Major League Baseball is looking to expand its horizons, particularly overseas. Commissioner Rob Manfred told The Associated Press that the league is hoping to play it’s first regular-season games in London in 2017.

The move would be congruent with other international moves by the league, such as streaming games in China, as well as two spring training games in Mexico City this upcoming season.

“We are very interested in playing there, and we’re working hard on that one,” Manfred told the AP. “I don’t think it will be an opener because of the weather issues. It would be later in the season.”

Manfred says that teams haven’t been selected, but added, “Obviously, we want to make as good a first impression in Europe as we possibly can.”

The international play by Manfred seems to be a similar direction that the NBA has taken, with playing games outside of the U.S. and Canada. The NBA has held five games in London since 2011, and two in Mexico City.

MLB will be ending a 12-year wait, and return to Mexico City in March for a pair of spring training games between the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres. Mexico held an exhibition last season when the Arizona Diamondbacks played the Colorado Rockies in Hermosillo.

On top of the plans of going overseas, Manfred said the league is also studying the strike zone, and whether or not to amend it. They would make the strike zone end at the top of the kneecap as opposed to the bottom.

But when questioned on it, Manfred didn’t give much.  “I’m not in a position to predict whether it’s going to happen or not,” Manfred said. “I think that the interest in the topic is really driven by the fact that if you look over time, there has been a movement down of the strike zone, largely as a result of the way we evaluate the strike zone with umpires.”

In just a year of service, Manfred does seem to be trying to make changes to a game that seems to be having trouble keeping up with other major sports.

 

About Harry Lyles Jr.

Harry Lyles Jr. is an Atlanta-based writer, and a Georgia State University graduate.