2024 MLB London Series Game Experience
A Look at an experience at the 2024 MLB London Series & Trafalgar Square Takeover.
After delayed flights, more than 5,000 miles of travel, & almost a week of vacation, here is our experience at the 2024 MLB London Series & the Trafalgar Square Takeover.
To start off, here is some facts you should know about the series. First of all, the MLB London Series is aimed to play each year with two teams facing off on a two game series as apart of the MLB World Tour. Games are played at London Stadium in London, home of West Ham United F.C. This year, the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets faced off in London on June 8th & June 9th. NY was named the home team on Saturday the 8th & Philly was the home team on Sunday June 9th. London Stadium is also a hitters ballpark, with the distance to center field being 385 feet & the distance down the foul poles being 330 feet.
Trafalgar Square Takeover
For those of you who don't know what the Trafalgar Square Takeover is, it's an event hosted by Major League Baseball at Trafalgar Square in London. At “The Takeover”, there was an MLB Store, Topps Store, food, music, huge screens, & batting cages/bullpens for fans. The biggest event of the Trafalgar Square Takeover however, took place on Friday when former Phillie & Current MLB Ambassador to London, Chase Utley went against former Mets star Daniel Murphy in a real life/virtual home run derby. Joining them were Apollo & Fire, characters from the British Broadcasting Corporation’s TV show, Gladiators. Apollo, played by Alex Gray, a former rugby union player who also played tight end for the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL was on the Phillies’ team along with Utley. On the other hand, Fire is played by Montell Douglas, a British Olympian who became the first British women to compete in the winter and summer olympics, being a sprinter in the summer olympics as well as doing bobsled in the winter olympics. In the end, Apollo didn't seem to show up, causing Daniel Murphy & Fire to be named the 2024 Trafalgar Square Takeover Homerun Derby Champions. In addition to the batting cages, there was an MLB Shop, Topps Station to get a free custom baseball card with your picture and either the Phillies or the Mets, a ‘47 Station where you can pay to get a ‘47 hat of yours customized with paint and other materials, and a few restaurants. For those of you wondering, I did eat a hotdog and a slice of NY pizza while waiting in the extremely long lines. In addition to Chase Utley & Daniel Murphy, there were other MLB stars in attendance including former Phillies Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino along with current Phillies players Alec Bohm and Kyle Schwarber. Former Mets David Wright and Mike Piazza also attended. Almost every 15 to 30 minutes a “Let's Go Phillies *clap*clap*clap*clap*clap*” chant would start within the crowd however, both Mets and Phillies fans started chanting “Yankees Suck *clap*clap*clap*clap*clap*” together at one point too. Mr. Met and the Phillie Phantatic also appeared, and I got the opportunity to get a picture with both however, even better, I got Mr. Met to sign my 2024 Big League Baseball Card of him. Overall, the atmosphere of the 2024 Trafalgar Square Takeover was great, with more Phillies fans than Mets fans, MLB stars in attendance, chants, food, fun activities, and much more.
London Series Game Experience (Game 1)
After nearly a week traveling in the United Kingdom, the whole reason why we took this huge trip to begin with was finally here— the 2024 MLB London Series, between the Philadelphia Phillies & their division-rival New York Mets. Here is a few gameday facts you should know— the gates opened at 3:00pm local time and first pitch time was at 6:10pm. While on the subway to go to the game, both teams submitted their lineups:
Phillies Starting Lineup
1. DH Kyle Schwarber
2. C J.T. Realmuto
3. 1B Bryce Harper
4. 3B Alec Bohm
5. RF Nick Castellanos
6. 2B Bryson Stott
7. SS Edmundo Sosa
8. LF Whit Merrifield
9. CF Cristian Pache
LHP Ranger Suarez (10—1) 1.81 ERA
Mets Starting Lineup
SS Francisco Lindor
1B Pete Alonso
LF Brandon Nimmo
DH J.D. Martinez
RF Starling Marte
3B Mark Vientos
CF Harrison Bader
2B Jose Iglesias
C Luis Torrens
At the stadium, there was an outdoor concourse area with an MLB Superstore & restaurants all around, inside the gates. We then made our way to the MLB Superstore but made a detour to get the MLB Ballpark Passport stamped by an employee for the Ballpark Passport company. For those of you that don’t know what that is, there is a link to the website at the bottom of this article. Anyways, the passport got stamped & we got in the huge line to the MLB Superstore. The line seemed to be moving quickly, however, we ended up waiting an hour and a half in the line.
Sadly, we missed the top of the 1st because of the long lines. However, we purchased a Phillies London Series On-Field Hat, the London Series Collector’s Pin, & a pennant. After getting to our seats in section 202, the first inning or two wasn’t very exciting as a Phillies fan, however, there was much excitement to come. After we missed his double in the top of the 1st, Bryce Harper launched a ball into the right field stands of London Stadium, then doing the iconic soccer knee slide to celebrate near Philly’s dugout.
Throughout the next 5 innings, we witnessed Whit Merrifield’s 3-run homerun, Nick Castellanos’s solo homerun, and much more action. The Phillies ended up winning the game by a final score of 7-2. To eat, we had a plain hotdog w/ ketchup, popcorn, & a drink during the game. After the game, the concourse outside of the stadium remained open & we had the Batter-Up Fish & Chips, a food the UK is known for. Overall, the food was great & out of a scale of 1 to 10, I’ll give it an 8.5/10. This game was definitely an incredible experience. With a great atmosphere, a Bryce Bomb, and electrifying offenses, the experience at the 2024 MLB London Series was unforgettable.
About the MLB Ballpark Possport: https://mlbballparkpassport.com/how-it-works/
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