Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that Farnham Park, the UK’s only purpose-built, multifield baseball and softball facility, owned and operated by BaseballSoftballUK, will host from Tuesday to Friday (4-7 June) the European Development Tournament.
The event will feature 86 of the best amateur European players in the 15-20 age range, representing 13 countries.
Czechia, France and the Netherlands lead with 13 players, followed by Germany (12), Italy and Spain (9), Austria (5), Slovakia and Sweden (3), Great Britain and Norway (2), Belgium and Bulgaria (1).
The tournament is the main development activity connected to the MLB London Series, which is scheduled for June 8 and 9 between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.
The London Series is the third stop of the MLB World Tour 2024 after the Seoul Series in March and the Mexico City Series in April.
Other development activities include a special Play Ball event at the University of South Wales in Cardiff on Tuesday, 4 June, a London-based First Pitch Festival at the London Marathon Community Track on Thursday, 6 June and another First Pitch Festival in Liverpool on Wednesday, 26 June.
PlayBall is an MLB programme supported by USA Baseball and USA Softball. Its goal is to inspire the youth to play the game.
MLB First Pitch is a grassroots skills programme by MLB International that aims to introduce a new generation of players to baseball. The UK-based programme reached 14,000 primary school children.
On Friday, 7 June, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, New York Mets Owner Alex Cohen and Philadelphia Phillies Principal Owner John Middleton will visit the Roger Ascham Primary School, one of the MLB First Pitch schools.
