Meet Miles Mikolas, London-bound baseball pitcher dubbed ‘The Lizard King’ after historic viral video
MILES Mikolas is the baseball star with a unique backstory and one of the strangest nicknames in sport.
The 34-year-old heads to London this week when the St Louis Cardinals face the Chicago Cubs at West Ham’s London Stadium.
The Florida-born pitcher is a two-time All-Star in Major League Baseball.
But he shot to fame a lot earlier than that when he was dubbed “the Lizard King” after a bet in 2011.
Mikolas was playing in the Arizona Fall League when he ate a live lizard seemingly during a game.
Video showed him in the team’s bullpen with the lizard in one hand and a drink in the other.
He took a few bites of the creature before washing it down with his can of soda, to the sound of huge laughter from the players he was with.
Mikolas will be part of the Cardinals team that takes on the Cubs next weekend at the London Stadium.
He was grilled about his “Lizard King” nickname on radio by celebrity Cardinals fan Johnny Vaughan last year.
And he said: “I ate a live lizard during a silly bet a couple years back when I was a little more young and reckless.
“It was a little desert lizard, maybe four or five inches long with a little tail on it.
“Your first bite you’ve got to end it because you don’t want it wiggling on the way down.”
The Cubs and Cardinals will be champing at the bit for a win over their rivals this weekend in London.
The ‘Route 66 rivals’ will play a two-game series on both Saturday and Sunday.
Baseball returns to London after the two-game series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox at the same venue in 2019.
Mikolas told SunSport: “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, bringing baseball to a place where they don’t see a lot of it.
“It will be fun for everybody and try and put on a show over there.
I’ve never been to Europe or anywhere over there so it will be exciting from a tourism standpoint and seeing some of the sights.
“I know a lot of the wives are coming so it’s going to be nice for us to see some stuff and bond as a team.”
Mikolas added: “This rivalry goes way way back – there’s always some hostility in the stands.
“The fans will always give you a good heckling so I hope people in London have their jokes ready. I want that same atmosphere.”
St Louis Cardinals will play Chicago Cubs in the MLB World Tour: London Series 2023 on June 24-25 at London Stadium. Tickets are available now at ticketmaster.co.uk/mlb.