RedSox and Yankees will be in London next year on June 29-30.

Soxy

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Dec 1, 2008
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For me personally, I've been working on a bucket list item of seeing the Sox play in every city they visit for the past 18 years. I've got 27 under my belt, including a couple that no longer host games - Cooperstown and Montreal. It always bummed me out that due to circumstances I couldn't get to Tokyo and that the Annapolis game was Naval personnel only. So I'll almost definitely be going to London, for the experience more than anything.

Category 6 feels like the sweet spot for me. Seats may not be much different than normal bleacher seats, and prices are expensive but not absurdly so. If I'm going to spend to fly and stay over there, no sense in cheaping out on seats over $50 or so. Category 8 looks like a good option if I decide to go to both games.
Yeah, the bolded part is why I'm going. My family has had seats in section 40 of Fenway for 15 years, so I've seen a ton of Sox games from seats that will be way better than what we'll have in London (section 228). But going overseas to see a Sox-Yankees game in London with my Dad and my brother? I think that'll be pretty cool. We plan on flying out a couple days earlier so we can explore the city a bit. Will be expensive, sure, but I think we'll have a blast. And I've never been to England, so this is a nice excuse to go there.
 

m0ckduck

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Jul 20, 2005
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Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but MLB's attempt to popularize the game in Europe smacks of "other pro sports leagues are doing this, so we'd better get with the program too". I haven't spent a lot of time in England lately, so it's possible that I'm underrating the game's popularity there. But it's hard to overstate how unpopular baseball is among the Europeans I talk to.

In Berlin, where I live now, it goes:
1. NBA
-sizable gap-
2. NFL (Germans like football)
-sizable gap-
3. NHL
4. MLB

In Prague, where I lived before it was:
1. NHL
-massive gap-
2. NBA
-large gap-
3. NFL
-gaping chasm-
4. MLB

Baseball is perceived as some kind of weird procedural American peculiarity, like the Electoral College or the imperial measurement system. Again: both those things are less alien to UK culture than they are to mainland Europe,, so maybe there's more of a toe-hold in the UK than I realize. But I tend to believe the game doesn't export well nowadays, much as I wish it were otherwise.
 

Max Power

thai good. you like shirt?
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Jul 20, 2005
7,878
Boston, MA
Cricket fans are the Europeans most interested in baseball. They love its fast pace. No joke. England, India, Australia, and New Zealand may be the most fertile ground for international outreach.
 

charlieoscar

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Sep 28, 2014
1,339
Baseball in the Netherlands started in 1911, having been introduced to the country by English teacher J.C.G Grasé of Amsterdam, following a holiday to America. The first professional baseball league (now the Honkbal Hoofdklasse) began in 1922. Baseball in Italy and Germany was driven by U.S. occupying forces after WW II.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
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Baseball in the Netherlands started in 1911, having been introduced to the country by English teacher J.C.G Grasé of Amsterdam, following a holiday to America. The first professional baseball league (now the Honkbal Hoofdklasse) began in 1922. Baseball in Italy and Germany was driven by U.S. occupying forces after WW II.
Yeah I'd prefer they just take a spring training training game between Red Sox and Braves, ideally at the end, and play it in Oranjestad or something instead of taking regular season MFy games to England
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Jun 15, 2002
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Baseball in the Netherlands started in 1911, having been introduced to the country by English teacher J.C.G Grasé of Amsterdam, following a holiday to America. The first professional baseball league (now the Honkbal Hoofdklasse) began in 1922. Baseball in Italy and Germany was driven by U.S. occupying forces after WW II.
Thank you, charlieoscar, for rekindling the deep joy I feel every time I relearn that the Dutch call baseball "honkbal".

I look forwards to forgetting that fact and relearning it again later.
 

Bibsley

New Member
Oct 8, 2008
16
As a native Brit who first came to Boston in the early eighties and settled there in the summer of '86, I'm pretty excited about this. I expect London Stadium will make a terrible baseball venue, and the prices are outrageous (though apparently pretty much in line with what will be charged for Sox games at Yankee Stadium next season), but I have my flights and hotel booked, and ready to go with my pre-sale booking code on Monday. History, if a little weird.
 

jungleboy

New Member
Mar 1, 2016
153
Why would anyone travel across the pond to see them in those seats though? If you live in London or maybe even UK somewhere, I can see it though.
In my case, I live in Lisbon which is a short and cheap flight away, I have free accommodation in London because my brother lives there, and I haven’t been to an MLB game since 2002. So it’s a no-brainer.
 

Spacemans Bong

chapeau rose
SoSH Member
The Dutch are legitimately kind of interested in baseball/softball. They’ve produced several MLB players*, almost every decent sized town has a baseball club, places like Haarlem and Rotterdam having several, softball’s played in school PE, that kind of thing.

Sadly, MLB did the Dutch dirty. Hoofddorp, which is a kind of suburb of Schiphol Airport if that makes sense, built an MLB-standard facility in terms of locker rooms, lights, field quality, bullpens, press box - everything but the seats basically - and worked with MLB to host games in 2014. They were going to put in 35,000 temporary seats. Then... nothing. MLB literally ghosted them. They stopped returning calls.

*I’m not counting guys from Aruba or Curaçao, nor Bert Blyleven. Unfortunately no one’s really had a notable career, although Greg Halman would have been a good bet before his schizo brother murdered him. Rick vanden Hurk and Loek van Mil have had good years in Japan.
 

Wake49

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Sep 11, 2016
507
The Dutch are legitimately kind of interested in baseball/softball. They’ve produced several MLB players*, almost every decent sized town has a baseball club, places like Haarlem and Rotterdam having several, softball’s played in school PE, that kind of thing.

Sadly, MLB did the Dutch dirty. Hoofddorp, which is a kind of suburb of Schiphol Airport if that makes sense, built an MLB-standard facility in terms of locker rooms, lights, field quality, bullpens, press box - everything but the seats basically - and worked with MLB to host games in 2014. They were going to put in 35,000 temporary seats. Then... nothing. MLB literally ghosted them. They stopped returning calls.

*I’m not counting guys from Aruba or Curaçao, nor Bert Blyleven. Unfortunately no one’s really had a notable career, although Greg Halman would have been a good bet before his schizo brother murdered him. Rick vanden Hurk and Loek van Mil have had good years in Japan.
Don’t forget
Win Remmerswaal
 

Winger 03

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Oct 15, 2003
1,673
Frederick, MD
As a native Brit who first came to Boston in the early eighties and settled there in the summer of '86, I'm pretty excited about this. I expect London Stadium will make a terrible baseball venue, and the prices are outrageous (though apparently pretty much in line with what will be charged for Sox games at Yankee Stadium next season), but I have my flights and hotel booked, and ready to go with my pre-sale booking code on Monday. History, if a little weird.

When did you get your code, I registered and have not seen one for Monday yet.
 

sittingstill

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Jul 17, 2005
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Bay State Road
My code came in an email at 6:06 AM Friday. Subject is "Mitel & MLB Present London Series 2019: Pre-registration pre-sale unique code."
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
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Sep 27, 2016
21,758
Pittsburgh, PA
Boo! Take two home games away from local Red Sox fans? Boo!
I mean, it's for the good of the sport, it's for one year, and the team isn't selling out the way it used to so there are plenty of opportunities for people to attend games.

My bigger objection is, you're going to send the biggest guns out there, the hegemons of the 21st century and defending champs... all to face a second-rate bunch of has-beens who haven't won their division in 7 years, haven't won their league in a decade, and in their most recent clash got curb-stomped to a record-setting degree? Give London some games worth traveling for, that's what I say.
 

jungleboy

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Mar 1, 2016
153
I've unlocked with my code but so far I can't get further than that. I get a message saying, 'Something went wrong.' I've tried multiple tabs/browsers.
 

Winger 03

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Oct 15, 2003
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Frederick, MD
Ugh - I was looking for "lower cost" tickets. Offered dead center field (which I took) and the left and right where the park is like an oval.
 

Royal Reader

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Sep 21, 2005
2,275
UK
I've unlocked with my code but so far I can't get further than that. I get a message saying, 'Something went wrong.' I've tried multiple tabs/browsers.
Yeah, I'm admin on the UK Sox fan fb group. Everyone had the same experience, you just had to re-try somewhere from 50 to 100 times.

At least those who got in did. I never got in. :( Anyone know good deals on flights to Washington/Baltimore or Tampa?
 

jungleboy

New Member
Mar 1, 2016
153
At one point I got an offer but when I tried to proceed I got another error message. Now it's just saying 'We couldn’t find the tickets you searched for. Please change the quantity or ticket type selected.' So I assume they're all gone.
 

Spacemans Bong

chapeau rose
SoSH Member
Yeah, I'm admin on the UK Sox fan fb group. Everyone had the same experience, you just had to re-try somewhere from 50 to 100 times.

At least those who got in did. I never got in. :( Anyone know good deals on flights to Washington/Baltimore or Tampa?
Haha, the wars on that group in the last week have been brutal. A few people have stepped over the line on both sides, although my sympathies are very much with the people who think this is fucked up.
 

Bibsley

New Member
Oct 8, 2008
16
I found clicking on the "Buy Tickets" link in the mail I got at 5:11am this morning worked best. Still slow, but I got there.
 

Hendu for Kutch

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Apr 7, 2006
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Nashua, NH
I've become accustomed to Red Sox sales starting at EST, it never dawned on me that tickets would go on sale at 10AM BST. Oops. All I can find now is singles on Sunday in that absurdly expensive area down the right field line. Spending $350 is tough, doing it and not even being able to go with someone...
 

mBiferi

New Member
May 14, 2006
325
Managed to score tickets on the 60£ CF area for Sunday (have to catch a train back home living outside of London so didn't want to risk it with the Saturday game).
First Red Sox game since 2010, when I watched Lester shut down the Yankees at the Toilet... from the bleachers.

It will be quite an experience.

Also, Ticketmaster can go f*ck themselves, what a bad service.
 

Winger 03

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Oct 15, 2003
1,673
Frederick, MD
Also, Ticketmaster can go f*ck themselves, what a bad service.
Piece of crap..... I clicked the link 15 minutes early (445am my time) to see what the interface would be like. I was quite surprised that I was put into the queue. 5am rolls around and the waiting begins, finally got in about 530am and there were only singles left for the game I wanted. If I would have been aware that they would let you line up early, I would have clicked in at 4am when I woke up. Will try again tomorrow for the general sale.
 

jungleboy

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Mar 1, 2016
153
I clicked the link 15 minutes early (445am my time) to see what the interface would be like. I was quite surprised that I was put into the queue.
I checked in early on Monday and again today and wasn't put into the queue either time. What link are you using?
 

mBiferi

New Member
May 14, 2006
325
Me too. Same as Monday. A constant loop of 'Sit tight' and then 'Something went wrong'.
That happened to me on monday as well. You just have to keep trying and trying, it will eventually let you buy it. FWIW I had better luck on my phone that on my computer that day.
 

Spacemans Bong

chapeau rose
SoSH Member
I've been thinking of just not going but I searched anyway. Got a £65 seat in virtually dead CF, went on View From My Seat...this is about as good a ticket as I could find in my price range. I start seriously considering getting the credit card out. Sign in and "Sorry, error, back in the queue for you".

Ticketmaster's a fucking joke. I hate that company so much.
 

Preacher

Member
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Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
I finally got the option of securing two tickets in section 202 and I clicked the buy tickets button and got a message that read "It's not you it's us: return to event page" and I'm back to where I started.
 

jungleboy

New Member
Mar 1, 2016
153
So far I have received four (edit: FIVE) different error messages at different stages of the process after having been offered seats, including rejecting a credit card that I haven't had any problems with anywhere else.
 
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Preacher

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Jun 9, 2006
6,411
Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Well, I've been trying to last 75 minutes. I've gotten to the payment page once and probably had seats pop up 5 times after searching on each day hundreds of times clicking "find tickets." I think I need to take a break. I have not used the ticketmaster service in probably over 10 years and now I know why.