By Riccardo Schiroli
The very first time I flew to New York I got lucky. Not meant like they mean it in pop songs (“I stayed all night to get lucky”): my flight was overbooked and they decided to accommodate me in a business class seat. I was weeks away from my 26th birthday and I had been scouting travel agencies for the cheapest airfare. So I flew JAT, the flag airline company of Yugoslavia. Yes, when I first got to New York Yugoslavia still existed and even the Berlin Wall was still standing. I was very young and managed to travel business class as cheap traveler.
Now that I am not so young and I travel to New York for business, because times are tough I have to go to my own pocket to upgrade at least to Economy Premium. Life is life (another pop song line…).
Look at me making it to MLB (Major League Baseball) Headquarters in Park Avenue, Midtown Manhattan: it’s just like seeing myself at 10 or 12 when my parents took me to the Rome zoo. I am just bigger. And of course, I have less hair. But I feel the same magic. After all, I am in the very center of my world, in the place I have always wanted to be.
MLB Headquarters in New York are a very big place and you better follow staff direction. When I was leaving, I got a phone call. I followed the sign EXIT, not understanding it was meant to be an emergency exit. But I eventually looked confident enough and nobody stopped me. Problem was that I realized I had gone the wrong way once the door was closed forever behind me. I could make it back to the proper track only thanks to a security officer, who managed to get the door unlocked for me without confessing I had trespassed an area I shouldn’t have even thought of going through.
The European guy was moving clumsily in an MLB environment. It is what many baseball fans in America thought would have happened back in 2006, when the World Baseball Classic (or a tournament with MLB players representing their countries) became a reality after years of talks. But Italy beat Australia and The Netherlands beat Panama. Then in 2009 Italy beat Canada in Toronto and The Netherlands made it to the second round, eliminating the Dominican Republic. And furthermore in 2013 Spain won a qualifying round against Israel, Italy made it to the second round, eliminating Canada and Mexico, and was the team that scored the most against the Dominican Republic. The Netherlands made it to the Final Four.
Chances are, European teams won’t be considered clumsy in the 2017 edition. The Netherlands (defending European champions and number one seed of the pool) will have to eliminate either Korea (unlikely) or Chinese Taipei and shouldn’t underestimate Israel, which will field a team made of professionals. Italy (number 2 seed in the pool) will face Mexico on their home turf, but that’s the easy part. They will play also Venezuela and Puerto Rico (number 1 seed). So, European teams have earned respect, but the level of the tournament is so high that they end up not winning a game.
“We want to give you a Major League experience” said James Pearce on behalf of MLB. He is in charge of the tournament, but is actually a European, since he was born and grew up in London “We want you to go home after the tournament and tell people that it was the best organized tournament you participated in”.
The tournament was improved for sure, removing the double elimination paradox. Now teams (both in the first and second round) will know for sure which games they are going to play. Well, they may end up playing a one game tie breaker, but that’s acceptable.
Together with the Player’s Association, MLB introduced the concept of the designated pool: 10 pitchers on the preliminary 50 men roster (announced on December 1) who could play only a single phase of the tournament: “We want to give a chance to the best pitchers. The Dodgers wouldn’t be happy to see Kershaw leave for 3 weeks, but they may be ok to release him for one start”.
Crystal clear. A maximum of 2 (but could be no one) of the designated pool will be on the final 28 men roster (announced on February 6). Pitchers will also maintain pitch limitations and mandatory rest days through the duration of the competition.
The World Baseball Classic will award the winning team as baseball World Champion. Our game doesn’t have a tournament named World Championship or World Cup. Weird, isn’t it? In baseball we have a World Classic that is going to play the 4th edition and a Premier12 that is not featuring premier players. Words may not be important, but they have a meaning. And I do think there’s something the powers on the international market should do to put things (and words) back in order.