London Series

The London Series refers to the annual two-game series staged by Major League Baseball at London Olympic Stadium in London, England. the series is designed to increase the game's popularity in Europe.

The first instance of the series was held on June 29-30, 2019 and featured bitter rivals the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox duking it out with long balls, the result of the temporary ballpark's dimensions being a bit too cozy. The series was scheduled to take place again in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed those plans, and it was not before 2023 that the event could be reprised, with the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals the featured teams. The ballpark's dimensions had been adjusted in the meantime to make it more neutral, and the event was again a huge success. The plan was to make it an annual occurrence from that point forward.

The games are played on a temporary artificial turf surface that is installed and dismantled solely for the two games, a process that takes a number of days in both directions, but that is possible because the stadium's principal tenant, the West Ham United Football (soccer) Club is not active at the time the games are staged, the football season running from August to May. Cultural and outreach events are put on in conjunction with the game in order to promote baseball, and the games feature local touches, the most visible of which is a mascot race conducted between characters from British history. The games have been a big success, with the 60,000-person facility selling out each time. Some of the fans come over from North America to watch their favorite teams compete in a unique setting, but many more are either expatriates living in the United Kingdom or nearby European countries, and also a sizeable contingent of locals who have either been exposed to baseball because of their travels, who have embraced it thanks to the internet and recent performances of the British national team on the international stage, or who are simply curious.

Series Results

Year	Date	Visiting Team	Score	Home Team	Attendance
2019	June 29	New York Yankees	17-13	Boston Red Sox	59,659
2019	June 30	New York Yankees	12-8	Boston Red Sox	59,059
2023	June 24	Chicago Cubs	9-1	St Louis Cardinals	54,662
2023	June 25	Chicago Cubs	5-7	St Louis Cardinals	55,565
2024	June 8	Philadelphia Phillies	7-2	New York Mets	53,882
2024	June 9	New York Mets	6-5	Philadelphia Phillies	55,074

Further Reading

• Associated Press: "Yanks, Red Sox play on artificial turf London", USA Today, May 21, 2019. [1]
• Associated Press: "Cubs-Cards set for London on June 13-14 in 2020", USA Today, May 30, 2019. [2]
• Bob Nightengale: "The games were ridiculous, but MLB's London Series was a huge success", USA Today, June 30, 2019. [3]