Mister Baseball

After previewing group A with the USA, Panama, Mexico, Italy, Spain, South Africa, Chinese Taipei and Japan, we are continuing with pool B. On these set of teams, there are three favourites. The reigning World Champion Cuba, Australia and Venezuela are considered to advance in the top three to the next round. But also Korea and Canada are supposed to compete on a high level at the upcoming tournament. The European teams Germany and the Netherlands in addition to debutant Thailand are only outsiders.

Some notes for all eight teams:

The Netherlands: The Dutch team is clearly the best squad in Europe, but it will be hard to duplicate their success of the recent European championship, where they outscored their opponents 100 to 14. The roster is highlighted by minor leaguer Rogeravin BERNADINA, Hainley STATIA and Loek VAN MIL (touched the mid 90’s in exhibition games). They competed in warm up matches against Australia (1-10), Italy (4-2), Spain (6-2) and Chinese Taipei (3-2) at the World Cup site in the last days. They hosted the last World Cup of Baseball in 2005 and finished in fourth place. In Taipei will be even difficult to advance into the quarterfinals. They need to win at least two games against the heavy weights (Cuba, Venezuela, Australia, Canada, Korea) in this group to get in fourth place. Nevertheless, you should expect wins against Germany and Thailand. Every other victory is a plus.

Germany: The expectations for the German team are really low. Their only goal at the tournament is one win. It is the third World Cup for them and they are winless in 25 games. However, the development in German baseball is on a rise. They will have four minor league players in 2008, two (Rodney GESSMANN, Ludwig GLASER) are on the roster. They finished the European championship, after a strong effort, in fourth place. Playing wise, they were on the same level as any other team in Europe. But since then, the players are lacking meaningful games. They did play just three intra squad doubleheaders in October. So it should be no surprise if the pitchers have control problems and the batters are a bit rusty. Germany should beat Thailand and could surprise the Dutch squad on a very good day. Every other win would be a major upset.

Cuba: The Cuban team is considered as the heavy favourite to win the World Championship. They won the last nine tournaments in a row and 25 overall. The roster is filled with the best players of the Caribbean country, including Yulieski GOURRIEL, Elier SANCHEZ, Pedro L. LAZO and Aroldis CHAMPAN (opening day starter). The team, especially the middle relief corps, struggled a bit in some of their exhibition games in their preparation for the World Cup. So they know, to take the event seriously. If all of them fulfil the high expectations, than they are unbeatable. Their biggest rivals in this group are Venezuela and Australia, who could defeat Cuba in some tune up duels.

Korea: We do not know the roster for the South Korean team yet, but we can expect a strong squad. They are the last non-Cuban-team (1982) to win the World Championship. They finished also five times in second place. However, their thoughts are more concentrated on the Olympic qualifier in December. So, we do not think to see any major league experienced players on the team. Anyway, most of the members of the roster will be well prepared, because the Korean Baseball league ended just ten days ago. They are in contention for third and fourth place in this pool. Their major contestants will be Canada, Venezuela and maybe the Netherlands.

Thailand: It is the first ever participation for the Asian nation. They are the substitute for China, who resigned, about two months ago, to concentrate on the preparation for the Olympic games in 2008. Thailand finished in fifth place at the Asian Games 2006 in Doha. At this tournament they lost to Chinese Taipei (0-16), South Korea (1-12), Japan (0-6) and China (0-4). They won one game against the Philippines (8-1). Every victory against any other participant would be an upset. They will have their best chances against Germany.

Australia: The Aussies are coming with high expectations to Taipei. The team want to better their second place finish at the last Olympic games in Athens 2004. Several exhibition matches in the last days confirmed these hopes. They defeated Cuba (5-0), the Netherlands (10-1) and Italy (4-3). Despite a loss to Chinese Taipei (7-8), they are in very good shape. The Blackley-brothers Travis and Adam showed great pitching efforts. Their roster is filled with current and former major league players and is one of the strongest of the whole event. The first game on Wednesday against Cuba will be one of the early highlights of the tournament. You can also expect wins against all other teams in group B.

Canada: The roster of the Canadian team features only some major league experienced players. However, they are still very talented and could surprise some of the other World Cup participants. After a training camp on their home country site, they travelled to Perth, Australia, where they swept a four game series against a local team. The young prospects are now acclimatised and confident. Matt ROGELSTAD, Jamie ROMAK and Emerson FROSTAD boosts the offense. On the pitching staff they rely on Scott RICHMOND, James AVERY and Mike JOHNSON. It will be interesting to see, how these young guns react to the international level. Canada will compete with Korea, Venezuela and the Netherlands for fourth place in this pool. The games against Germany and Thailand should be relatively easy for them.

Venezuela: The national baseball federation set a 60-man-roster some weeks ago and it is still unknown, who actually is making the trip to Taipei. But if the team is as strong as the one at the first Latin American and Caribbean League in mid-October, then they are one of the favourites for the World Cup of Baseball. At this tournament they won two out of five games against Cuba and defeated Columbia in four duels. If they are getting hot, they could win it all. The roster will mostly consist of players, who are currently playing in the Venezuelan winter league. However, do not expect any actual major league players on the team. They should be in competition with Australia for the second rank in group B and are a lock to advance into the quarter finals.

Prediction:

1. Cuba
2. Australia
3. Venezuela
4. Canada
5. Korea
6. The Netherlands
7. Germany
8. Thailand