MLB Cardinals Chair & CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. said that he "suspected for some time" that the club's now-canceled series with the Cubs in London was in jeopardy, and that the Cardinals "would like to be involved again, if offered the chance," according to Rick Hummel of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. DeWitt said "a ton of tickets" had been sold for the series, adding, "The Red Sox and Yankees did so well last year and I think we were on pace to do equally well." He also noted that the club had "sent a group of executives to London on a couple of occasions in the past few months 'to get the lay of the land.'" Hummel reports all tickets purchased through London Stadium or Ticketmaster will be "refunded automatically in full, including service charges." Meanwhile, DeWitt said of when the MLB season may start, "Your guess is as good as mine. I look at the stats every day on cases and everybody looks at a point where hopefully the illnesses peak and go down and get to a point where it’s safe to have thousands of people in a stadium again" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 4/2). In London, George Bond writes the cancellation will be a "significant blow to hopes of retaining MLB" in the U.K., with the two-year deal "set to expire after this summer's games." MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred also stated last summer that he was "interested in having play in other cities in Europe" (London DAILY MAIL, 4/2).
NOW ON DECK? In Newark, Randy Miller notes MLB's other neutral-site game scheduled for the '20 season -- the Yankees-White Sox Field of Dreams Game -- "could be in jeopardy, too, if a temporary 8,000-seat ballpark can't be built in time." The "made-for-TV game" is scheduled for Aug. 13 in Dyersville, Iowa (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 4/2).
