London Stadium Transforms Into A Major League Baseball Ballpark
Having been granted access to the Stadium on June 5th, Major League Baseball (MLB) is expected to complete the impressive make over by 22nd June, adhering to strict minimum standards.
Over 144,000 square feet of artificial turf, and 345 tonnes of infield clay has been installed on top of 4,000 tonnes of UK sourced aggregate. The synthetic turf, which sits on top of West Ham United’s playing surface, will be stored and reused for future series.
18 metre tall foul poles have been installed, while the build of a batter's eye, backstop, batting cages, dugouts, temporary clubhouses, and over 46,000 square feet of netting are on-going.
Following the series, it is expected to take five days for London Stadium to return to its more familiar state.
Murray Cook (President, Brightview Sports - Official MLB Field Consultants) said: “Our thought process since 2019 [for the field build] has been: what can we do better, faster, more efficiently, and more sustainably to make the whole experience even better for everybody, especially the fans who we want to bring closer to the action.
“Our number one goal is always the players’ safety, and the padding is a big part of that. We’ll use about 840 pads and we’ve changed the batter’s eye from black to dark blue which is typical of a lot of ballparks in the USA.
“The infield clay will be very familiar to the players because 25 MLB teams use it and we’ve imported around 340 tonnes from Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. That will be stored after the event and used again next year. Sustainability is a huge factor for us and everything, down to the playing surface – which is made up of 5,600 7x4ft tiles of artificial turf – can be reused each time we come back here.
“After 2019, we got feedback from the players and one of the big things was making the foul territory narrower. We’ve lost about 10,000 sq ft of foul territory because London Stadium reconfigured the seats, making it more baseball-like and bringing the fans closer. The pitch is also 7ft longer at 392ft to centre-field.
“It’s been a huge operation with around 400 people working night and day on the transformation at its peak. I’d seen it on plans, of course, but when I walked out to home plate for the first time this year I couldn’t believe the difference to 2019. You can see the dugouts and the players much more which is a huge part of the game and it really has a wow factor.”
With a rivalry stretching back 130 years, the Cardinals and Cubs will write the next chapter in their history on new ground at London Stadium.
St. Louis Cardinals will play Chicago Cubs in the MLB World Tour: London Series 2023 on June 24th-25th at London Stadium. Tickets are available now at ticketmaster.co.uk/mlb
