A Quick Dispatch From the London Series
Major League Baseball wanted a showcase of the game’s greatest rivalry for its first ever game in Europe… and what it got was the most Yankee-Red Soxiest game of them all.
Rookie fans in the stands would be forgiven if they thought they accidentally walked into a game of cricket — or judging by the score, maybe the NFL was back! A 58-minute first inning- the War of 1812 seemingly wrapped up quicker. And the Yankees did what Yankees do when they come to this continent: they close.
But it wasn’t only longevity that was showcased. The drama, the back-and-forth, the playoff vibe, the feeling that baseball is never over. That you can’t run out the clock on a never-ending pitch. The Yanks and Sox, both in their home whites brought it (exception, of course, to the starting pitchers).
… and baseball truly brought itself to England… from the loaded nachos to the two-foot long loaded hot dogs to the Sam Adams, to the Freeze biting the dust, to the Freddie Mercury winning the British-themed mascot race. Let Winnie win!
For a lifelong baseball fan it filled me with joy to see first-time fans roar in wonderment at some of the little wonderful parts of the game that many of us “Yankees” take for granted. A Judge fly out in the first generated a buzz that you’d read in books about when the mighty Babe would swing and miss. Same for Jackie Bradley trying to scale the Tower of London in that shallow center field, just miscalculating a potential play of the year.
MLB was sure to not get too “inside baseball” for the rookies, with Runs, Hits, Errors, spelled out on the scoreboard and “baseball 101” rules popping up during plays like a Sac Fly. It was like taking 30,000 of your girlfriend to the park who’ve never seen a game.
At a time when the U.S. doesn’t always get the best rep on the world stage, MLB put on a great showcase of America’s Pastime. And to quote Terence Mann: reminded “us of all that once was good and it could be again.”–
-Rick Saleeby
