Mister Baseball

by IBAF, www.ibaf.org

While the World Baseball Classic showcased 16 of the top nations last month, there are more than 125 countries which sponsor national baseball federations, and many other international events in which they compete. One of those is the Baseball World Cup, which will take place in September throughout Europe. For Team Sweden, which has not competed in the tournament since 2005 and which will host one of the first-round groups, preparations are in full swing, and a May 16-28 U.S. trip is a big part of it.

“Baseball is growing all across Sweden, and in order to compete in a big tournament like the World Cup, we need to be as well prepared as possible to face top opponents,” said Ulf Steinvall, General Manager of Team Sweden. “We wanted to do something significant with the entire team against strong competition.”

The tour will include games against extended spring training teams in Florida as well as a swing through the Northwoods League, an MLB-sanctioned summer collegiate league with teams in Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario. Team Sweden will face the Brainerd Lake Area Lunkers, La Crosse Loggers and Madison Mallards in a three-game series. An additional benefit of playing in that area is that many people of Swedish descent live in the region thanks to Scandinavian settlements there several generations ago.

“They have been doing a lot of promotion in the area to let fans know that we are coming,” said Steinvall. “One of the league general managers is of Swedish descent and when we were planning to come to the U.S., we stayed in touch and were able to set the schedule. We’re excited about coming.”

During the first week of the swing, Team Sweden will train at the Detroit Tigers spring training facility in Lakeland, Fla., which it will use as a home base for its stay in the Sunshine State. In addition to practices at the Tigers facility, the squad will also see some action at the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves facilities, thanks to relationships formed by some of Team Sweden’s coaches with members of those organizations.

Three members of the 27-man roster are already competing in the U.S. Seattle Mariners minor leaguer and Princeton Univ. graduate Christian Staehely, Siena College alum Maikel Hurtado, and high school prospect Bryan Berglund of Royal High School in California will join players from the Swedish Elite League to form the squad.

Two of the players on the roster, right handed pitcher Oscar Carlstedt and catcher Robin Lausen, attend the Swedish Baseball Academy in Leksand, which is supported by Major League Baseball International. At the recent MLB Academy Tournament in Toulouse, France, Carlstedt was named Best Pitcher and Lausen Best Batter.

Sweden’s location – 200 kilometers from the Arctic Circle – limits baseball to about a six-month season. Steinvall sees the trip as providing valuable international experience to players who do not normally get onto the field until late April. “It is still early in the baseball season for our guys, so going to Florida, we will be careful not to push too hard to start,” he explains. “Players are mostly on individual programs in the off-season, so this will be a great opportunity to get them together and play a lot of games together earlier than usual.”

As Steinvall noted, baseball is growing on the youth level in Sweden, hopefully laying the foundation for future success. The Swedish Baseball and Softball Federation (SBSF) is responsible for the baseball program, from grassroots programs, Little League-type youth programs, development in schools, regular season amateur leagues as well as the programs for the national teams.

Ungdom-5As with other sports, Sweden does not organize baseball in schools like in many other countries; rather, they are organized in open clubs on a volunteer basis, where the players are members of the club. Youth programs often consist of local leagues and/or tournaments, from the ages of 7-9, 10-12, and 13-15. Later the clubs form juniors and seniors teams. The senior program is divided into the Elite League, with the eight best clubs in Sweden, and the Regional leagues, with the rest of the teams.

As for the World Cup, Steinvall is optimistic that Team Sweden has made strides and despite a difficult group draw that includes Canada, Netherlands Antilles and South Korea, hopes the U.S. trip will help in its initial goal of reaching the second round.

“Since our last appearance in the World Cup, we have several players competing in the U.S. minor leagues and we have played a lot of good competition. We are looking forward to hosting the group and showing our progress. The U.S. trip is the next big step.”

If you happen to be in Florida or Wisconsin in mid-late May and want to check out Team Sweden in action, the schedule is below:
Game schedule (all times local) (pro teams are Extended Spring Training squads)
Sun, May 17, 11 a.m. vs. Atlanta Braves (Lake Buena Vista)
Mon, May 18, 1 p.m. vs. Detroit Tigers (Lakeland)
Tue, May 19, 1 p.m. vs. Houston Astros (Kissimmee)
Thu, May 21, 1 p.m. vs. Atlanta Braves (Lake Buena Vista)
Fri, May 22, 1 p.m. vs. Detroit Tigers (Lakeland)
Sat, May 23, 10 a.m. vs. Houston Astros (Kissimmee)
Mon, May 25, 5:05 p.m. vs. Brainerd Lake Area Lunkers
Tue, May 26, 7:05 p.m. vs. La Crosse Loggers
Wed, May 27, 6:05 p.m. vs. Madison Mallards