I know many are concerned about players getting hurt during the upcoming World Baseball Classic (WBC). The only thing I can say is sit back, relax, and enjoy the games. Nothing is going to stop them. Major League Baseball has invested a lot in this tournament in a huge attempt to grow the game globally.
With that in mind the question remains how much are you into it? Some fans I have talked to despise it, some love it, and some are just okay with it. Years ago I would have been disinterested. As much as I loved baseball, my focus was solely on the Mets. As I have aged I still am a die-hard Mets fan but I enjoy the game of baseball more than ever, even if the Mets are not involved. I follow the College tournament which is growing in popularity. I am even looking forward to the Caribbean World Series that starts in a couple of weeks. Why not, it's baseball in February. What baseball fan would not like that? And by the way, those Caribbean games will be televised on the MLB Network.
The WBC will feature 16 teams made up into four pools. Each of the four pools will use a double elimination format to produce a pool winner and a runner up. The four pools in the first round, A through D, will reduce to two second round pools, 1 and 2. Again, a double elimination round will produce two teams each that will end up in the semi finals. The semi finals and finals will be a single elimination format played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. In all, a total of 39 games will be played.
What I find intriguing about the tournament is some of the countries that will participate. Most particularly is Italy. Being of Italian heritage, I find the idea of baseball in Italy, specifically professional baseball, rather interesting. I certainly would not mind being around for the pre-game buffet. If you have ever been to Italy, you know that is a culture that takes it's food seriously-very seriously.
Professional Baseball in Italy has been around for a long time. The game was introduced to Italians by American GIs during World War II. The story goes that a group of GIs recruited young Italian boys to work in a cemetery to help bury those lost in combat. During their breaks, the soldiers taught the boys how to play baseball. The first baseball tournament was held in Italy in 1948. Over the years, as a professional league developed, some American players went there to play. I recall back in the early 80's, former Met Lenny Randle became a star in Italy. I think it had more to do with his personality than his on field skills. My curiosity getting the best of me, I decided to do a bit of research. A quick search on the Internet revealed that pro ball in Italy is alive and well.
The highest professional league in Italy is made up of eight teams and is known as the A1 league. After the season concludes, the two worst teams move down to the A2 league while the two best from A2 move up to A1. This is a concept widely used in European Soccer. There are a number of A2 teams spread throughout Italy. There is a lower level league known as the B league and Italy also boasts a winter league. The four top teams from the A1 league play in a best of seven semi-final. A best of seven final follows.
The Italian baseball season is relatively short compared to ours, just 42 games. They start the season in early April but it concludes at the end of July and they only play about three times a week on the weekend. The playoffs follow and by mid August the seaosn is over.
The 2008 champion of the A1 league was Fortitudo Bologna with a record of 34-8. The worst club was Potocco Rangers Redipuglia with a record of 2-40 (Yikes!, Italy's version of the '62 Mets).
The Italian league includes American ballplayers. The Bologna club featured Cody Cillo, a pitcher who tied two others for the league lead in wins with eight in 2008. Cillo, who led the league with a 1.30 ERA, is on the Italian club that will compete in the WBC. Second baseman Joe Mazzuca and center fielder Richard Austin are two other imports that helped Bologna to the title. These players and others combined with Major League players of Italian decent will make up the Italian roster for the WBC. Mike Piazza, who played for Italy in the 2006 WBC, has signed on to be the hitting coach.
The ballparks in Italy are small as you might expect. A video I found on the Internet of an Italian playoff game surprisingly showed a packed house. It's amazing that baseball appears to be as popular as it is over there but of course it can not compete with futbol. The uniforms look pretty much like ours, not the softball, full colored ones, I remember seeing when Randle played there.
Italy is not the only European country playing baseball. There are many others. The Netherlands will also be sending a team to the WBC. Both the Netherlands and Italy did not fair well in 2006. But the fact that teams from Italy, The Netherlands, Australia and South Africa are competing means that baseball is getting more popular around the globe. Although the talent level does not yet match that of the American continents and the Far East, there have been a handful of players signed from these countries, most notably Australia.
Because of interest in baseball in these foreign countries, the WBC will grow to be one of the most anticipated sporting tournaments of the 21st century.
For a good place to start for information on European Baseball, visit http://www.mister-baseball.com/.
