Mister-Baseball.com will be live from the European Baseball Chamionship! We are pleased to announce that our Managing Editor, Gabriel Fidler, has once again been named to the broadcast team for the Baseball Euros, reprising his role as play-by-play and color commentator from the 2023 European Baseball Championship.
Fidler will be based in Rotterdam, broadcasting Pool A and B games in the opening round, and will remain in the Dutch port city for the playoff round. He will be behind the mic for all Great Britain baseball games, along with games featuring Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
The European Championship begins with a group stage, spread over four pools, playing from Saturday through Monday, before a travel day on Tuesday. In a new format, the top two teams from Pools A and B qualify for the quarterfinals, while the third and fourth teams from Pools A and B play the top two teams from Pool C and D on Sept. 24. The remainder of the playoffs then occurs from Thursday through Saturday. The full schedule can be found here [link].
The pools were determined by the final standings from the 2023 European Baseball Championship, with the top eight teams earning a spot in Pools A and B and, thus, earning a slightly easier path to the quarterfinals. The full list of teams is as follows:
Pool A (Rotterdam, Netherlands): Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Sweden.
Pool B (Rotterdam, Netherlands): France, Great Britain, Israel, Netherlands.
Pool C (Novara, Italy): Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Switzerland.
Pool D (Antwerp, Belgium): Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary.
Games will be broadcast by BaseballEurope.tv [link], with game and tournament passes available.
Fidler has a long career as a baseball broadcaster and journalist, earning a degree in telecommunications from Lee University (U.S.), where he was the colour commentator for four seasons for the Flames, which qualified multiple times for the NAIA World Series and produced numerous MLB Draft Picks and professional signings. Lee is now a member of one of the top NCAA Division I conferences, the Gulf South. Since then, Fidler has served as streaming coordinator for Massachusetts Maritime Academy; Media Coordinator for the 2018 NCAA Division III New England Regional, hosted by the Cape Cod League; Color Commentator for the MLB London Cup at the 2019 London Series; official voice of the 2023 Herts Falcons; and commentator for the 2024 British Baseball Federation (BBF) Summer Cup final, along with various regular season BBF games. In addition to founding ExtraInnings.co.uk, which covers international baseball, primarily of national teams and professional leagues and prospects, he has written for Mister-Baseball.com since 2009, and was named Managing Editor in 2020.
The full broadcasting schedule for Fidler for pool play is as follows:
Sept. 20, p.m.: TBD.
Sept. 20, 19:30: Netherlands – Great Britain
Sept. 21, 13:00: Great Britain – Israel
Sept. 21, 19:30: Germany – Sweden
Sept. 22, 13:00: France – Great Britain
Sept. 22, 18:00.: Sweden – Czech Republic