Press Release International Baseball Federation, www.ibaf.org
ATTENDANCE MARKS FOR ROUND ONE: Further evidence of baseball’s growth in Europe was seen throughout the first round attendance numbers at local sites. Leading the way was Regensburg, Germany, which saw crowds in excess of 5,000 for almost all of the three days of competition, highlighted by a Friday night crowd of almost 10,000 fans for USA-Germany…Friday night’s Jahn Regensburg soccer match drew approximately 5,000 at the same time, which is a solid sign of interest in baseball in Germany…at other sites, Sweden had a capacity crowd of over 2,100 for Saturday’s final day and strong crowds approaching 1,500 on the others…Spain had overflow crowds on both Friday and Saturday in excess of the 1,500 seating capacity for their games with Puerto Rico and Cuba…and Prague had an overflow of 2,500 for Saturday and crowds in excess of 1,500 for Friday, all positive signs of growth…large crowds are expected in both the Netherlands and Italy for round two.
FUTURES STARS LEAD CANADIAN DOMINANCE IN ROUND ONE: Canada outscored their opponents 43-2 in their three games in Sweden, and were led by Texas Rangers prospect Tim Smith (7-10, 2 HR 8 RBI), Future’s Game MVP, Eastern League All-Star and Minnesota Twins prospect Rene Tosoni 6-13 1 HR 7 RBI) and Houston Astros prospect Brett Lawrie (5-15 1 HR, 5 RBI). Their pitching staff allowed only nine hits in the three games as well.
WHO IS NICARAGUA’S FIVE HOMER GUY? Nicaragua’s 3-0 first round start has been led by solid pitching and the long ball of third baseman Jimmy Morales Gonzalez, who has hit five home runs in their first three games. The 31 year old Gonzalez played in the Pioneer and California Leagues from ’98-2000 in the Dodgers organization, for Great Falls and San Bernadino, and has played for Granada in the Nicaraguan Professional League since then. He had 20 HR and 180 RBI with a .295 average in his three seasons in the minors.
USA’S RECKLING TIES STRIKEOUT MARK, TEAM SETS ONE: USA starting pitcher, Texas League All-Star and Los Angeles Angels prospect Trevor Reckling became just the fourth USA pitcher to reach double digits in strikeouts in a World Cup game, as he fanned 11 Chinese over seven innings on Saturday. His 11 strikouts tied the mark of former Dodger and Cubs pitcher Burt Hooten, who fanned 11 consecutive batters in 1970. Reckling also joined Ben McDonald (1988) and Hank Woodman (2003) as the only USA pitchers to reach double digits in a game. Overall Team USA set their own World Cup record with 16 strikeouts vs. China, breaking the mark of 14 set against Brazil in 2003.
DÉJÀ VU FOR CUBA’S PERAZA: Yosvany Peraza is making a habit out of impressive pinch hit homers. His first-ever at-bat in the World Baseball Classic in March, he pinch hit a game-winning 7th inning HR versus Australia and matched that Saturday, with a pinch hit 8th inning HR @ Spain.
SPANISH TWINS/ORIOLES PROSPECTS LEAD SPAIN TO ROUND TWO: They went only 1-2 in round one, but with narrow losses to world baseball powers Cuba (5-4) and Puerto Rico (5-3) Spain will move on to the second round. The twin brothers, Paco (5-11) and Daniel (5-12, 4 RBI) Figueroa (both in the Baltimore Orioles organization) led Spain, who also got five shutout innings from San Diego Padres prospect Eric Gonzalez, the winner in Spain’s 15-0 whitewash of South Africa.
3-0 FOR MEXICO: Mexico’s dramatic 10-9 win over Australia gave them the top seed in Pool A, and marked the only runs the Mexican staff gave up in round one, after posting back to back shutouts to start off. Mexican League veteran Jesus Cota, who hit .331 with Saltillo this past summer, is leading the way at the plate (6-12, 4 HR 6 RBI) along with fellow Mexican League veteran Edgar Quintero (7-14 2 HR, 5 RBI).
PROSPECTS SMOAK, DAVIS, COATES POWER USA BATS: Texas Rangers prospect Justin Smoak (5-9 3 HR 7 RBI), first baseman and New York Mets prospect Ike Davis (4-9, 1 HR, 1 3B) and Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Buck Coates (5-12 1 HR 2 RBI) have helped pace Team USA at the plate in round one.
AUSSIES HIT THEIR WAY TO ROUND TWO: Australia smacked 10 home runs and scored 31 runs in their first round matchups, going 2-1 with a close loss to Mexico Saturday. Philadelphia Phillies prospect Tim Kennelly’s three homers and 8 RBI while Minnesota Twins prospect James Beresford led the team in hits with seven in the three games. Six Twins prospects are on the Australia roster.
CUBA’S GONZALEZ JUST MISSES STRIKEOUT MARK: Cuban pitcher Miguel Gonzalez struck out ten consective batters against Puerto Rico, one short of the World Cup mark of 11 set by former Major Leaguer Burt Hooton (Dodgers and Cubs) of the USA in 1971. Gonzalez struck out 13 with one walk in 6 1/3 innings in earning the win for Cuba.
…WHILE DESPAIGNE LEADS AT THE PLATE: Cuban veteran Alfredo Despaigne led the torrid Cuban hitting attack at the plate in round one, leading all hitters with seven hits (in 12 at bats) to go with 2 HR and 6 RBI.
FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE STARS WALKER, PIAZZA, WHITT ON THE COACHING LINES: Team Canada’s continued success stems from their coaching staff. Head coach Ernie Whitt spent 15 seasons in the Major Leagues as a catcher with the Blue Jays, Braves, Red Sox and Orioles, and was a 1985 All-Star. Canadian coach Larry Walker spent 17 seasons with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals and was National League Most Valuable Player in 1997 and was a five time All-Star. Italy will begin play in Round Two and will have Mike Piazza on their bench. Piazza, easily one of the greatest catchers in Major League history, was a 16 year veteran for the Dodgers, Marlins, Mets and Padres and was a 10 time all-star.
LEAVE TV, MANAGE PUERTO RICO: ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst Eduardo Perez took a leave from ESPN to manage the Puerto Rican team. ¨They were good to me,¨ he said. ¨They gave me 30 days to manage Puerto Rico in the World Cup.¨ Perez, the son of Hall of Famer Tony Perez, said he is proud to do it. He played for seven Major League teams from his debut with the Angels in 1993 to his retirement after playing for the Mariners in 2006. That same year, he became a Baseball Tonight analyst. He played college ball at Florida State and played the 2001 year in Japan with the Hanshin Tigers.
MAZZOTTI TRIES TO BRING ITALIAN SUCCESS TO SPAIN: Mauro Mazzotti, 50, is the only manager to win three Italian Serie A championships, Rimini 1999, Bologna 2003 and 2005 and Grosseto in 2007. Currently he manages Rimini, which spent most of this past season in first place in the Italian League, but his goal now is to get Spain into round two of the World Cup as the manager for the national team. Mazzotti, who has a degree physical education, speaks three languages, his native Italian, English and has handled press conferences a the World Cup in Spanish. He has been a scout in Europe for the Seattle Mariners and became the coordinator for the scouting in Europe for the Houston Astros.
ITALIANS IN SPANISH BASEBALL NOT UNCOMMON: Mazzotti is not the first Italian coach to manage the Spanish National Team. Pepe Guilizzoni, the technical commissioner for the Barcelona tournament, also managed the Spanish national team. The veteran on many Italian campaigns coached the Spanish from 1884 to 1988. Guilizzoni brought Spain to its first World Cup in 1988. He had coached the national team to third in the European tournament the year before and since Italy was a host team, Spain qualified. He was also the first coach from Spain in any sport to bring a team to play in post-Revolutionary Cuba when the Spanish national baseball team played there in 1988. Guilizzoni, who played his first baseball game in 1954, married in Milano in 1965. In 1967, he was in need of a job and came up with the idea of a baseball team. He put an ad in a newspaper in the Milano suburban town of Novara. In Nov. 1967, he formed the team that played its first game in March of 1968. It later became part of the lore of Italian baseball.