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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Vaishali Bhardwaj

West Ham ground gets baseball makeover ahead of MLB London Series

West Ham's London Stadium has undergone a transformation like no other as it prepares to host Europe's first-ever regular-season Major League Baseball (MLB) game in late June.

The Hammers' east London ground has been chosen as the venue for a two-game series between two of baseball's most famous teams, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, for their clash in the capital across the weekend of 29-30 June.

To host such an event the London Stadium, naturally, required a make-over - and that it has had with a three-week transformation.

Among other measures to get the ground adhering to strict standards, more than 141,900 square feet of artificial turf from France have been laid over the green grass.

Clay for the pitcher's mound and home plate area, and 345 tonnes of dirt for the infield diamond, have been shipped in from the US while the fence padding for the field’s perimeter has been brought in from Toronto and shipped out of Montreal, Canada.

The London Stadium is currently mid-way through its drastic transformation but, once the historic game between Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees is over, it will take just five days to return the ground to its more familiar state.

Check out pictures of West Ham's stadium transformation into a baseball pitch in the gallery above.

The Boston Red Sox will play the New York Yankees in the first ever Mitel & MLB Present London Series 2019 on June 29-30 at London Stadium. Limited tickets are still available here https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/mlb-london-series

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