Baseball star Bryson Stott has revealed how his unlikely friendship with Crystal Palace defender Rob Holding got him into a scrape with a London bouncer, as he prepares to cross the pond again this summer when MLB returns to the UK.

Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Stott will come to the London Stadium for two games against rivals the New York Mets in June, his second trip to the capital after coming to watch Holding's Arsenal team play Palace in 2020.

'We had a mutual friend in college and he would come to Vegas and hang out,' said Stott. 

'I just hung out with him at the weekends and he was rehabbing his ACL injury at the time, so he had enough free time to get away for a couple of weekends here and there.

'We stayed in touch and he was the first person we called when I was in London with my now-wife.'

But Stott's support for Holding nearly got him into trouble with pub security when he went to Arsenal's 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace in January 2020.

'We went to a pub in London in Crystal Palace territory, I had my Arsenal scarf on,' said Stott. 'He looks at me kinda funky but then he lifts up his jacket and he's wearing an Arsenal jersey - it really made me laugh.

'The craziest part for me was how many people show up to Premier League games and it's die-hard fans. Each team has their own snack bars and bathrooms and you don't ever mix and match, because it would be mayhem. That was the coolest thing to me, seeing how separated it is. But it was awesome.

'We don't have that in baseball. Even when we're playing the (rival Atlanta) Braves, we'll have Braves fans behind our dugout and we go to Atlanta and we have Phillies fans above their dugout, you don't see that over there in the UK with their stuff.'

The Phillies and Mets' meetings this summer will be the third edition of the London Series, after the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in 2019, followed by the Chicago Cubs and St Louis Cardinals last summer.

Almost 60,000 fans crammed into West Ham's London Stadium for each of the games, making them the highest-attended baseball games anywhere in the world in their respective seasons.

And Stott will get to pair up again with Holding, who remained in the city when he left Arsenal for Palace last summer.

'He was a good tour guide and he took us around as we did all the touristy things they tell you to do,' said Stott. 'So I'm looking forward to seeing him again.

'He's excited and obviously we're excited to get over to London and play in front of the London fans.

'Obviously baseball is a big sport and has fans everywhere, so I think it's cool we get to go over there instead of them coming over here every time, or watching at home on TV at 4am or whatever it may be. I think it's a really cool thing.'

New York Mets will play Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB World Tour: London Series 2024 on June 8-9 at London Stadium. Tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster.co.uk/MLB