by Ty Eriksen
With the qualifiers in Regensburg , Germany and Jupiter, Florida just around the corner, here is a collection of worthy news, updates, rumors and thoughts which cover our European teams, just before they are expected to name their preliminary rosters. As most know by now, WBC rules state that a player need only be entitled to citizenship to be eligible to play for a country, meaning they don’t have to hold or even apply for a passport in order to play. Others, born abroad, have made it to The Show, but for September and August, we might see lots of new names representing Europe.
Germany
As hosts of the first WBC event on European soil, Germany finally gets to step out of the shadow of Italy and Netherlands. Head Coach Greg Frady is confident his team will compete with Canada for the birth in next Spring’s main event. As he told TVA Ostbayern in a recent interview, the roster will be a mixture of US players with German background, and German players from top leagues. Frady named Ludwig Glaser of the hometown Legionäre as one German league player likely to make the final cut, but its not known just how many spots will be saved for players holding German passports and playing in the Bundesliga. Unnamed sources with knowledge of the roster selections have said that German minor league position players Lutz, Gronauer, and Kepler are sure bets given their MLB links, but no mention was made of pitchers Solbach or Thieben, both in Rookie ball, or Schmitz, who pitches for Frady at D1 Georgia State.
In Regensburg, the local organizers have turned to Greece for assistance. The 2004 Olympics in Athens was the last appearance of baseball as an Olympic event, and now the field equipment will be put back to use for top-level baseball. In addition to having the best stadium in Germany and demonstrating that they can successfully host such events (see 2009 World Cup), the organizers are improving other aesthetic variables, especially as the games will be televised by MLB and broadcast partners around the globe.
Great Britain
While they may hold British passports, they’ll be coming from all corners of the globe to represent a country that few have actually played in. The British roster for the 2012 European Championship was recently announced, and sources are also saying that the players named were also invited to the WBCQ in Regensburg. To be clear, this group does not have the caliber that some were expecting. Instead of picking up a deep squad of minor leaguers with ties to The Crown, the GB coaches went with familiar faces that earned them the birth in Tel Aviv last summer. Most are playing in Europe this summer, but that should be considered more of a negative than a positive. A handful more are getting innings in independent leagues in North America, where they are probably seeing better competition suitable for a WBCQ participant.
The coaching staff for Britain will have to make some additions. Its impossible to imagine that Aeden McQueary-Ennis will be the only catcher for the GB squad when the first pitch comes, so speculation is high about which experienced players that team recruiter Brian Essery can track down and fly to Regensburg. Chris Reed, Michael Roth, Hamilton Bennett, Estevenson Encarnacion, Chris Berset, and Josh Mason have gained some attention from the media as possible additions.
Czech Republic
The summer of 2012 has seen Czech coach Andy Berglund put in an extraordinary effort, knowing that the end of summer brings the biggest stage his team will have ever been on. Odds are stacked heavily against them; they don’t have a large federation with money, a large expat population in a baseball country to recruit from, or crazy MLB connections that some other teams have. But they do have work ethic. Plenty of it.
The national team roster got lots of work in this year, with a handful of players getting experience in leagues around Europe. Then they hosted the Prague Baseball Week, and played against an all-star group of import players from around the league. The Czechs open their European Championship schedule against Germany and Great Britain; a good result could provide them with confidence in Regensburg.
Canada
They aren’t European, but some newsworthy releases are still out there. They won bronze at the last World Cup, and gold at the PanAm games. Although 40-man roster players are off limits (or maybe not), Canada has a list of players a mile long that could step in and help Canada clinch the group with ease, and expectations are that the PanAm winning roster will be largely kept together.
There is some hesitation in the Canadian press about how the team will represent the Maple Leaf, given that they don’t have any MLB players available. Despite the grumbling, Canada will be favored.
Israel
Though not geographically in Europe, Israel competes in CEB competitions. They enjoy a close connection to MLB, and have used those ties to gain access to some powerful additions to the roster. These key additions could end up giving Israel the role of favorite in the group.
Team Israel is hosting a tryout in early September for selected players deemed valuable enough to help the team win the qualifier, and can expect to get reinforcements from current MLB stars for the main event, should they qualify.
A strong showing will go a long way towards developing baseball in Israel, with the IAB looking to raise some serious cash that will go towards building a baseball complex near Tel Aviv.
Spain
The Iberian Peninsula should follow the lead of Israel and GB and pick up a host of players from the Caribbean, but there hasn’t been much said regarding which players exactly. More info will be released in the coming days as Spain prepares for the Euro Championships, and they release info for their trip to Jupiter.
France
The French coaching staff will be professional, with Stoeckel and crew also preparing for the Euro Championship and the WBC at the same time. The team will be mostly amateur, however, with most of them being listed as playing in the French league.
With some players getting experience abroad, it looks like there are mostly local players being tabbed by the French federation, up to 75% of them holding passports, which could compete with Czech for the highest percentage.