Nick Offerman Leads Seventh Inning Stretch In London

The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals have been sent off to the United Kingdom to show our pals over there some good old-fashioned American baseball.

The NL Central rivals are in London playing a two-game series at London Stadium sight of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2012 London Summer Olympics and home to West Ham United of the Premier League,

It's the first time MLB has been across the pond since 2019 and this year, they were opening the two-game series wouldn't be the homer fest it was four years ago. It kind of worked out as only two were hit, both by the Cubs, who wiped the floor with the Cardinals 9-1.

However, for an event like this, the bigger concern is putting on a spectacle for the fans.

Of course, the MLB needed to bring out some big guns for the occasion. So, for the seventh-inning stretch, they brought out actor and Cubs fan Nick Offerman.

He did a solid job. I would've changed peanuts and Cracker Jack to something a bit more London-y. Maybe crumpets and digestive biscuits. I don't know, I've never been there.

Offerman — star of Parks & Recreation and The Last Of Us — did a solid job leading the crowd as he was flanked by both mascots.

Nick Offerman Would Be Good In A Baseball/Cricket Rip-Off Of Ted Lasso

Offerman's appearance gave me an idea for a TV show. One that I'm honestly shocked hasn't been made yet.

Given how people eat up Ted Lasso, I can't believe no one has blatantly ripped it off. That's why I submit for your approval a series about a big league baseball manager who winds up coaching a British cricket club.

There'd be misunderstandings, cricket, drama, mustaches, romance, and hilarity would absolutely ensue.

And who would play this baseball manager turned cricket coach (or whatever they're called?

Nick Offerman.

Hell, he even played a manager already in the remake of A League of Their Own. He could do it in his sleep.

It's not quite a fully formed idea. That said, we can work with it. Maybe we can start with some moderately-funny commercials. Use that as a proof-of-concept as they say in the biz. Then, after that, maybe those dopes at Apple will pay millions for this idea.

Probably not, but then again, did anyone see some NBC Sports commercials morphing into a critically-acclaimed, award-winning juggernaut?

No, they did not.

Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle