Hours earlier than the New York Yankees’ flight departed for England to play within the first London Series in 2019, outfielder Mike Tauchman was leaving the Triple A workforce lodge in Scranton, Pa., when his telephone rang.
The Yankees’ recreation was already underway, a house finale earlier than embarking on the abroad journey, when Tauchman was informed to move again to the lodge and pack his stuff. New York was placing Giancarlo Stanton on the injured checklist and wanted Tauchman to get to New York earlier than the workforce departed postgame for London forward of the inaugural two-game sequence towards the Boston Red Sox.
Tauchman, a Palatine, Ill., native, shortly referred to as his spouse, Eileen, who caught a flight from Chicago to affix him on the journey.
Reflecting on his 2019 expertise forward of his return journey with the Cubs for a two-game sequence versus the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday and Sunday at London Stadium, Tauchman laughs on the first reminiscence that pops in his head: a document warmth wave. London Stadium’s recorded temperature at first pitch was 92 levels for the sequence opener.
Fortunately, the climate cooled off for the second recreation, sitting at 75 levels because it acquired underway.
“It felt like 1,000 degrees,” Tauchman, laughing, informed the Tribune. “In that (soccer) stadium where they don’t have any wind on purpose, you’re just baking in there. But it was really cool, the crowds were awesome. And that was my first time in Europe.”
More than 59,000 followers packed London Stadium for every recreation, which memorably featured a lot of scoring. The Yankees and Red Sox mixed for 55 hits, 50 runs and 10 homers through the two video games.
“Hopefully we can give them another show,” mentioned Tauchman, who struck out in two pinch-hit appearances through the sequence.
The Cubs-Cardinals matchup — that includes Saturday starter Justin Steele and Sunday starter Marcus Stroman — possible received’t repeat these offensive numbers. Major League Baseball moved again the fence on the stadium, which was initially constructed for the 2012 Olympics and is now the house turf of the Premier League’s West Ham United.
The 16-foot excessive heart area wall is now 7 toes deeper at 392 toes, although it nonetheless can be one of many shortest amongst big-league ballparks, whereas the facility alleys added 5 toes to achieve 387 toes. Down the road stays 330 toes. The dimensions have been adjusted due to seat restructuring within the stadium, to not fight the excessive scoring. The dugouts have additionally been repositioned and foul territory lowered.
“When you’re out at home plate, and you’re looking (out) it looks like you’re in a totally different ballpark than you were in 2019,” MLB’s official area marketing consultant Murray Cook informed The Associated Press. “The new dugouts and the new seating configuration kind of pitch out like they would typically down the foul line, whereas in 2019 they were more a straight line behind home plate.”
The Cubs and Cardinals have been initially imagined to play in London in June 2020 when the pandemic pressured the cancellation.
“It’s one of the premier rivalries in the game,” Tauchman mentioned. “Over there (in the U.K.), that’s something they can relate to because of the nature of the football clubs they follow and how passionate they are with that. It’s exciting and cool to get to experience the attempt to grow the game a little more internationally and do some different things.”
The Cubs head to England following Wednesday’s afternoon sequence finale in Pittsburgh. Stroman gifted the workforce with Nintendo Switches to assist go time on the flight and probably construct workforce camaraderie. Mario Kart is anticipated to be the go-to recreation. Jameson Taillon mentioned final week he had already been utilizing his Nintendo Switch to tackle pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and bullpen coach Chris Young in on-line battles which have generated some pleasant trash discuss.
One of the most important challenges of the Cubs’ journey will likely be navigating the bodily grind of taking part in two video games abroad. They get two off days, together with a exercise Friday, earlier than Saturday’s sequence opener. However, the Cubs get solely Monday off earlier than starting a seven-game homestand. Their return flight can have them touchdown again in Chicago round midnight.
Tauchman discovered from the 2019 London journey that a very powerful a part of physique restoration with any such turnaround is being nicely rested within the 7 to 10 days main as much as it.
“The simple thing is sleep and hydration because it’s tough,” Tauchman mentioned. “But we’ll be fine. Everybody in here has at least a dozen stories playing on a couple hours of sleep. But it’s worth it. It’s worth the experience.”
Most of the Cubs clubhouse already understands what the hoopla round a marquee occasion entails after they performed within the Field of Dreams recreation in Iowa final 12 months. The London Series will take that one-day occasion to a different stage. Manager David Ross pointed to the time change — London is six hours forward of Chicago — as one issue that’s been on his radar. He anticipates adjusting plans as wanted.
“I don’t have to play in the games and some days I’m tired when we get home from the West Coast on an off day and you want to bang BP and cancel this or cancel that,” Ross mentioned. “We’ll try to err on the side of checking in with guys, seeing how they’re feeling and try to balance as best we can.”
The Field of Dreams recreation and London Series can function reminders of the significance to absorb the second through the grind of the lengthy season.
“It’s a really cool venue and experience with the fans and your family and how cool that is, it’s great for baseball,” Ross mentioned. “You want to obviously see the city and what’s different, but there’s also work to do at some point and I think our guys are professional enough to enjoy the moment and also they’ll be ready to play when it comes time to play those games.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com