Boston Red Sox

Morning sports update: What organizers have said about the origins of the Red Sox-Yankees series in London

Also: The latest Celtics report, and looking back at the anniversary of a blockbuster trade.

London Stadium MLB series
A view of the pitch at London Stadium before the Red Sox and Yankees arrive. Frank Augstein/AP

By Hayden Bird

5 minutes to read

After rallying in the bottom of the 8th inning to take a 7-6 lead over the White Sox, the Red Sox failed to hang on in an 8-7 loss. Reliever Matt Barnes surrendered a 9th inning two-run home run to Chicago first baseman Jose Abreu in Boston’s final game before departing for a two-game series in London against the Yankees.

On Wednesday night, the United States men’s national team defeated Panama 1-0 in the final match of Gold Cup group play. Forward Jose Altidore scored the decisive goal on a bicycle kick:

The origins of the Red Sox-Yankees London series: The Red Sox and Yankees meet in London this weekend in a two-game series to play the first regular season MLB games ever on European soil.

Advertisement:

Explaining why the league decided on this format — to play in England, with its most famous rivalry, and deprive Boston of two 2019 regular season home games against the Yankees — is a question with several answers. Here’s what a few of the organizers had to say about it.

Rob Manfred, MLB commissioner: “We hope this series will be the beginning of a relationship with London that persists and a continuation of increasing exposure for Major League Baseball in Europe.” [The Guardian]

John Henry, Red Sox principal owner: “For several years the Red Sox and Yankees have discussed playing in London as the first ever Major League Baseball regular season game in Europe,” Henry said in 2018 during the series’ announcement. “It’s also the first time the Red Sox and Yankees have played one another outside of New York or Boston. There were significant challenges that had to be overcome. We could not be happier that Commissioner Manfred has been able to make this a reality.”

Advertisement:

Kelhem Salter, MLB’s director of growth and strategy EMEA: Salter explained to SportsPro in October 2018 why London was selected as the league’s first regular season European series:

“London works from a time-zone point of view, and it works from a language point of view. There are also a number of logistical factors, not least that there’s a venue here that works for the very idiosyncratic field layout that we have.

“Also, London has an almost unparalleled track record of selling tickets and selling out events. Londoners are big event-goers, so that was also an important consideration for us, and we’ve also got a big expat community here, so there are a whole bunch of different factors that makes this the right place to come as a first foray into Europe. Obviously it’s not the only one — we’re looking at exploring other markets, but right now this is the place for us to be.”

Sam Kennedy, Red Sox president: “Honestly there was hesitation around a lot of aspects because we’re all very competitive and you want to make sure you’re never at a competitive disadvantage.We like the concept of being the home team in London because we have connections with Liverpool and we have a London office so we get certain rights and benefits as the home team over there: our season ticket holders will have the opportunity to get tickets, our sponsors will have access to the games, so we like some of the benefits of being the home team.

Advertisement:

“It’s an economic reality that it was just easier to buy out Red Sox home games for the league. So the Yankees have been great. They’ve wanted it to happen as much or even more.” [The Athletic]

https://youtu.be/94KZ3ODD6Es

Trivia: This Scottish-born outfielder, known for hitting a famous home run, played part of the final year of his career with the Red Sox in 1960.

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: His best season — and most famous moment — came in 1951.

More from Boston.com:

The latest from Adrian Wojnarowski on Celtics rumors

:

An unsurprising reaction from Matt Barnes after giving up a 9th inning home run on Wednesday:

New England natives Samantha Mewis and Alyssa Naeher got a gift from the Red Sox while at the World Cup:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzJWsvlh-IE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

On this day: In 2013, then Yahoo Sports reporter Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Celtics and Nets were working on a “blockbuster deal” that would involved sending Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce — two cornerstones of Boston — to Brooklyn.

The deal was eventually worked out (with Wojnarowski again providing the news). The deal included an array of players to even out salaries, but more importantly, a stockpile of draft picks heading to Boston. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge also engineered the right to swap picks with Brooklyn in 2017.

Advertisement:

Ultimately, this proved to be a windfall for Ainge and the Celtics, who ended up drafting James Young, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and (indirectly) Romeo Langford with the picks from the deal.

Still, opinion in the immediate aftermath of the trade was mixed. Boston fan Bill Simmons was initially not a fan:

But as news trickled out about the full details of the deal, Simmons — like most Celtics fans — began to change tune:

The shine of the deal has faded slightly, given the possible departure of Kyrie Irving in free agency (Irving was acquired by the Celtics using one of the Nets’ picks as a major piece). Still, the stunning offseason trade remains a hallmark of Ainge’s tenure in Boston. Staring down the abyss of an aging roster lacking valuable assets for a rebuild, the Celtics restocked for the future in one move.

Daily highlight: Today, we have two from MLS. First, Orji Okwonkwo, of the Montreal Impact:

And second, scoring one of the best goals of the year is D.C. United’s Wayne Rooney:

Trivia answer: Bobby Thomson