LONDON — A baseball fest will be held at historic Hyde Park in London on 4 July as part of an effort to promote baseball in the nation, which is currently No. 30 in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings.
Major League Baseball will stage a “Battlegrounds” event, where fans can try hitting a baseball via a virtual reality (VR) batting cage and witness a real-life home run derby by former MLB players.
BaseballSoftballUK CEO John Boyd said: “This is an exciting opportunity for our sport to reach the general public, and the event will continue to garner national press interest.”
Former MLB sluggers Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd and Shawn Green are scheduled to participate in the home run contest.
“Hyde Park is the perfect location to bring a flavour of our game to London, with players from two of the most popular teams in the sport – the Red Sox and the Dodgers,” said Charlie Hill of MLB Europe.
In recent years, baseball and softball’s popularity has seen steady growth in Europe, with Top 10 nations like Italy and Netherlands leading the way.
