Phillies star Bryce Harper send’s a devastating message…
The 2024 MLB London Series gets underway on Saturday as the Philadelphia Philliers take on old rivals New York Mets at West Ham’s London Stadium – which has been given a huge baseball makeover.
This is the third edition of the American pastime’s invasion of the UK, with New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox coming over first in 2019 before the Chicago Cubs and St Louis Cardinals returned in 2023.
The long-term future of baseball in London is under some doubt, though, with no series in 2025. Although there is an agreement for baseball to return to London in 2026, there are not currently any plans in place beyond that.
But Harper, one of the most influential names in the sport, not only insists the London Series agreement should continue, but that it should be expanded into a round-robin tournament across two or three weeks.
Speaking ahead of the 2024 series, Harper said: “We’re excited as a team to be over here and play in front of different fans.
Obviously they love their football over here and being able to go into a different country and play in front of a new fanbase is going to be a really fun time for us, and fun time for them.
“I wish that Major League Baseball would bring four teams over here, make it a round-robin and stay for a week and a half or two weeks, just so UK baseball fans can rally around it.
“It’s so in and out and so quick, it would be fun to rove across the country a bit, take the trains into different places and see all that. I think it would be a lot of fun.”
The London Series has been as much of a hit with players and teams visiting from the US than it has for UK baseball fans who don’t often get to watch the sport in person.
