Jakub Janda made an interview for Mister-Baseball with Martin Miller, President of the Confederation of European Baseball.
Jakub Janda: There are some rumors about European professional league. Could you specify where exactly the project is at?
Martin Miller: The European Professional League is still one of our main goals. The project got a little decelerated by the changes in the IBAF structure and talks with Major League Baseball, so a European Professional League will not become reality before 2013.
JJ: Could you comment on the development of the European Academies program? Is there a plan to host another tournament, as there was one in 2010 in Regensburg?
MM: The European Academies program is a very important aspect for the development of European talents. For 2011 the plans have just been finalized. There will be a tournament again in Regensburg from March 28 – April 1. The MLB Academy tryouts will take place from April 28 – May 8 at various sites throughout Europe. And the main MLB European Academy for all the chosen prospects is scheduled for August 4-27 in Tirrenia (ITA).
JJ: How would you value the MLB Camp in Tirrenia for European baseball? Do you follow how many European prospects have been signed since the project started?
MM: In our 2008 yearbook we published a list of all European Players that have been signed by MLB clubs (35 till 2009). Right now we have no actual figures but the number is definitely increasing. The MLB Camp in Tirrenia is very important to present European talents. But, as I said before, it’s the whole European Academies program that was established in coordination with CEB, which gives the great value to this Camp. European Baseball’s main goal is to get one player to play in the Major Leagues. We need someone like the German player Dirk Nowitzki in the NBA – a European star in the so called “big league” – to attain more public interest for our sport in Europe.
JJ: Do you follow how many professional scouts work in Europe?
MM: No, we do not follow that and I believe it’s not even countable. You can assume that almost every MLB club is meanwhile active in scouting talents in Europe. If they do not send professionals over, they at least use national team coaches and former national team players to look for and recommend talents.
JJ: Some critics say that it is not a real European Championship if there are not the best players available. Does CEB somehow try to get top European players from the Minors for such tournaments?
MM: I totally agree that a European Championship should be played with the best players. This year we’ve tried to get European players from the Minors to play in the European Championship in Germany. But due to the tournament date (mid-season) it was not possible to get the approval and release from the MLB clubs. In the future CEB plans to hold the European Championship in September in order to get the players from professional leagues to play. The EURO 2012 in the Netherlands is already scheduled for the first week in September.
JJ: How would you value marketing of European baseball? Some say that the Final Four or CEB Cup could be medially presented better.
MM: There are always things that can be done better. Unfortunately, it’s a question about money. This year CEB invested in the TV production of the EURO 2010 – eight games were televised by interested broadcasters from different countries (f.e. Eurosport2, RAI, NOS, ZDF). For us it is much easier to promote and sell national team events than it is to market club team events. But still, the Final Four in Barcelona will be broadcasted on the internet by STADEO.
JJ: Is there any other plan for developing baseball in Europe in cooperation with MLB?
MM: It’s a clear understanding between MLB and Baseballeurope that CEB is doing the grassroots development while MLB’s main topics are the academies, top level game development and identifying prospects. Therefore no basic development plan with MLB is to be expected.
JJ: What is your point of view on number of American college players joining European top competitions? Could you comment limitations for foreign players in different leagues?
MM: My personal opinion to foreign players in top level competitions has always been: as less as possible but as many as necessary. Some foreigners might be needed on certain positions to keep or even raise the level of play. But our main goal should always be to find and develop European talents instead of filling the most important positions (P, C, SS) with foreign players…
JJ: Which international events can fans expect in 2011?
MM: Europe’s major events in 2011 will be the European Championship Juniors in Gijon (ESP) in July and the European Cup Final Four in Brno (CZE) in September.
JJ: Since MLB has been trying to expand to Asia, some say that a few games of MLB could be played one year in the Netherlands. Could you comment on that?
MM: At the moment it is more likely that Europe could become host for a qualifier for the World Baseball Classic 2013 in the year 2012. But we don’t know yet. For sure it would be a significant gesture from MLB and an honor for Europe to host an event like this.
JJ: Baseball in Europe is certainly on the rise. Where do you spot the next steps that have to be made? Robert Eenhoorn talked in his interview about need of focusing on off-the-field representation of European baseball. Do you share the same opinion?
MM: Yes, I share Robert’s opinion. Baseballeurope will definitely concentrate on the EURO, market the EURO and somehow create a professional league together with an efficient academy structure with the goal of finding talents, creating stars and building an off-the-field fan base.
JJ: There has been some disappointments about top European countries (Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain) not being represented at the European Championships Under 12 in a long term. In recent years the Little league competition has become quite popular. Do you plan to make participation mandatory for senior A-group countries? Do you think that the Little league tournament will take over the official ECH U12?
MM: The future of the European Championship Juveniles has been discussed several times. It might be an important event for the smaller countries but it is less important for the big ones. The so called “top” countries often do not even form a U12 national team but concentrate on the higher age groups. That’s their choice. We won’t make participation mandatory for senior A-group countries.
Little League is not a national team event. Hence it won’t take over the ECH U12. Little League represents regions and Baseballeurope’s main purpose is to include every single region in Europe into the CEB-LLB organization.
JJ: Can Europe somehow add to the efforts trying to get baseball back to the Olympics?
MM: Yes, if we achieve the merge with softball in Europe…
JJ: After successful World Baseball Classic in 2009, there has been rumors that the next WBC could be played by more teams next time. Do you have any piece of information about how many spots would be presented to Europe?
MM: All signs are that the next World Baseball Classic will be played with an extended qualification round in which more European Teams will get a spot, that’s correct. But this issue has not been finally decided yet.
JJ: Is there any plan how to get more people in Europe to play baseball?
MM: The Confederation of European Baseball follows a strong development plan together with its member countries. But the grassroots player’s promotion needs to be done by each national federation in its own country. From the top down CEB can only help the national federations to get more people to play baseball by creating a Europe-wide fan base through a European professional league and/or a media star who embodies our sport.
Mister-Baseball thanks Jakub Janda and Martin Miller to take the time for the interview.
Photo: © Drobny (top right, at press conference during the European Championship in Stuttgart), Walter Keller, www.catchthefever.de (bottom left, first pitch at Baseball World Cup in Regensburg)
Regarding the 12U National Team competition, you must also consider that in some countries you are not allowed to form National Teams for kids in that age group. This because some countries define sports up to the age of 12 as to be meant for participation for all instead of competition and results.
So I agree with Mr Miller that a mandatory requirement for A-pool countries to participate in the 12U would be absolutely useless. For some it is not allowed, for many a 12U national team is a non-issue.