Great Britain won the silver medal at the 2007 European Championship in Barcelona and tries to defend it in Stuttgart, Heidenheim and Neuenburg. The British team is placed into Group B with Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia and Sweden. Mister-Baseball talked with general manager Jason Greenberg about the upcoming tournament.
Mister-Baseball: What do you expect from your team in Stuttgart, Heidenheim and Neuenburg?
Jason Greenberg: I expect we will play hard, represent Britain with pride, comport ourselves with class, treat our opponents with respect, and do all we can to remind the world that baseball is an English sport, after all…!
MRBB: Can a team challenge defending Champion Netherlands in the 2010 European Championship? Which teams have the best chances of advancing in your group?
JG: All of the teams in the EC are competitive, and everyone wants the prestige and opportunity that will follow a first place finish. I think Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Belgium are heavy-hitting contenders. Sweden and Croatia have the determination of winners. And the Czechs, Ukrainians and Greeks are not to be taken for granted. However, there is only one team defending a silver medal this July: Britain.
MRBB: Which team could be the surprise of the tournament?
JG: Spain has enjoyed a bronze medal each of the last three tournaments. I think they’ve waited in the wings long enough – we might well see some muscle from la Madre Patria.
MRBB: General speaking is the level of play in European Baseball getting better and more balanced since the EC 2007 or is there still a gap between the top teams and the underdogs?
JG: At the National Teams level, things are more balanced. But there remains a significant disparity at domestic league level, to be sure. The quality of play in the Bundesliga or the Honkbal Hoofdklasse remains far beyond that of our British National Baseball League.
However, it seems that developing baseball nations are taking more concrete steps to advance their game than they have in decades past. In the UK, we have a thriving development agency (BaseballSoftballUK) working with our Federations and talented MLB-envoys to advance participation and standards of play. Every week we have more and more Brits learning the sport and playing on a regular basis. Our goal, over time, is to bring baseball into the mainstream in Britain – like football, rugby and cricket – so youngsters have a chance to play it at school growing up, and our pool of adult contenders is ever-expanding.
I’ve heard (and read in this series of interviews, even) far too much griping about the kinds of teams assembled to play in the Euros. his is elite baseball. Any adult team in the world will look to recruit foreign nationals to bolster their bullpens, or entice ex-pats to bulk up their batting orders, or seek-out sprinters to swipe that extra bag a game. In an ideal world, each European league would be strong enough to encourage domestically-produced top talent to stay at home and compete in the local game. But all ballplayers know that elite batters will go to elite leagues to face elite pitchers.
Team GB is a fine balance of players engaged in the British NBL, players working in continental Europe, and players based in North America and Australia. This year we have rostered more players who compete in the British leagues than we did at last year’s World Cup or the previous EC. They are quality baseball men… and gamers… and fantastic ambassadors for Great Britain. Their presence alone at this tournament speaks highly of the rising quality of British baseball.
MRBB: There will be only a few professional players in the tournament. Does this will have an influence and does it hurt some teams more than others?
JG: Perhaps. Perhaps not. Anything can happen in a ballgame. I’m more interested in the stories about to be made. The EC is a massive stage on which a talented young player can make a name for themselves in Europe or beyond. I look forward to finding out which rookie becomes the overnight MVP.
MRBB: Looking at the rosters of the other teams, which players could be especially worthy to watch?
JG: Wouldn’t want to jinx them.
MRBB: What is your plan for the final days before the Euro 2010? Which exhibition games do you have planned?
JG: We’ll be practicing in Tübingen at the home of the Hawks Baseball Club. They are being magnificent in hosting Team GB for a few days of intensive work. On July 21st we’ll enjoy a scrimmage with the Belgian National Team, after which we will run a training clinic for the Hawks’ youngest players. Then it’s off to Stuttgart for our opener with Croatia.
MRBB: Do you already have a starting lineup in place and who will be in your starting rotation?
JG: Our preparatory period in Tübingen will help us to establish our starting lineup and rotation. But I’m pleased that it will include some ripened GB veterans alongside a fresh new battery of talent.
Mister-Baseball thanks Jason Greenberg for answering our questions and wishes good luck in the European Championship.
Previous:
Sven Hendrickx (Belgium)
Jim Stoeckel (Netherlands)
Mauro Mazzotti (Spain)
Marco Mazzieri (Italy)
Krunoslav Karin (Croatia)
Dennis Cook (Sweden)
Tom Mazarakis (Greece)