My Thoughts From The London Series And The City Of London

Cheerio Chaps,

Tommy Blokes checking in here. I spent my weekend across the pond seeing the Yankees clobber the Red Sox in the London Series. I’m now back in The States (that’s what us Brits call America) and wanted to share my experiences at the games and on the streets of London. Also, I’ve seen some people on Twitter say “How come you made the trip and not Jared, Dallas, or Hubbs?!!” Well, that’s because I went on my own dime with family. Took the trip out with my dad and met up with my cousin and his friend.

Thoughts On The London Series

It was definitely a unique event that I’m glad I experienced. I had no idea what to expect in terms of the fans, but it ended up being a nice turnout on both days. If I had to give a very, very rough guess, I’d say that it was about a 50/50 split between Americans and Brits. There were more Red Sox fans than Yankee fans, but it wasn’t too drastic. This was expected since it was technically a Red Sox home game, and also British people probably just hate the Yankees because of the American Revolution and all that. Get over it.

The stadium was aesthetically pleasing and they did a nice job converting into a baseball field, but there had to be something off. Maybe the mound was too low. Maybe the mound was too far. Maybe the aerodynamics or some shit of the stadium impacted the breaking balls. Maybe the foul lines were too far apart. Maybe the fences were too short. Maybe the air was just weird. Whatever it was, there has to be some explanation for how FIFTY god damn runs were scored in two games. Or maybe it’s just because both teams have really good offenses and terrible pitching. I suppose that’s a major possibility. Regardless, at a certain point, I was just rooting for as many runs as possible (as long as the Yankees had more) to make the games absolutely absurd.

Here were my game recaps for each night. I did them in a British accent because why not?

Some people are saying my British accent is “atrocious” and “embarrassing” or whatever. Well, it’s still a vast improvement from when I tried on Barstool Sports Advisors in October.

I’m getting better. All I know is that the key to a good a British accent is talking about getting tea with your auntie down at the harbor. I’ll sound like Russell Brand in no time.

Some other thoughts from the games.

-MLB did an AWFUL job with the merchandise. It was over an hour long wait just to get in the main superstore. Inside, the lines were a little shorter but there were just multiple single file lines for each stand and they were running out of a lot of stuff. The line we picked got held up by one guy and his wife who took TWENTY MINUTES to pick out two hats and a shirt. All of us waiting behind them bonded over our hatred for these inconsiderate pieces of garbage. I thought about going up there to say something but decided against it. Instead, I just gave a sarcastic clap as they finally walked away. I really showed them.

-A lot of different food options. There was traditional London meals like fish and chips, sausages, etc. But they also had tons of American food like pulled pork, hot dogs, burgers, and more. Saturday I got pulled pork nachos that were very good. On Sunday, I got this sausage with peppers, onions, and mustard. The sausage was a bit underwhelming. I didn’t care for its consistency.

-One incredibly annoying thing throughout the weekend was the scoreboard operator. It was just wrong so often. The count, score, and outs would routinely be off before getting fixed. It’s like they picked some random British guy off the street who has never seen baseball before to do it.

-The scoreboard routinely explain parts of the game (strikeouts, shifts, etc.) with “Baseball 101” – a quick explanation as to what just happened in the game. That was neat.

-People around London did not seem to know that the games were happening. There was no buzz around the city about it at all. Most British people had no idea the teams were even in town. I talked to a couple Stoolies on Sunday who said they went to a bar on Saturday night that wasn’t even showing the game on TV. So the MLB will have to do a better job of promoting its product in the city going forward.

Those were my main takeaways from the games. Oh and also, the Yankees might have the best lineup of all time.

Thoughts On The City Of London

-I constantly felt like I was in a Black Mirror episode. I’ve been recently watching some episodes, and they’re like all set in England. Every time I hear a British accent now, I think of Black Mirror. When we were riding the underground (what us Brits called the subway), I’d hear the robot lady’s voice saying “Next stop is Oxford Circle” and I’d get scared that she was going to become real and kill us or something. 

-There are a TON of Pret A Mangers throughout the city. It was absurd. If you think NYC has a lot of Starbucks, just wait until you see the number of Pret a Mangers in London. There was basically one every block. 

-The city is not big on ice. They like warm drinks apparently. Always had to ask for more ice.

-Crossing streets was a little confusing because you have to look right and then left since they drive on the opposite sides of the road. Luckily, you just looked down at the road and it would tell you which way to look. 

-Big Ben was just closed. One of the main attractions I wanted to see, and it was just under renovation. Look at this shit. 

What a disappointment. 

-Really liked their telephone booths. Felt like I was in an 1800s murder mystery novel. Here’s a good picture of me by one.

This should be on a Pepsi billboard. 

-Being a king or queen seems like a pretty good gig. The palace was magnificent. The British national anthem is just all about God saving the Queen. They have no real responsibilities besides being rich and famous. I gotta get in on that. 

-There were a ton of “No smoking” signs all over the place. Just an observation.

-Instead of exit signs, they have signs that say “Way Out.”

I wonder if they’ve just never heard the word “exit” over there.

-English breakfasts are kind of weird. They come with mushrooms, tomatoes, and beans. Kind of a weird mix for breakfast. I really liked their bacon but once again found the consistency of the sausage to be unpleasant.

-They have no idea what fried calamari is.

And that’s basically London in a nutshell. I really cannot stress enough how many Pret A Mangers there were in that city. It’s what I’ll remember most.

Overall, it was fun and I’m glad I got to experience it. The Yankees winning both certainly helped. For a full recap of those games and my trip, listen to the latest Short Porch.

Now I’m off to have to some tea with my auntie down at the harbor.

Cheerio,

-Tommy Blokes

*not sure if Cheerio also means goodbye but whatever