MLB Pushing London Fences Back After 2019 Homer Fest

Major League Baseball is headed back across the pond later this year, and they're going to make sure it doesn't turn into home run fest the last visit to London was.

The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals will play a two-game series at London Stadium, home of West Ham United. On June 24 and 25.

However, the league announced that there will be some changes to the field dimensions since the last MLB field trip to London in 2019.

While the fence is going to be significantly shorter than either Wrigley Field or Busch Stadium in most places, it will be a few feet deeper than it was for the Yankees and Red Sox.

According to Sportsnet, the center field fence is going to be 7 feet deeper than in 2019.

"When you're out at home plate, and you're looking (out) it looks like you're in a totally different ballpark than you were in 2019,'' MLB field consultant Murray Cook told The Associated Press.

These changes were reportedly possible thanks to seat reconfiguration, which also reduces the amount of foul territory.

The hope is that the slightly deeper fence — which remains 16 feet tall to make it a bit harder to hit a homer — will reduce scoring. The scores of the two games in 2019 were 17-13 and 12-8 with 10 home runs hit across both days.

The league wants to give fans in London a more authentic Major League experience. I get that, but don't you think the fans in London might dig the surplus of long balls?

They'd be all like, "Blimey; he hit that at least 140 metres, he did. "

At least the fans who talk like Victorian chimneysweeps would.

We'll see if it works, but MLB has plans to play more games in the UK in 2024 and 2025. There are also rumors of a possible game in Paris as well.

Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle