National Team Report - Russia
The Russian National Team is touring the United States in preparation for the upcoming European Baseball Championships to be held in Spain next month. Russian baseball is also celebrating it’s 2oth anniversary.
Team members are AKISHEY, Pavel (RHP); ARTAMONOV, Artemiy (SS); BOLOTIN,Andrey (3B); COLE,Victor (RHP); DONETSKIV, Artur (LHP); FEDOROV, Alexander (1B); FURSIN, Pavel (INF); GALKIN, Dmitry (RHP); KAPANADZE, Nikoloz (LHP); KRIPOCHIN, Andrey (OF); MAXYAKOV, Alexander (INF); MONAKHOV, Maxim (OF); NIZOV, Alexander (2B); PETROV, Vladimir (LHP); SEMENOV, Oleg (3B); SEREDENKO, Dmitri (RHP); and SHIROKIV, Anton (RHP).
Other team members includes SISYUK, Alexander (RHP); SOLOVIEV, Sergey (C); TOROPOV, Alexander (OF); VASHAKIDZE, Alexander (OF); VASILIEV, Alexander (C-OF); VASILIEV, Viacheslav (P/OF); YUDAEV, Maxim (1B/OF), and ZHAROV, Sergey (C).
Field Manager Dmitry SHLVAPNIKOV - a native of Kostroma, Russia - is a Podpolkovnik (Lieutenant-Colonel) in the Russia Air Force and is a former left-handed power-hitting outfielder for the USSR National Baseball Team.
Big Alexander TOROPOV (6′8″, 255lbs) is a power-hitting centerfielder and former right-handed pitcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system. TOROPOV was signed by Jim STOECKEL after watching Alexander throw his fastball in the low 90’s. An arm injury forced TOROPOV to the outfield where he has blossomed into a slugger.
Two of the young guns for the team will be missing during the American tour as seventeen-year old left-handed pitcher Andrey Lobanov will be leading the 18 and Under Russian National Team in the Junior European Championships in Rosmalen, Netherlands.
Eighteen-year old left-handed pitcher, Nikolay Lobanov; no relation, will be honing his mound skills in Fort Myers, Florida with the Minnesota Twins Rookie League team. Since 1992 eleven players from the former Soviet Union have signed professional Minor League baseball contracts to play in the United States.
The Russian National Baseball Team is comprised of the best baseball players from the Russian Premier League and the Russian High League. Russian baseball started from absolute scratch in 1987 with on the field championship play beginning in the spring of that year following the announcement from the USSR Olympic Committee in the fall of 1986 that baseball in the Soviet Union would become an official sport in the USSR.
