Major League Baseball will be played in the UK next year, with the Chicago Cubs facing the St. Louis Cardinals at West Ham United 's London Stadium.
This won't be the first time that a MLB game has been played in London, as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox faced off in a two-game series back in 2019. The Cubs and the Cardinals were meant to travel to England in 2020, but the global pandemic put any agreement on hold, until now.
We have become used to seeing the NFL make it's way over to London since 2007, and now the MLB will host its second series in the English capital in June 2023. It's the first of many games the league is looking to play over in London, and MLB Europe ambassador Chase Utley spoke exclusively to Mirror Sport about their hopes and ambitions for the future.
"The NFL has done a tremendous job of showing their sport in the UK and throughout Europe, so that model clearly works, Utley told Mirror Sport . "Over the next four years you're going to see a number of different baseball games played on European soil - with the first one here in London in June 2023.
"The Chicago Cubs and the St Louis Cardinals, that's the one I'm most excited about. Two long-time rivals who have more than 130-years of history. I've played against both organisations many times and they are also two of my favourite stadiums to play in."
Utley is a former professional MLB star who's career lasted for 16 seasons, primarily playing for the Philadelphia Phillies. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and retired in 2018 as a six-time All-Star.
The MLB Europe ambassador won the World Series with the Phillies back in 2008, and is certain that the American fans will embrace the UK culture as they look to grow the popularity of the sport, and the league. "Fanbases are incredibly supportive of their teams, so they're going to come out here to London, which is incredibly exciting," Utley added.
"I think it's a fantastic opportunity to see baseball being played in London. It happened in 2019 with the Yankees and the Red Sox and it's been a few years because of Covid.
"But baseball is back here in London come this June, and I imagine you'll see a ton of Chicago Cubs blue and you'll see a ton of St Louis Cardinals red all throughout the London Stadium and it's going to be fantastic."
Baseball isn't the most popular sport in the UK at this moment in time, but after over a decade of housing NFL games on a yearly basis, there has been a major spike in British fans looking to play American football. And Utley is hoping that there can be a similar reaction with baseball.
"I sure hope so, clearly I'm a little bit biased," Utley said. "Playing baseball for the 30 or so years that I played it, but it's a fantastic sport for a number of different reasons.
"It has a similar skillset to cricket, the nuances and terminology are a bit different, but there is so much fun to the game and it has a great flow. You also have different personalities, different cultures and different body types playing it.
"You have Aaron Judge at the Yankees who is 6ft 8ins and then you have 5ft 4ins Jose Altuve at the Houston Astros - the size difference is massive. You have skinny guys, rounder guys, fast guys and guys that can barely run, it is a pretty unique sport as anybody can play it.
"My kids love it and they are even starting to explain baseball to their English classmates, which is amazing to hear. We hope it starts something pretty special here in Europe with the amazing fan bases, but you also have amazing athletes here."
St. Louis Cardinals will play Chicago Cubs in the MLB World Tour: London Series 2023 on June 24 – 25 at London Stadium. For ticket and event updates, register at mlb.com/londonseries
