Kurkjian: The beauty of the London Series
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Tim Kurkjian, ESPN Senior Writer
LONDON — Some sports are only as international as the International House of Pancakes. Not baseball. It is everywhere, from Cuba to Aruba, from Canada to Panama, from Ty France to Jonathan India.
And this weekend, baseball arrived in England, home to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the royals — but it will be the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs, not the Royals from Kansas City, playing at London Stadium. It is international baseball at its best: a 142-year-old Midwest rivalry playing out in historic, ancient and spectacular England. “It will be unforgettable,” Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas said.
The Cubs came to London via Pittsburgh, where they swept the Pirates, then flew to England on Wednesday night. They slept on the plane, and early Thursday, they began walking the streets of London.
“It was amazing,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “We saw everything: Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey. We learned all about Shakespeare and Dickens. … I’m a redneck from Florida. I don’t know much about world history. But it was all so incredible.”
The Cubs finished their day with a private guided tour of Westminster Abbey, a portion of which was rented out by Cubs owner Tom Ricketts.
“That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger said. “We were all in awe walking around, looking at all of it, the ceiling. I’ve never seen anything like it. We looked at each other and wondered, ‘How in the world did they build this?'”
Mikolas also visited the Abbey.
“People who have a house built today have to deal with builders who are using brick and plaster and concrete … and I’m in Westminster Abbey thinking, ‘They did a better job building something a thousand years ago,'” Mikolas said. “Today, we build these giant glass buildings. Me, I’ll take a building built out of stone every single time.”
Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong was equally impressed by the history of the city.
“Our hotel [The Four Seasons] has a statue of Poseidon on the top of it, the architecture is stunning,” he said. “We, too, were wondering how they built all this such a long time ago. I guess they built things out of survival, they had to build them so sturdy so they wouldn’t collapse. But they went way beyond survival, they went from survival to … art.”
DeJong also visited the Tower of London.
“It was remarkable,” he said. “That’s where Anne Boleyn was beheaded. … And we were standing right there today. It was an amazing day. We [the team] took a tour of London in a boat [on the River Thames]. We saw so many sights. It’s amazing how all great civilizations were built on a river, providing transportation, materials.”
Murray Cook, the genius groundskeeper who builds new fields and refurbishes old ones for Major League Baseball, might not have used the Thames, but he too had a construction project ahead of him. Cook began working on the field at London Stadium — a beautiful stadium, outdoors, that seats 55,000 — on June 5. He and his staff turned it into a baseball field in 18 days.
“Murray is a monster,” one MLB official said. “Murray is a magician.”
Cubs catcher Yan Gomes, who was born in Brazil, and is a huge soccer fan, said, “How about that? I finally get to go to a real soccer stadium … and we are playing a baseball game.”
To allow him to do so, Cook’s team first had to take up all the boarding — five layers of it — from a recent concert. Cook had 340 tons of clay flown in to build the infield. He installed artificial turf. He moved home plate back seven feet — from 385 feet to 392 — to try to avoid a repeat of the first game played in this stadium in 2019 when the Yankees beat the Red Sox 17-13. The alleys in right- and left-center field were extended to 387 feet. The ball still carries well, and the turf is thicker and softer than normal artificial turf.
“It’s the bounciest turf I’ve ever seen,” Cubs first baseman Trey Mancini said.
Cubs infielder Nick Madrigal said, “We bounced a ball off the turf, and it bounced up to our eyes. It takes some getting used to. That second hop, the one with topspin, you better be ready.”
The fans didn’t care if the ball bounced too high or if the ball jumped too much — they just wanted to see baseball. And there were Cubs fans and Cardinals fans everywhere in London, including a St. Louis couple married for 35 years: One is a Cubs fan, the other is a Cardinals fan.
“I was in Westminster Abbey and I turned around and there were 10 people in Cardinal hats standing right behind me,” Mikolas said. “So, I took a picture with all of them. The English people around us had no idea who I was. I’m sure they were wondering, ‘Why are they crowding around that guy?'”
Still, there are baseball fans in England. Great Britain fielded a team in the World Baseball Classic. It even won a game, beating Colombia. On Thursday, in a tour around town, we found one British man who had been to games in the United States.
“I went to games in a San Francisco when Barry Bonds hit … like a hundred home runs,” he said. “I went to a game in Yankee Stadium. That was great. I can’t wait for the games here.”
He was right to be excited. Saturday was unforgettable for Cubs outfielder Ian Happ, who hit a home run in his first two at-bats, leading the surging Cubs to a 9-1 victory. So perfect: A guy named Ian hit two home runs in his first game in London. “That’s a pretty popular name in England,” he said. “That was pretty cool.”
It was a big night for Cubs outfielder Mike Tauchman because he played in this series for the Yankees in 2019.
“I am Mr. London … actually, I am Mr. Europe,” Tauchman said with a smile. “Some of the guys asked me what it would be like to play here. I told them, ‘When we leave, it will suck.’ Everything was great tonight. The atmosphere was electric. And, it was 15 degrees cooler [than it was in 2019]. And the game didn’t last four hours.”
It lasted 2:40, and it was a huge win for Major League Baseball. There were home runs, great defensive plays, including a diving catch by Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki, and really good pitching, especially by Cubs starter Justin Steele. But it was the sellout crowd of 54,662 that made the night.
“I had to take a moment in the seventh inning to enjoy how much fun everyone was having,” Happ said. “It felt like there were 50,000 people there. And they were singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ in the seventh inning!”
“The crowd was amazing,” Ross said. “And for them to be cheering, ‘Go Cubs Go’ at the end was great.”
It is a special event for me, too: My late mother, the aptly named Joy, was born and raised in Bournemouth, England. We grew up to stories of soccer, lawn bowling, netball (basketball, but without a backboard) and, of course, her favorite, cricket.
I heard my beloved father raise his voice to my beloved mother once. While watching the 1968 World Series, my mom contended that a cricket bowler (pitcher) could throw harder than a major league pitcher. My dad, once a very good baseball player with a great feel for the game, said, “Listen Joy, look — no cricket bowler throws harder than Bob Gibson!”
Fifty-five years later, I watched a baseball game in England. It was fascinating, it was emotional, it was great fun. Mostly, I was moved by how much the players enjoyed the experience of historic London.
“I played three years in Japan,” Mikolas said. “I can only remember a handful of games I played there, maybe a shutout I threw. And I can only remember a few teammates. But I’ll never forget the temples, the shrines, the trip we took to Hiroshima. The experiences. That’s what you remember. That’s what we’ll all remember and never forget from London.”
Baseball in England.
Amazing.
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Heather Dinich, Senior College Football Insider
ATLANTA — Following Ohio State‘s fourth straight loss to Michigan, the players had a meeting with coach Ryan Day during which they “really hashed some things out,” quarterback Will Howard said Saturday, a turning point in their season that helped propel the team to Monday’s national championship game against Notre Dame.
“It was really a truth-telling time,” Howard said at the College Football Playoff media day. “The facts were laid out there. People were challenged. Everyone including myself had to look in the mirror a little bit and say, ‘What can I do better? How can we fix this thing?’ The thing that we clung to was we still have this opportunity out in front of us to right all these wrongs and go play for a national championship and here we are. We’re right where we wanted to be. A lot of people wrote us off, but we really just believed in ourselves.”
The Buckeyes were favored by 21 points against Michigan, the widest point spread for the rivalry since 1978, according to ESPN Research. Since then, they have reeled off three straight playoff wins — against Tennessee, Big Ten champion Oregon and SEC runner-up Texas.
Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said the team has shown its resiliency over the past few weeks, but had a choice to make.
“They talked through it,” Kelly said. “I think they understood what was presented, what’s ahead of us. I think that’s a big point. When you look at the game against Michigan, it could be one of two things: It could be your tombstone, or it could be a stepping stone, and Ryan and our players turned it into a stepping stone.”
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said the 13-10 loss to Michigan made the team closer. After the first loss of the season to Oregon, Knowles said, “There were a lot of fingers being pointed at the defense. And the second one, it was kind of the other way.”
“I made a point to say to our guys, ‘Remember what that felt like the first time? You need to go out of your way to pick up your brothers on offense,'” Knowles said. “In a way they did, and it kind of really merged us.”
The Buckeyes are making their sixth national championship game appearance (national championship games began with the inception of the BCS in the 1998 season), but haven’t won one since the 2014 season. Ohio State is 2-3 in national championship games. The Buckeyes are trying to win their first national title under Day, who faced heavy backlash and questions about his job security following the loss to Michigan.
“Every year you learn and you grow,” he said, “trying to be self-aware enough to surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth, hoping to get better, and that’s really all you can do.
“When you go through great moments, you really grab on to the people who are around you, and it’s the same thing when you go through difficult moments,” Day said. “That’s why you build relationships.”
Ohio State has a 6-2 lead in the all-time series and has won six straight. Notre Dame’s last win over Ohio State came in 1936. Knowles said Day never allowed any of the criticism to impact his work or effect the staff.
“It’s not something we talk about because we just try to put our heads down and work,” Knowles said. “But in the end, brothers in arms, you’re happy he is being seen for the quality of person and coach that he is because he does a great job and he cares about the players and is in tune with what’s going on with the staff. The only thing you can do to help is win, so I’m glad we have done that.”
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Paolo Uggetti, ESPN
ATLANTA — After being limited to one catch in Ohio State‘s Cotton Bowl semifinal victory over Texas, freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith gave a warning Saturday in advance of the Buckeyes’ national championship matchup against Notre Dame.
“If you are going to play man [to-man defense] against Ohio State, be ready,” Smith said. “I can’t wait to put on a show.”
Smith, who repeatedly pointed out during his media day availability that the Irish play man-to-man defense “80%” of the time, acknowledged that he relishes when defenses try to stop him with only one defender.
“What [the Irish do] they do very, very well. So for them to change up what they do, would be kind of silly,” Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline told ESPN. “They’re really, really good players, great players on the outside. And we’re really great players on the outside, too. It’s what you want in a game of this magnitude.”
Following Smith’s best game of the season against Oregon in the Rose Bowl (187 yards and two touchdowns), Texas’ secondary sold out to stop Smith, whose only catch in the Buckeyes’ win was for 3 yards.
“You watch the film — they doubled, tripled me,” Smith said. “It’s frustrating, but being a decoy helped us win the game.”
In his first year at Ohio State, Smith has been a supernova, catching 71 passes for 1,227 yards and 14 touchdowns. Heading into this game, he’s averaging 17.3 yards per catch.
“He’s one of the most talented dudes I’ve been around … you always want to try to get him the ball,” quarterback Will Howard said. “But he can also take out two or three guys at a time [as a decoy], and sometimes that’s a good thing.”
Smith’s performance in the Cotton Bowl was by far his least productive of the season, but it helped to open up opportunities for other skill players such as Carnell Tate (seven catches for 87 yards) and Quinshon Judkins (two receiving touchdowns).
Whether the Irish try to go away from their usual playing style in order to limit Smith or stick to their scheme remains to be seen. Although Smith noted that Notre Dame’s secondary might be the best they have faced all season, he is ready for the challenge.
“If I’ve got to be a decoy in this game, I’ll be a decoy,” Smith said. “All I want to do is win.”
Also, Ohio State star DE JT Tuimoloau, who rolled his ankle against Texas, talked about his health and the injury.
“I feel really good. I feel really good. One thing, our strength coach says you can’t do too much of taking care of your body, so I’m overloaded on take care of everything.”
Tuimoloau said he’s been somewhat limited in practice to nurse the ankle back.
“Me and Coach Day bumped heads; I want to get out there, he wants me to rest, so we met somewhere in the middle.”
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