Players' London call: Less time off, more teams

LONDON — Now that Major League Baseball has been to London three times, players have a few suggestions for future visits.

The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 on Sunday to split their two-game weekend series at London Stadium.

Both teams arrived Thursday morning and had two off days to get acclimated. They went sightseeing before getting back in game mode.

“I feel like we had too much time off,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said before Sunday’s game. “I get it, there’s a process of you’ve got to sell the games and stuff like that. But to me … playing the next day [Friday] would have been a little bit more beneficial.”

Lindor still called the whole experience “fantastic” and important in spreading the game. A soccer-style knee slide by Phillies slugger Bryce Harper garnered some media coverage in Britain.

Mets infielder Jeff McNeil likes an idea floated by Harper — to have more teams come and hold a cup-style tournament.

“It would be cool if you had four teams here — you could get five, six games,” he said after New York’s win. “It is tough coming over here for two games and then flying back to the States. If you could get more teams over here, make it more of an event, it would be a lot of fun.”

This was MLB’s third trip to London in the past five years. There’s another series planned for 2026. A proposed series in Paris for next summer was shelved.

“I’d do it every year if we could,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who visited a Philly-themed bar. “It’s been a great experience. Tough loss today, but it was a great ballgame for fans to watch.”