the way to England to watch the Mets sounded exactly like something a Mets fan should be doing, and it was worth the effort. A friend of mine, Rob, was kind enough to secure the tickets for the actual game, so the plan came together.

MLB did a good job setting up the hype for the series from the start by hosting three days of parties that bled into the games. The games were played on Saturday and Sunday, but a main area in Trafalgar Square was transformed into a zone for MLB fans to gather.

They laid out “Mets” and “Phillies” zones, but they were mainly just common areas for bars and food options. Batting cages scattered the area and Topps provided an exhibit where they would print you on a baseball card. Both of these were free-of-charge. MLB brought in a custom “home-run taxi” branded with the Mets and Phillies logos as well. If you happen to be a collector of the cups from the games, the London series provided a nice one and a collection of pins.

Friday night, MLB set up a type of home run derby for a grey-haired shell of a man named Chase Utley and local hero (former Long Island Duck) Daniel Murphy to face off. Team Daniel Murphy, powered by the emotional support of David Wright, Mike Piazza, and Mookie Wilson, scored a victory for the good guys. One of my companions managed to get Mike Piazza to sign his beer cup, too. Dare I say it might have been the closest you could get to these legends for the price of zero dollars—and there was no shortage of a turnout.

It was at this moment that I realized that, to their credit, Philadelphia fans travel. In many spaces throughout the weekend, the Mets fans were a little outnumbered. That being said, it was a feel-good moment to start the weekend for the Metropolitans, and they were off to drop a game on Saturday.

Each game had a pre-game situation set up at a bar called All My Friends. It led to some great verbal situations when I had to tell people I was leaving all my friends to attend the game, but I digress. Steve Cohen stopped by on Saturday, but I missed that part while I was deciding on what beer to get. I really, honestly, truly, wish I was kidding. I only managed to see him depart. I did manage to come down in time to be hit in the face with a blue and orange smoke bomb, though.

Heading toward the London Stadium, where West Ham United typically plays, the surrounding areas were set up with activities outside of your traditional merch stalls and vendors. There were batting cages for the kids, photo opportunities, and a few family-style activities here and there.

Luis Torrens' game-ending double play in London earns him the @Chevrolet Electric Play of the Week! ???? pic.twitter.com/aAZNeBRqGd

— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2024

The Saturday night game itself was fun if you could put aside the Mets taking the loss. Clearly, the number of Americans outnumbered the locals, but the stadium was converted to seat about 55,000 people and easily cleared 50,000. There were quite a few people there who were just looking to learn and did not have a team allegiance, so they were ecstatic to root for action on either side.

The concessions were a lot of fun, too, where former MMO writer Christina Montana decided to try and shove a two-foot-long hot dog in my mouth. Other concession options included some pastrami sandwiches, Philly cheesesteaks, local alcohol choices like Pimms, and two-pint-sized baseball bats that you  could get if you purchased two drinks. As a newfound appreciation of Pimms and lemonade, I quickly learned you could buy an entire pitcher of the stuff and just walk around with it. It took me an overseas trip, but finally, my plight as a Mets fan was finally being appreciated.

The similarities between baseball and cricket run pretty deep, so for a lot of locals with questions, it was fun to see the amount of interest they had in learning baseball. I had a healthy amount of conversations with locals attending who were curious about the rules, and it felt nice to see the love of the game growing for those who made it out.

On Sunday, I decided to watch the game from Trafalgar Square and had a taste of some of the food they were offering there. I just wanted to take it in as an observer, do a little people-watching, and take in the environment. If you spent any time at the events or the game itself, you could tell that MLB is taking this World Tour experience seriously and really trying to grow the game this way. I have always been the first to criticize Rob Manfred for just about everything, but MLB deserves a full vote of confidence and appreciation for this.

Part of the reason games like cricket and soccer/football have become so successful is the global impact—and meanwhile, baseball fans get subjected to a joke about the fact that we have a yearly World Series that basically includes North America only. The World Baseball Classic was a major step in the right direction for the growth of the game, and the World Tour games have become a true icing on the cake. It was my first time in London, and it all left a positive taste in my mouth. I enjoyed the experience so much that I would fully consider going out to a game in another country that involved teams that were not the Mets, solely for the experience.

Kudos, MLB.

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