Inside the experience of MLB’s London Series, which mattered much more than the Mets vs. Phillies scores

LONDON – I planned my honeymoon around the Mets, which, in hindsight (and at the time of booking, to be honest), was a terrible idea.

Jet-lagged, dehydrated, and a little sunburned, I headed to London Stadium, prepared to watch the National League-leading Phillies defeat the Mets in front of a crowd of 55,000. It felt like he was being punished for some mortal sin he didn’t know he had committed.

Turns out the London Series was perfect.

Baseball wasn’t particularly good, unless you consider ninth inning chaos good (which I do, to be clear, but your mileage may vary). But The Baseball, that joyful, life-destroying, addictive part of our soul that we can’t shake, was good.

The British may not understand baseball, but they know how to put on a show. The concourse around the London Stadium, built for the 2012 Olympics and now home to the Premier League’s West Ham United, was filled with the English idea of ​​American food: disgustingly overstuffed two-foot hot dogs and pizza that looked like cardboard and steaks. of Philly cheese topped with a sauce that I’m sure glowed in the dark. There were jugglers and dancers and a marching band that didn’t march and batting cages and a DJ and beer sticks taller than me (unfortunately I learned on the subway ride home that selling people that much beer AND a makeshift weapon is a terrible idea ).

It felt more like a Phillies home game, which would have been fine and a credit to the fandom if it hadn’t resulted in raucous booing from Quad-A relievers they had probably never heard of and definitely had no reason to boo other than the shirt they wore. But the main takeaway is that everyone was happy to be there, even when Sean Manaea gave up a three-run home run to Whit Merrifield and Jose Alvarado imploded to a level that should have been considered treacherous. None of that particularly mattered. The boxscores say the Mets and Phillies split the series. Excellent. Good for them. If the season continues on a steady trajectory, neither these wins nor losses will affect either team. What made these games important was the reminder that this is all supposed to be fun.

I bonded with a Scotsman in the row behind me who thought the inning break after the first was halftime, and with the Philly brother in front of me who turned to mock me about how much I was paying Starling Marte (I mostly graciously reminded him that Steve Cohen was paying the bill, not me). I saw t-shirts printed with the names of Keith Hernandez, Roy Halladay and Shohei Ohtani, but also Stephen Nogosek, Dom Brown and Philip Humber. I also saw more than a few Wawa t-shirts.

I met friends I hadn’t seen in years, thousands of miles from home, and listened as my sister politely and calmly explained her absences to her boyfriend a dozen times. I sang along to “Mr. Brightside” and “Sweet Caroline” with tens of thousands of strangers. I debated whether a MLB Team in London it could work (my husband insists it would, I think the trip would make it impossible, even if the TV deals would make it worth it). At a Friday event in Trafalgar Square, I watched Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard take batting practice in the cage against Home Run Derby pitching legend Dave Jauss, before giving way to a contest between Chase Utley and Daniel Murphy (Murphy, who took everything away). very seriously, dominated). Mike Piazza and David Wright were there. The same thing happened to Dellin Betances for some reason.

We were all there for a reason. Some of us were on vacation. Some of us took advantage of the opportunity to see baseball in the land of football, rugby and cricket. Some of us just wanted a day away from home. But we were all there together and for 18 innings nothing on the outside mattered. It didn’t matter if you could name the 2007 triples leader or recite Dedniel Núñez’s splits. The London Series has two games on the books, but it was more of an event than a series. The British may not have achieved great baseball, but they achieved a great event.