After thirty-eight exciting games, sixteen teams have been reduced to just two. They will compete in the early hours of Tuesday morning British time (a 1.00 start with first pitch at around 01.30) in a game ‘thirty-nine’ that everyone can look forward to.
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Japan and Korea have emerged as the finalists of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, bringing together the reigning WBC champions and the reigning Olympic champions. Continue reading
After a series of exciting games, we now know which four teams will be competing in the 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) semi-finals. The two match-ups will be determined by the result of tonight’s game between Korea and Japan, with the winner facing the United States and the loser taking on Venezuela.
While it promises to be a good game, you’d be forgiven if your first reaction was: “haven’t Korea and Japan played against each other enough already?”. It’s a flaw in the tournament set-up, one which I pointed out last August. Continue reading
Ian Young has played domestic baseball in Britain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, and France, he has competed in international baseball for Great Britain since 2001, and he also played collegiate ball in the United States.
Thank you to Matt for his help with the questions and to Ian for taking the time to talk to BaseballGB.
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It looks like predictions are not my strong point. I stated in last week’s column that the Bonds case would start this week. It looks like it will be delayed until July while USA prosecutors try to get evidence readmitted back into the trial. This week I will stay with a safer subject: the World Baseball Classic.
After three years of waiting, the World Baseball Classic is with us once again. Japan will start the defence of their title from 9.30 GMT against China, knowing that this year’s competition will be even stronger than the 2006 event.Â
There’s nothing quite like the first week of Spring Training games. From the players to the fans, everyone has a smile on their face as the sport comes out of hibernation once again.Â
As the players are busy running through training drills to prepare for the season ahead, this also seems like a good time to start preparing for our season here at BaseballGB (not that we really have an off-season). So treat this as a Spring Training edition of my feature column: ‘Weekly Hit Ground Ball’. Continue reading
Alan Smith has been General Manager of the Great Britain Seniors since 2004. As a player, he enjoyed success for a number of top-tier teams in the London area, particularly on the mound, over a span of more than two decades.
Thank you to Matt for helping with the questions and to Alan for kindly taking time out of his busy GB schedule to talk to BaseballGB.
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2009 looks set to be a great year for baseball, but it could also end in the sport being dealt a considerable blow. The International Olympic Committee will decide in October which two sports should be added to the Games in 2016 and baseball’s reinstatement hangs in the balance.
Consequently, the World Baseball Classic (WBC) has taken on even more importance. Baseball fans are not only hoping that the event in March will be a great success, they are also already considering what improvements could be made for the next staging of the tournament in 2013. Continue reading
The IBAF have announced “impressive” early ticket sales for the Baseball World Cup, to be staged across Europe this September.  Over 8,000 tickets have been sold in forty-eight hours for the Pool E games based in Regensburg, Germany.
The news is a welcome source of optimism for the year ahead; however Regensburg is the only venue currently selling tickets.  Little information has been published about the organization of the tournament in recent months and, according to recent reports from Mister-Baseball.com, this lack of progress is causing concern. Continue reading
Alex Malihoudis has been a GB Senior for the past 14 years and has also enjoyed domestic success, most recently as a London Met in their championship-winning seasons of 2007 and 2008. In 2008, he won the best shortstop award and led the league in hits and in runs scored. Through a combination of natural talent, determination and hard work, Alex has capitalized on his good fortune of developing an interest in baseball as a youngster while happening to live in Tonbridge, a town that had one of the country’s best youth programmes. Â
Thank you to Matt for his help with the questions and to Alex for talking to BaseballGB.
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