It’s already been widely reported that the Chicago Cubs will travel to London next season for a two-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals, but Major League Baseball officially announced the trip on Friday morning.
The Cubs and Cardinals, two of the sport’s oldest rivals, will face off at London Stadium on June 13 and 14, with both games serving as Cardinals home games.
“To be able to go back there with a major league club and participate like this, I’m a huge fan,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “I know in England there’s a huge pocket of baseball fans, and there’s definitely interest.”
Maddon has extensive experience in coaching overseas, having conducted baseball clinics in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany as part of an outreach program with Major League Baseball.
“We’ve talked about getting more players from there, but you have to get more kids playing baseball,” he said. “You’ve got to get the kids interested at an earlier age to start playing.”
The series will be the second in London, following this season’s showdown between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
“This is the world’s greatest sporting city and this yet more evidence that London is open to hosting the biggest and best sports teams from around the world,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement.
Chicago Baseball
As part of the fanfare around the two games, the league will host youth clinics and fan festivals. The league will release more information on its social media accounts, and fans can follow @MLBLondonSeries on Instagram and Facebook.
