In Photos: MLB welcomes local communities for First Pitch Festival at London Stadium ahead of Mets-Phillies clash

Just for the third time in MLB history, NL East rivals the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies will travel across the pond for the London Series. The two-game series will take place on June 8 and 9 at London Stadium.

Ahead of the London Series, the MLB hosted several events to promote baseball in the United Kingdom. One particular event is the First Pitch Festival. The program was launched by the league in 2021 in partnership with the UK's top charity when it comes to boosting the youth's education through sports, Youth Sport Trust.

The league hosts the First Pitch festival in London (Image courtesy: Play Ball on X)

"The MLB First Pitch festival welcomed the London community to celebrate #LondonSeries‼️ Coach Ballgame was joined by MLB alums Daniel Murphy, Mickey Morandini, Milt Thompson, & Mookie Wilson for a day of fun and learning about the best sport from across the pond" - Play Ball

Joining the event were Play Ball ambassador James "Coach Ballgame" Lowe, New York Mets legend Daniel Murphy and former major leaguers Mickey Morandini, Milt Thompson and Mookie Wilson.

The London Series will be held at Premier League soccer team West Ham United's home ground, the London Stadium. The impressive structure was built to host the ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and has since been re-purposed to be a soccer stadium.

MLB's First Pitch initiative delivers results

The league's First Pitch program was created in 2021 to specifically cater to children aged 8 to 12 and adults with no affiliation to baseball.

A recent report estimated that over 14,000 children across 332 primary schools, 50 of which were in London, participated in the First Pitch initiative. The project is a part of the larger scale London Legacy Programme launched by the league with the help of the Greater London Authority, the British Baseball Federation, the British Softball Federation and BaseballSoftballUK.

With the rapid globalization and reach of sports through media, the league is certainly in the right direction as it took the first steps in the expansion of baseball in Europe.