West Ham United legends James Collins and Anton Ferdinand were on hand to welcome stars from the worlds of baseball and mixed martial arts (MMA) to London Stadium this weekend.
Major League Baseball (MLB) brought its London Series to the home of the Hammers for its third staging of regular season games in the capital, as the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies locked horns in a mouthwatering double header.
The pair split the series, with the Phillies winning on Saturday night by a 7-2 scoreline, before the Mets evened it up in a 6-5 thriller on Sunday.
Before the action got underway, Collins and Ferdinand headed down to the field for the Mets’ practice session on Friday, where they introduced the Mets’ Pete Alonso – three times named an All-Star in just five years in the league – to all things West Ham.
First baseman Alonso told whufc.com: “It’s been super awesome to be here at London Stadium and it is definitely an amazing environment.
“It’s great to bring awareness and spread the love of baseball and the MLB here in London as it is a really great sport. I know there are a lot of people who enjoy the game of cricket, and in baseball there is a lot of similar components, so I think bringing baseball over here gives people another option.”
Alonso put Ferdinand through his paces, as the former Hammers defender tried his hand with the bat - and the Florida native was impressed with his charge's skills.
“Anton swung the bat well, especially for his first time picking up a bat. I was genuinely impressed, and I didn’t believe him when he said it was his time playing baseball.”
While the Hammers welcomed Alonso to their home at the weekend, Julen Lopetegui will be taking his side to the Tampa-born slugger’s home state for pre-season matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace later this summer – and Alonso says the Claret and Blue Army are set for a treat.
“Summer time in Florida is really fun, and I think that any of the West Ham fans that go out to support the team will have a great time as Tampa [where West Ham play Crystal Palace] is a great place to visit,” he added. “The Pirate Ship at Raymond James Stadium is super cool, and it is a unique stadium, so I’m sure that they will enjoy it.”
It was not only the Mets and Phillies stars on show – as British UFC fighters Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett and ‘Meatball’ Molly McCann – also headed down to the batting cages to keep a keen eye on proceedings, ahead of their next assignments in the Octagon, in Manchester next month.
Paddy said: “We down in London for a media day and when we found out – via my cameraman, who is from Philadelphia and support the Phillies – that the game was on, we knew we wanted to come down and watch."
Molly added: “I went to America in 2009 to watch the Washington Nationals. I was out there at a tailgate party and was fascinated about what tailgating is and came in and had a good go. I then went to a game with Paddy about two years ago and really enjoyed it.
“Just being here at looking at the effort that has gone into the stickers and artwork is brilliant, and they are still serving British food as well as American, so are trying to give those fans a touch of English culture. It’s been really cool to be a part of it and we’ve really enjoyed it.
“It’s great to have these sort of events in the UK and it is something different. I know with MMA that the UFC would choose to go to places where MMA is not as popular to try and raise the profile, participation and popularity of the sport, so these things are integral for the growth of baseball.”
