Major League Baseball has been attempting to grow the game worldwide with multiple different methods. While the World Baseball Classic has been the most effective, the event only occurs every four years. Regular season games have routinely been played outside of the United States, with London being a recent attraction.
Thus far, the British have had the opportunity to see some of baseball’s top rivalries. The Red Sox and Yankees went across the pond in 2019, playing two games. In June, Chicago and St. Louis will face off against each other at London Stadium.
Dubbed the London Series, another fun rivalry will be heading to Great Britain for the 2024 season. According to Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies will leave their NL East confines and play abroad.
“This year, MLB is returning to London with the Cardinals playing the Cubs June 24 and 25,” Verducci said. “Another London Series is scheduled for 2024, with the Mets scheduled to play the Phillies.”
For the Mets, this will not be their first game outside of the US. They were part of the first-ever international game, facing off against San Diego in Monterrey in 1996. New York has also made appearances in Tokyo and San Juan.
Philadelphia, on the other hand, has never played a regular season game on a different country’s soil. To this point, the furthest east the Phillies have ever played would be Fenway Park. That will all change once in the United Kingdom.
Historic Mets, Phillies rivalry finds new location
The Mets and Phillies shared a baseball field for the first time back in 1962, occurring at the old New York Polo Grounds. Since then, a few stadiums have hosted the rivalry with Citi Field and Citizens Bank Park being their respective homes recently.
Now, you can add the London Stadium to the list.
In the history of the NL East, Philadelphia and New York have combined for 17 division championships, dating back to 1969. The Mets were the latest to do so, winning the 2015 title. For the most part, Atlanta has dominated but is consistently challenged by the other two.
At the time of posting, Philadelphia leads the all-time series but by a slim margin — when considering its baseball. In over 1,000 career games, the Phillies have won 541 games, the Mets have 513 wins, and a tie has occurred as well.
