“I don’t think either club likes each other that much,” says Dave Dombrowski of the rivalry between the Philadelphia Phillies, of which he is general manager, and the New York Mets.
Separated by just 80 miles — minuscule in American geographical terms — the two sides have played each other in excess of 1,000 times.
Over the course of this weekend, they will do battle once again inside London Stadium, with the Phillies the clear favourites to win as the best side currently in Major League Baseball.
It is the latest attempt by baseball to crack the European market, with London front and centre in that quest.
The last of the big US sports to make it over to these shores — its debut as recent as 2019 between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox — baseball has been an early success.
In the second round of MLB games in the capital — delayed until last year because of the knock-on effect from Covid — there was an average attendance of 55,000 fans over the two games and 71 per cent of those ticket buyers were from the UK. Both games this time are edging towards a sell-out.
The backdrop to the series is an intriguing one. The Phillies are the current favourites to add to their two World Series.
It’s always going to be a good game, it’s always going to be very rowdy and very emotional
The Mets, in contrast, are unlikely to be contenders to add to their two titles, undone by their star turns misfiring and seeming infighting.
Last week, pitcher Jorge Lopez was ejected and threw his glove into the stands, afterwards describing the Mets, as “the worst team in probably the whole f****** MLB”. The irony is, with an annual player payroll of £241million, they are MLB’s highest-paid side.
Central to stopping that rot are Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor, two of the Mets’ star men and leaders in the locker room.
Of the Mets-Phillies rivalry, Lindor said: “It’s great. Philly fans get rowdy and so do New Yorker fans. Every time we take the field, it’s always going to be a good game, it’s always going to be very rowdy and very emotional.”
The Phillies do not lack for star turns, from pitcher Ranger Suarez, the league’s current best and the expected starter tomorrow, the long-haired, big-bearded Brandon Marsh, who likes to wear a T-shirt with the words Stay Loose and Sexy, and first baseman Bryce Harper.
Both teams have waxed lyrical about the prospect of spreading the gospel of MLB and visiting London attractions, the wish list including Buckingham Palace and the London Eye, while Lindor has been coerced into a trip to Harry Potter World with his family.
London has annual MLB games returning again in 2026, but Harper wants a stronger baseball foothold in the city, much like the NFL. “I kind of wish it was longer,” he said of this weekend’s London trip.
“I wish we had about a week there, where we bring four teams over, play like a round-robin for a week and a half and really check it out and have some fun. But we’re just excited for the fans.”
MLB has used the Wrexham effect to spread the word, with a tie-in with the football club’s co-owner Rob McElhenney, a son of Philadelphia, throwing the ceremonial pitch on Sunday.
Fellow actor and Mets fan Matthew Broderick will do likewise tomorrow. Mets general manager David Stearns calls the London leg of the marathon MLB season “a jewel event” and that “it’s a big deal for us as an organisation”.
Opposite number Dombrowski was in the same role for the Red Sox visit in 2019 and suffered two defeats. His hope is for a different outcome on his return. Whatever the case, he is adamant it will be noisy. “The fans that boo the loudest cheer the loudest,” he said.
