by Peter Ferak, reporting for Mister-Baseball from the second round of the Baseball World Cup in Italy
The success of this particular World Cup was decided some weeks before it even started, when the IOC executive committee voted to put forward not baseball, and not softball, as the sports to be considered by IOC Congress in October. The weight of the decision to award Europe with the tournament was carried mostly by IBAF’s efforts to lobby for reinstatement in the Olympics where a great portion of the executives is European.
So in that sense it was not a success, however, the true success of this tournament will be seen some years from now. Whether the game has grown in Europe will show if this event took the game to the next level or if it was just a nice moment in the short history of European Baseball. I like to believe the former. Already we have witnessed great efforts by countries where Baseball has become moderately popular earn a lot of praise and bring fans to the ballparks.
Fans and players alike were impressed by what Germany was able to put together. Unfortunately these efforts were somewhat diminished by the early exit of their team, caused by a controversial tiebreaking rule, which caused many German fans to lose interest in the tournament.
To me this part of the organization was not handled properly. Why Germany deserved only 6 games where interest was extremely high, and not only for games with German participation, is unacceptable. Meanwhile most Italian fans got to see only a pair of games, or had to travel extensively to see their favorite team, something not easily done during the work-weak.
At today’s game the fans that did show up were more interested in what the score of the Italy – Australia game was then what was going on right in front of them. Mexico gave away some runs early but was able to come back and secure an important win. Mexico along with Japan and Canada are battling for the 4th spot and a participation in the next round, another loss to Mexico would’ve slimmed their chances.
But all in all the IBAF has to be happy with the way Europe handled this challenge. It has grown with the occasion, maybe not quite to the occasion, but that should follow. The European teams are now not anymore just in the World Cup tournament. In European I’m excluding the Netherlands who have been a strong competitor for years. Other countries like Italy, Spain, and even Great Britain and Germany have shown sign of solid play and that they can compete with the best in the world.
The World Cup tournament is a great product, it needs to be made more accessible to fans around the world, and it has to be made more meaningful. In a world where Baseball is competing with the Soccer World Cup, Davis Cup, and now the Olympics, Baseball needs a marquee event. Something that gets fans everywhere excited. The World Cup could become this with more backing and better marketing. But it seems the MLB elected the World Baseball Classic to fill this role. Either way Baseball has the cast together, it just needs a stage!
Follow Peter Ferak on his trip through Italy at his blog