ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — When St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol saw his team had an unusual Saturday off during the season, and in the middle of a series, he had one question: “Can I make it to the soccer game?”
Not just any soccer game, a World Cup match.
The international soccer tournament, held every four years, is ongoing at 16 sites in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Those include 11 markets that are also home to a combined 13 Major League Baseball teams.
Kansas City, where the Cardinals open a three-game series Thursday, is hosting six World Cup matches at the NFL stadium in the same complex with the Royals' ballpark. The Cardinals and Royals will be off Saturday, when Ecuador plays Curaçao.
“That is the goal, yes,” Marmol said when asked if he was going to that match.
Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and his wife, who played soccer at Old Dominion, plan to be there.
“It’s strange, but it’s special circumstances,” Pasquantino said. “It’s awesome that Kansas City got access to World Cup games. So, however many years until the United States hosts again, we’ll be all right with some off days like that.”
World Cup matches are being played in the United States for the first time since 1994.
Getting their kicks in Texas
A tournament-high nine matches are being played at AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys that is adjacent to Globe Life Field. The neighboring Texas Rangers will host two split series, but also have a Monday off between home series on July 6, the day of a round of 16 match.
Texas is now in a three-game series against Minnesota that will finish Thursday, after a pause Wednesday when powerhouse England plays its Cup opener against Croatia.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson, who played soccer as a kid in California.
The Rangers completed a road trip Sunday in Boston, with thousands of Scottish fans chanting and singing at Fenway Park the night after Scotland won the opener of its first World Cup appearance in 28 years. That win over Haiti was at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, about 30 miles away.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the presence of the Tartan Army made it feel like a European soccer game. He and members of his staff now want to attend the World Cup.
“It was so much fun that on the off day the majority of our staff is trying to find a way to get tickets to go to a game that they know really nothing about because of the atmosphere that was so incredible,” Schumaker said. “The passion was insane.”
In Philadelphia, the Phillies will be off Friday during their home series against the New York Mets since Brazil plays Haiti at nearby Lincoln Financial Field.
Like for the Rangers, Royals and Seattle Mariners, the home of the Phillies is next to an NFL stadium hosting some of the 104 matches during the nearly six-week tournament with teams from 48 nations. Those stadiums all have shared parking lots.
Texas and Kansas City are both off for round of 32 Cup matches on July 3, a Friday. The Rangers will have already opened a series against Detroit, while the Royals wait to start an unusual Saturday through Monday series against the Phillies.
Not all of the matches are next door
Either the Mets or Yankees have a home game on each of the eight dates World Cup matches are at MetLife Stadium across the river in New Jersey, including the championship finale July 19, when the Yankees also host Shohei Ohtani and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Yankee Stadium is about 14 miles from the Meadowlands, with Citi Field about 24 miles away.
World Cup matches at SoFi Stadium will be about 13 miles from Dodger Stadium and 35 miles from Angel Stadium. Either the Dodgers or Angels play at home on six of the eight match dates in Inglewood. Those other two dates fall on normal off days during a homestand, one for each team.
With separation between stadiums, Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Miami and Toronto all will play multiple home games that concur with World Cup matches in their markets.
Mariners and Red Sox almost played two
There will still be a split series for the Angels when they go to Seattle, with a midweek break July 1 for a round of 16 Cup match.
The Mariners were originally scheduled to have a home doubleheader Saturday against Boston with the United States playing Australia in Seattle. But when match time at Lumen Field was set at noon local Friday, the Mariners and Red Sox switched to a traditional three-game series with the opener that night, instead of playing MLB's first scheduled doubleheader in two years.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
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