LONDON -- When Chase Utley and Daniel Murphy walked onto the stage for the Trafalgar Square Takeover, cheers and boos filled the historic square in London. Phillies fans made their presence known at Friday night’s gathering to celebrate the eve of Game 1 of the London Series.
“This is a great event,” said Utley, who played for the 2008 World Series champion Phillies. “We’re in the middle of London, at an iconic, historic place, and now we’ve set up baseball here, it’s great.”
Utley and Murphy faced off once again, similarly to when they played for the Phillies and Mets. This time, instead of facing each other on the field, they met up in “The Cage” -- a unique augmented-reality home run derby that blends virtual gaming with real baseball action. In front of the batting cage was a screen that awards players a number of points depending on how far the ball traveled.
They did not compete alone. Utley and Murphy were joined by Alex Gray and Montell Douglas on behalf of Sport Relief, which supports vulnerable people and communities in the U.K. and around the world. Gray and Douglas participate in the British television series Gladiators, where they are known as Apollo and Fire, respectively.
Douglas is the first female athlete to participate in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Gray is also a dual-sport athlete who played both pro rugby and football for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons. They both received the opportunity to travel to the U.S. to visit Citi Field and Citizens Bank Park to practice with Utley and Murphy before the big event.
“Every moment was like, ‘Are you serious?’” Douglas recalled. “Going there and meeting the team, meeting the legends and then [throwing] the first pitch. I almost got hit by a foul ball in the same game that I threw the first pitch!”
She continued to practice when she returned home. Once the time to show her batting skills arrived, she said she felt like she was competing for a gold medal again.
“It felt like I was going to the Olympics where you walk up, you have to do your warmup and stuff. I just got in the zone and I think I made it more serious than it needed to be,” Douglas said.
Murphy also experienced some nervousness despite playing in front of thousands during his career. But the seasoned pro didn’t show the nerves when it was his turn to bat; he said the boos and jeers didn’t bother him. Murphy hit four home runs over two rounds of batting to secure the victory, silencing the Phillies fans.
Douglas was not surprised by the reaction of the fans, as she had gone to watch both series in each city before the event. She used it as fuel during the competition. Now she can add the derby to her accomplishments in baseball along with her foul and first-pitch balls at home.
“I have friends here saying, ‘The fans are brutal,’ and I say, ‘Yeah, that’s baseball. It’s like they’re like that,’” she said. “I think for the players it’s such a beautiful thing that the sport can ignite that in people.”
Murphy may have put the rivalry to the side for about an hour, but he had only one word to describe his favorite moment of the day: “Winning.”
The Mets and the Phillies will now have two opportunities over the London Series weekend to win. Game 1 will begin on Saturday at 1:10 p.m. ET from London Stadium and Game 2 will be on Sunday at 10:10 a.m. ET.
“It was a great atmosphere,” Utley said. “So many Phillies fans came over here to support their team, which is remarkable. Kudos to all the Phillies fans that made the trek to London. You’re going to witness great baseball.”