The provisional rosters for this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) were announced last night, with baseball fans counting down the days until the tournament begins. Sixteen teams will compete during March to win what is arguably the most prestigious international baseball event now that the sport’s Olympic future remains in the balance
The rosters show not only who will be taking part, but also the players who have decided not to. Continue reading
The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) published their first set of world rankings on Tuesday. Like the ‘Big Four’ in the Premiership, Cuba, the USA, Korea and Japan sit apart from the rest at the top of the standings, with Chinese Taipei, the Netherlands and Canada being the next in line.
While other baseball ranking lists have been put together recently, most notably the European club rankings by Mister-Baseball.com and BaseballdeWorld, this is the first official set by the international body that factor in performances over the last four years in senior, university and youth tournaments. The rankings have prompted much comment and debate, as intended, and they deserve to be looked at from a British perspective. Continue reading
Having emerged from the Tonbridge Bobcats youth programme, Will Lintern realized the “American dream” of many young baseball players in Britain by getting a place at Menlo College in California, where he was able to play the sport every day. Will was a member of the London Mets’ championship-winning squad of 2008 and has played for Great Britain on many occasions, most recently as starting catcher against The Bangers in Taunton.
Thanks must again go to Matt for posing the questions and to Will, of course, for taking the time to share his thoughts.
Best known in Britain for his role as co-host of Baseball on Five, Josh has also represented Great Britain in five European Championships, led the London Mets to two domestic titles, and published a pair of books covering baseball history in Britain and the rest of Europe.
Thanks must go to Matt for posing the questions and to Josh for sharing his thoughts.
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Las Vegas is currently welcoming GMs, agents, players and hordes of reporters ready to begin this week’s Winter Meetings. Most of the attention will be devoted to free agents and possible trades, all looking ahead to how each team will shape up for the 2009 MLB season.Â
But before another marathon MLB campaign is launched, the World Baseball Classic (WBC) will dazzle and delight during March. Yesterday’s announcement that Alex Rodriguez will be representing the Dominican Republic in the tournament has only increased the excitement surrounding the event. Continue reading
EDIT: (2 December) Please note that the Eurosport deal is still to be completely confirmed. Hopefully the deal can be finalized and officially announced in due course.Â
Stephan Rapaglia has been Head Coach of Great Britain since early 2004. He is a former professional pitcher in the Houston Astros’ minor league organization as well as in The Netherlands and Germany. He has also coached in the US, both for Division I Iona College and for the Johnstown Johnnies (of the independent professional Frontier League).
Thanks once again to Matt for his invaluable input into the questions and to Stephan for kindly taking the time to speak to BaseballGB.
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As noted on Thursday, a six-man panel from the International Baseball Federation met with the International Olympic Committee yesterday to put forward the sport’s case for re-election to the Olympic programme. As expected, the IOC’s main line of questioning concerned the participation of MLB players. The IBAF’s response was promising even though they did not commit themselves to any specific plans in this regard. Continue reading
If you haven’t checked out Mister-Baseball.com today, they have published a number of interesting posts about the 2009 World Cup and baseball’s attempt to make it back into the Olympics. Continue reading
British baseball received a boost yesterday with the official confirmation that the national team will be taking its place in next year’s Baseball World Cup. As previously reported, Britain had qualified for the tournament due to their excellent silver-medal showing in the 2007 European Baseball Championships, but their participation was put in doubt by the initial press release issued by the International Baseball Federation in September. Continue reading