Rob Thomson and Phillies staff visited a Philly-themed London sports bar: ‘It was just a lot of fun’

LONDON — As the Phillies wrapped up a team reception Thursday night at the Tower of London, third base coach Dusty Wathan said he knew of a Philadelphia-themed sports bar that wasn’t far away.

“Let’s head over,” manager Rob Thomson said.

Sure enough, Thomson, Larry Bowa, and most of the coaches arrived at Passyunk Avenue, near the London Eye, for a few drinks with locals and other fans who made the trip from Philadelphia. Thomson estimated the crowd at 500 people.

“It was amazing how many people from Philadelphia were there,” Thomson said. “And then obviously the Phillies fans here from Great Britain. It was just a lot of fun.”

The Phillies made the most of back-to-back days off before Saturday’s opener of a two-game series against the Mets. To guard against jet lag, players were advised to stay awake after the team touched down at 10 a.m. Thursday, and most adhered to the plan by taking in the sights. (Ranger Suárez claimed that he slept most of the day.)

Bryson Stott has been to London previously and played a “tour guide-ish” role for Kyle Schwarber, a first-time visitor. Stott and Schwarber went for a stroll to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the king’s guard.

“Ran into the Phanatic there, so we had to be kind of incognito there for a second,” Stott said, laughing. “We saw the Big Ben and the London Eye. We’re going to go again, too, so we’ll see a bunch of stuff.”

In fact, after the Phillies took batting practice and worked out Friday at London Stadium, Schwarber, Stott, and several other players had plans to take the Tube — the colloquial name for the London Underground — to other sights around the city.

Thomson, also new to London, and other team personnel toured Tower of London on Thursday. Among the highlights: suits of armor fit for previous kings and the Crown Jewels of England.

And for lunch? What else?

“We went to Dickens Inn, a little pub, and had some fish and chips,” Thomson said. “It was good.”

After a brief throwing session, Suárez was cleared to start the series opener, as expected. Suárez, who leads the majors with a 1.70 ERA, left his last start in the second inning June 1 after taking a line drive off the left hand.

Suárez was a talented soccer player growing up in Venezuela and follows the sport closely. But he said he hadn’t been to a Premier League venue until he walked into London Stadium, home to West Ham United, on Friday.

“I was really impressed when I saw the stadium from the outside,” Suárez said through a team interpreter. “I’ve always wanted to attend a futbol game here in Europe. I’ll try to do that this year.”

This marks the third time that the soccer pitch at London Stadium has been converted into a baseball diamond for an MLB series.

Officially, the dimensions are 330 feet down the lines, 387 in the alleys, and 392 to center. But the stadium played smaller last June for Cubs-Cardinals and especially in 2019 for Red Sox-Yankees. Thomson suggested the weather might have played a factor. It was unusually hot last year, for instance. The forecast for this weekend is calling for a high of 67 degrees both days.

The Mets will get the last at-bat as the “home” team Saturday; the Phillies will play that role Sunday.

» READ MORE: The Phillies are coming ‘to my jawn.’ And this U.K. superfan is welcoming all with help from Chase Utley.

Rafael Marchán will be the Phillies’ 27th player Saturday. They wanted a third catcher on the roster because J.T. Realmuto has been banged up recently. Thomson reiterated that the Phillies could pull back on Realmuto’s workload through the middle of the season. ... Among the former Phillies who are in town for the London Series: Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Ryan Madson, Carlos Ruiz, Matt Stairs, and of course, Chase Utley, who lives in London. ... The Phillies acquired infielder Buddy Kennedy from the Tigers for cash and optioned him to triple A. Kennedy, 25, batted .234/.331/.383 with three homers at mostly second and third base for the Tigers’ triple-A club before being designated for assignment this week. He’s from Millville, N.J., the same hometown as Mike Trout. ... The Phillies will face two Mets lefties — Sean Manaea (3-2, 3.63 ERA) and Jose Quintana (1-5, 5.17) — this weekend, after which they will have faced a lefty starter in eight of 11 games. ... First pitch is 1:10 p.m. ET Saturday, 10:10 a.m. ET Sunday.

Join us on Phillies Gameday Central as The Inquirer’s Scott Lauber brings you live coverage at noon Saturday from London, where the Phillies face off against the Mets. He’ll be joined by Phillies beat writer Alex Coffey, while he shares his adventures in the city along with the latest news on the team. Be sure to tune in for this special international edition of Gameday Central!