Baseball in London! Major league showcase set for Hyde Park
LONDON — A bit of American sports culture will be on display in London’s Hyde Park as baseball comes to town on July 4, the U.S. Independence Day.
The exhibition Tuesday will feature several former major leaguers playing a Home Run Derby in one of London’s best-known open spaces.
It’s part of Major League Baseball’s plan to showcase the game in a bid to build interest in the sport in Britain and Europe despite the region’s longstanding preference for soccer. The move comes during the summer hiatus in England’s Premier League.
Charlie Hill, the managing director of Major League Baseball for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, says it’s possible that some official games will be played in London as soon as the 2019 season.