June 29, 2019: Major League Baseball In London
June 29, 2019: The 1st regular-season Major League Baseball game in Europe was played, between the 2 biggest rivals in the sport, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, at the London Stadium, the main venue for the 2012 Olympic Games, and now the home of East London soccer team West Ham United. Here's what I wrote at the time:
Britain's royal family was represented by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, a.k.a. Prince Harry, former British Army helicopter pilot and fan of many things American; and Meghan Markle, a former actress who is one of the American things of which he's a fan. They visited each team in their locker rooms, and both teams gave them a baby-onesie version of their uniforms, with the Number 19 (for the year) and the name Archie on the back for their newborn son.
The Red Sox were the official home team for both of these games, having graciously given up 2 Fenway Park home games against the Yankees for the greater good of the sport. But both teams were wearing their home uniforms. The British authorities setting the game up knew that the Yankee Pinstripes are every bit as iconic as the Arsenal cannon or the Liverpool "Liverbird."
It was perfect baseball weather by our standards, but hot by London standards: The infamous British Isles rain wasn't a factor.
Never let it be said that the people who paid to attend did not get their money's worth. But this was a Yankees-Red Sox game, so something unusual (aside from the location, that is) was bound to happen. But I don't think anybody expected this kind of slugfest. The game was crazy -- or, as they say in Britain, "barmy."
The teams packed an entire game's worth of big moments into the 1st inning. The Yankees knocked Sox starter Rick Porcello out of the box with the following: A single by DJ LeMahieu, a flyout by Aaron Judge, a walk by Gary Sánchez, an RBI double by Luke Voit, a 2-RBI double by Didi Gregorius, an RBI double by Edwin Encarnación, and a home run by Aaron Hicks.
Six to nothing. As they say in England, Yankee Fans were taking the piss.
Then came the bottom of the 1st. Masahiro Tanaka had nothing. He allowed single, RBI double, walk, walk, popup, RBI sacrifice fly, RBI single, 3-run homer by Michael Chavis.
Tie ballgame. As they say in English soccer, Six-nil and you fucked it up! Somebody said it was the 1st major league game in 30 years in which both starting pitchers were knocked out in the 1st inning without being injured.
In that great ballpark in the sky, Phil Rizzuto must have been saying, "Holy cow, what's coming off here?" Every American with a social media account was telling his British followers that this was incredibly unusual, not an everyday occurrence.
Chad Green, who was supposed to be the next day's starting pitcher for the Yankees, got out of the inning. Both teams threatened again in the 2nd, but neither scored. With 2 outs in the top of the 3rd, Gleyber Torres singled, and Brett Gardner hit a home run. 8-6 New York.
The top of the 4th turned out to be the decisive inning. Voit led off with a double. Gregorius drew a walk. The Sox got Encarnación and Hicks out. But Torres singled to load the bases. Gardner drew a walk to force a run home. And LeMahieu cleared the bases with a double into the left field corner. And then, here came Da Judge, and there went da ball, deep to right field. 14-6 New York.
I should note that, of the 6 home runs hit in this game, none was to the too-close (385 feet) center field fence. They would all have been out of either Yankee Stadium II or Fenway Park, or pretty much any other MLB stadium's field.
Voit doubled again in the 5th, but seemed to injure himself rounding 1st. Gio Urshela ran for him. Gregorius singled him home. After Encarnación struck out, Hicks singled, Torres walked, Gardner struck out, and LeMahieu struck again, singling home 2 runs.
It was now 17-6 Yankees. Thus far, the Yankees' linescore read 60263. I looked it up: That ZIP Code is not currently in use. If it were, it would be in Evanston, Illinois, in Chicago's northern suburbs.
There was a takeoff on the Washington Nationals' "Racing Presidents." No, not racing Prime Ministers, like they have at Ottawa Senators hockey games, although one of the characters was Winston Churchill. No, not racing monarchs, although one of the characters was King Henry VIII.
This did not look promising: Both Sir Winston and King Henry went from being strong, athletic young men, distinguished in battle, to being fat old men known for their excesses (Henry for eating and mistresses, Winston for drinking).
There was a Loch Ness Monster, wearing a kilt and a tam o'shanter. So far, the geography worked for the United Kingdom: Churchill represented England, "Nessie" represented Scotland, and Henry VIII was from the House of Tudor, which originated in Wales. But there was no Northern Ireland equivalent. It's just as well: Who would they use, George Best? He, at least, was an athlete -- I've compared him to Mickey Mantle, in ways both favorable and not, including the wearing of the Number 7 -- but he drank more than Churchill did.
The 4th racer was a big foam-headed version of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, and he won the race. It makes sense: Queen went high on the U.S. music charts in October 1977, when the Yankees were winning the World Series, with one of the last double-sided hit records: "We Will Rock You" (which Freddie said he wanted to sound like a sports anthem) and "We Are the Champions."
The Loch Ness Monster finished last. He was so far back, it was like he didn't even exist.
Jackie Bradley Jr. homered for the Sox in the 6th, but it looked like small consolation. The 7th inning stretch was held, and everyone sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," as if they'd been singing it their whole lives. (Surely, many of them were Americans, and had been singing it their whole lives.)
Nestor Cortés got the 1st 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, but then the Sox struck back: Single, single, another homer by Chavis, single. 17-10. Yankee manager Aaron Boone, having already used Tanaka, Green, David Hale and Cortés, now brought Tommy Kahnle in. Result: Walk, wild pitch, single, bases-loaded walk. 17-12. Boone brought Adam Ottavino in: Double. 17-13. Finally, the last out was obtained.
The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 8th, having previously done so only in the 6th. And Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" rang out over the speakers, as it does at that point in Red Sox home games. It was still a 4-run Yankee lead, but now the Sox had all the momentum. Ottavino allowed 2 runners in the inning, but got out of it.
The Yankees wasted an Urshela double in the top of the 9th. They needed 3 outs, allowing 3 or fewer runs. It sounded simple enough, but this is Yankees vs. Red Sox, where nothing is simple. Boone didn't fool around: He brought in the closer, Aroldis Chapman. He got former Yankee Eduardo Núñez to ground out.
But D.J. Martinez got a hit. Sam Travis was up. The tying run was still 2 more batters away, but in the backs of our minds, there was the thought that the Yankees might score 17 runs against their arch-enemies, and it might not be enough.
Travis hit a shot up the middle. Gregorius snared it, and barehanded the ball to Torres covering 2nd. Torres threw over to LeMahieu, now playing 1st base. Double play. Ballgame over. Final score: Yankees 17, Red Sox 13. Specifically: For the Yankees, 17 runs on 19 hits and no errors, and a whopping 20 men left on base. For the Red Sox, 13 runs on 18 hits, they also played errorless baseball (incredibly, this wild game had no errors in it), and they also left 20 men on.
The teams packed an entire game's worth of big moments into the 1st inning. The Yankees knocked Sox starter Rick Porcello out of the box with the following: A single by DJ LeMahieu, a flyout by Aaron Judge, a walk by Gary Sánchez, an RBI double by Luke Voit, a 2-RBI double by Didi Gregorius, an RBI double by Edwin Encarnación, and a home run by Aaron Hicks.
Six to nothing. As they say in England, Yankee Fans were taking the piss.
Then came the bottom of the 1st. Masahiro Tanaka had nothing. He allowed single, RBI double, walk, walk, popup, RBI sacrifice fly, RBI single, 3-run homer by Michael Chavis.
Tie ballgame. As they say in English soccer, Six-nil and you fucked it up! Somebody said it was the 1st major league game in 30 years in which both starting pitchers were knocked out in the 1st inning without being injured.
In that great ballpark in the sky, Phil Rizzuto must have been saying, "Holy cow, what's coming off here?" Every American with a social media account was telling his British followers that this was incredibly unusual, not an everyday occurrence.
Chad Green, who was supposed to be the next day's starting pitcher for the Yankees, got out of the inning. Both teams threatened again in the 2nd, but neither scored. With 2 outs in the top of the 3rd, Gleyber Torres singled, and Brett Gardner hit a home run. 8-6 New York.
The top of the 4th turned out to be the decisive inning. Voit led off with a double. Gregorius drew a walk. The Sox got Encarnación and Hicks out. But Torres singled to load the bases. Gardner drew a walk to force a run home. And LeMahieu cleared the bases with a double into the left field corner. And then, here came Da Judge, and there went da ball, deep to right field. 14-6 New York.
I should note that, of the 6 home runs hit in this game, none was to the too-close (385 feet) center field fence. They would all have been out of either Yankee Stadium II or Fenway Park, or pretty much any other MLB stadium's field.
Voit doubled again in the 5th, but seemed to injure himself rounding 1st. Gio Urshela ran for him. Gregorius singled him home. After Encarnación struck out, Hicks singled, Torres walked, Gardner struck out, and LeMahieu struck again, singling home 2 runs.
It was now 17-6 Yankees. Thus far, the Yankees' linescore read 60263. I looked it up: That ZIP Code is not currently in use. If it were, it would be in Evanston, Illinois, in Chicago's northern suburbs.
There was a takeoff on the Washington Nationals' "Racing Presidents." No, not racing Prime Ministers, like they have at Ottawa Senators hockey games, although one of the characters was Winston Churchill. No, not racing monarchs, although one of the characters was King Henry VIII.
This did not look promising: Both Sir Winston and King Henry went from being strong, athletic young men, distinguished in battle, to being fat old men known for their excesses (Henry for eating and mistresses, Winston for drinking).
There was a Loch Ness Monster, wearing a kilt and a tam o'shanter. So far, the geography worked for the United Kingdom: Churchill represented England, "Nessie" represented Scotland, and Henry VIII was from the House of Tudor, which originated in Wales. But there was no Northern Ireland equivalent. It's just as well: Who would they use, George Best? He, at least, was an athlete -- I've compared him to Mickey Mantle, in ways both favorable and not, including the wearing of the Number 7 -- but he drank more than Churchill did.
The 4th racer was a big foam-headed version of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, and he won the race. It makes sense: Queen went high on the U.S. music charts in October 1977, when the Yankees were winning the World Series, with one of the last double-sided hit records: "We Will Rock You" (which Freddie said he wanted to sound like a sports anthem) and "We Are the Champions."
This actually happened.
Jackie Bradley Jr. homered for the Sox in the 6th, but it looked like small consolation. The 7th inning stretch was held, and everyone sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," as if they'd been singing it their whole lives. (Surely, many of them were Americans, and had been singing it their whole lives.)
Nestor Cortés got the 1st 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, but then the Sox struck back: Single, single, another homer by Chavis, single. 17-10. Yankee manager Aaron Boone, having already used Tanaka, Green, David Hale and Cortés, now brought Tommy Kahnle in. Result: Walk, wild pitch, single, bases-loaded walk. 17-12. Boone brought Adam Ottavino in: Double. 17-13. Finally, the last out was obtained.
The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 8th, having previously done so only in the 6th. And Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" rang out over the speakers, as it does at that point in Red Sox home games. It was still a 4-run Yankee lead, but now the Sox had all the momentum. Ottavino allowed 2 runners in the inning, but got out of it.
The Yankees wasted an Urshela double in the top of the 9th. They needed 3 outs, allowing 3 or fewer runs. It sounded simple enough, but this is Yankees vs. Red Sox, where nothing is simple. Boone didn't fool around: He brought in the closer, Aroldis Chapman. He got former Yankee Eduardo Núñez to ground out.
But D.J. Martinez got a hit. Sam Travis was up. The tying run was still 2 more batters away, but in the backs of our minds, there was the thought that the Yankees might score 17 runs against their arch-enemies, and it might not be enough.
Travis hit a shot up the middle. Gregorius snared it, and barehanded the ball to Torres covering 2nd. Torres threw over to LeMahieu, now playing 1st base. Double play. Ballgame over. Final score: Yankees 17, Red Sox 13. Specifically: For the Yankees, 17 runs on 19 hits and no errors, and a whopping 20 men left on base. For the Red Sox, 13 runs on 18 hits, they also played errorless baseball (incredibly, this wild game had no errors in it), and they also left 20 men on.
Fireworks were set off, and Frank Sinatra's recording of "Theme From New York, New York" was played, as if we were at Yankee Stadium.
The winning pitcher: Chad Green. Aroldis Chapman entered with a 4-run lead, so he was not credited with a save. The losing pitcher: Steven Wright, as he was the pitcher whose knuckleball to Gardner was turned into a home run, making a 6-6 tie an 8-6 Yankee lead.
If this were a soccer game, a "Man of the Match" would have been selected. My choice for MOTM: DJ LeMahieu, 4-for-6, with 5 RBIs. Luke Voit also had 4 hits before he had to leave. Didi Gregorius and Brett Gardner each had 3 RBIs.
The attendance was 59,659. And the time of the game, a highly unmanageable, but very entertaining, 4 hours and 42 minutes.
Think about this: Take out that incredible 1st inning, and it still would have been a slugfest: 11-7 Yankees.
If this were a soccer game, a "Man of the Match" would have been selected. My choice for MOTM: DJ LeMahieu, 4-for-6, with 5 RBIs. Luke Voit also had 4 hits before he had to leave. Didi Gregorius and Brett Gardner each had 3 RBIs.
The attendance was 59,659. And the time of the game, a highly unmanageable, but very entertaining, 4 hours and 42 minutes.
Think about this: Take out that incredible 1st inning, and it still would have been a slugfest: 11-7 Yankees.
The next day, the Yankees fell behind 4-0, then took a 12-4 lead, before holding on to win, 12-8. The Yankees reached the AL Championship Series before losing to the Houston Astros.
MLB announced that another pair of rivals, the National League's Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, would play a London Series in 2020. However, this was bumped, first by the COVID epidemic, and then by the uncertainty surrounding the 2022 season due to the Spring Training labor dispute. Maybe it will be rescheduled for 2023.
UPDATE: In 2023, the National League's Midwest rivals played each other in London, with the Chicago Cubs winning the 1st game on June 24, and the St. Louis Cardinals winning the 2nd on June 25. In 2024, it was the NL's Northeastern rivals: The Philadelphia Phillies won on June 8, and the New York Mets won on June 9.
MLB had announced games for the Stade de France outside Paris in 2025, with the intention of returning to London for 2026. However, the arrangements for Paris '25 fell apart.
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June 29, 2019 was a Saturday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball that day:
* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Citi Field.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 13-0 at Camden Yards in Baltimore -- the one MLB ballpark whose name sounds like that of an English soccer team's "ground." Andrew Cashner (7 innings) and Tanner Scott (2) combined on a 5-hit shutout.
* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers, 5-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
* The Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-6 at Marlins Park (now LoanDepot Park) in Miami.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-5 at the Rogers Centre.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-0 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Jose Quintana (6 innings) and 3 relievers combined on a 7-hit shutout.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Nationals, 7-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 10-3 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.
* The Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Yuli Gurriel doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-3 at Coors Field in Denver. Jon Gray outpitched Clayton Kershaw.
* The San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-0 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Brett Anderson (7 2/3rds innings) and Liam Hendricks (1 1/3rd) combined on a 3-hti shutout.
* And the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
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