Cardinals and Cubs balance fun and business ahead of weekend London series

LONDON (AP) — Chicago Cubs manager David Ross said players do better “when they’re having fun.”

There was plenty of that to go around Friday when the Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals held workouts at London Stadium ahead of a two-game weekend series.

Shaking off jet lag, players in batting practice took aim for the outfield seats that spell out “West Ham" in the home of the Premier League club as MLB returns to the British capital in a renewed bid to grow internationally.

The 16-foot centerfield wall — with Union Jack and American flags hanging high above — has been pushed back a bit after the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox cranked 10 homers in the first London series four years ago.

The laid-back vibe — Formula One drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of the McLaren team took BP — will be replaced with a more serious tone Saturday as both the Cardinals and Cubs resume their pursuit of the red-hot Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central.

The big question is whether fans in the British capital will see more slugfests. New York beat Boston 17-13 and 12-8 in 2019 over 18 innings that took just over 9 hours.

“No one knows what to expect,” Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said. “Nobody was expecting the ball to fly like it did in ’19 and we don’t know if that’s going to happen again. If it does, the games could be long. But that was a while ago and a lot of things have changed, whether it’s with the stadium or the baseballs. It’s a big question mark.”

Cardinals scheduled starter Adam Wainwright — the Cubs are countering with Justin Steele — remembers being startled when the first Yankees-Red Sox game was 6-6 after one inning.

“Certainly it seems like maybe keeping the ball on the ground might be a good idea,” said Wainwright.

Though even on the ground — artificial turf imported from Montreal — might be trouble. Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner noted: “The ball is flying in BP, for sure, and the turf is fast and bouncy.”

AMBASSADORS

Players are mostly focused on winning — the last-place Cards are 10 1/2 games back in their division — but they know part of their role is making a good impression in the U.K., where sports like soccer, rugby and cricket rule.

“It’s a wonderful game when you really start to understand the ins and outs of it,” Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “Baseball has grown so much recently. They’re doing a lot better job just being able to market the game and a lot of guys to bring their personalities. It's a unique experience to be able to do it here in front of these fans."

Both teams touched down early Thursday and spent the day trying to stay awake by visiting Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

“We don't get this opportunity a whole lot,” Ross said. “We’re going to have fun and enjoy this amazing trip."

The Cubs manager said he hit some tourist sites and saw “the guards, the horses, the streets, the phone booths, I don't know, just all the cheesy stuff that my kids love.”

Cubs first base coach Mike Napoli, whose wife is from the area, threw on an Arsenal shirt at the stadium — at a West Ham soccer game this would be frowned upon, or worse.

Earlier, Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed that the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies will play a two-game series next June in London.

London is "a great place to gain a foothold into Europe,” Manfred said.

“I'd love to be in Europe more than once a year,” he said.

One way to do that, he said, would be reducing the number of games in a season to provide flexibility for travel.

“There's been conversations over the years about 154 as opposed to 162. Obviously that would be an easy alternative — easy in terms of logistics, maybe not other issues,” he said.

Manfred pointed to Asia, as well, saying: Japan, Taiwan and Korea “also remain important initiatives for us, and we will be playing in those countries over the course of the next few years."

HIT TO SURVIVE

McLaren parked one of its race cars behind home plate — in what MLB described as a cross-promotion. Like baseball growing in Europe, F1 has grown in popularity in the United States.

Norris, Piastri and McLaren CEO Zak Brown all took some BP swings. No homers, but a few line drives.

“Lando was smacking it pretty good,” said Brown, an American who is a longtime Cardinals fan.

WICKETS

MLB announced cricketers James Anderson of England and Nathan Lyon of Australia will do the first-pitch honors on Saturday, in recognition of the Ashes test series between the two countries. Australia won the first test in the best-of-five series. The second test — each match or “test” typically lasts five days — begins Wednesday in London. Both Anderson and Lyon are right-handed bowlers — pitchers in baseball — and they may be tempted to throw the ball in the dirt. Bowling in cricket involves bouncing the ball before the batter.

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