A new addition to the bloglist: CPBL English. It’s a blog in English about Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League. To the best of my knowledge, there hasn’t been a blog about it before now. It’s brand new, so check it out.
Category Archives: International
2016 WBC Qualifier Preview: Panama City (Panama, Spain, France, Colombia)
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Like the Mexicali pool, this is a pool that will pit Latin America and Europe. However, in some ways the only European team will be France, as Spain weighs heavily on imported talent. This should be the most competitive WBC qualifier bracket so far, with only France being a team that I can say has no chance.
Go below the jump for more:
World Baseball Classic Qualifier Preview: Mexicali (Mexico, Czech Republic, Germany, Nicaragua)
Another round of WBC qualifiers starts on Thursday, with two pools going. One of them, in Mexicali, is a odd mix of two Latin American countries mixed with two European nations. While Mexico is most definitely the favorite, it’s not inconceivable that a shocking upset will take place… just very unlikely. You can see the rosters here.
Go below the jump for more:
An @HOVG Addendum: The biggest baseball alum of NCAA Snubs
Over at Hall of Very Good, I looked at the best baseball alums of every team in the NCAA Tournament.
Consider this an addendum: the best baseball alums of various NCAA snubs!
Monmouth: The best Monmouth baseball alum is active now: Brad Brach. Three other Monmouth grads have made the show, however. They are Ed Halicki, Bob Hooper, and Tom Kelly.
St. Bonaventure: This is an easy one, as John McGraw played for (and coached) Bonaventure in the 1890s, even though he already had played a bit professionally (the idea of the strict separation of amateur and professional was not yet completely solidified). There’s also some evidence that Hugh Jennings was involved with Bonaventure, but it’s not listed at Baseball Reference. Danny McDevitt is the most recent MLB player who was a Bonnie.
St. Mary’s: Hall of Famers Harry Hooper and Hank O’Day are St. Mary’s grads, although I’d give the edge to Hooper. Honorable mentions: Von Hayes, Gus Triandos, Duffy Lewis, Tom Candiotti, Dutch Leonard, and Mark Teahen.
South Carolina: A baseball power in recent years, I’d say Brian Roberts (who had transferred there from UNC) is the best Gamecock alum, although you certainly can make arguments for Dave Hollins, Mookie Wilson and Bill Landrum. Current Gamecocks include Justin Smoak, Steve Pearce, and Jackie Bradley Jr.
San Diego State: Tony Gwynn. Done. (Other alums include: Stephen Strasburg, Graig Nettles, Mark Grace, Tony Clark, Harold Reynolds, and Dave Roberts.)
Valparaiso: Lloyd McClendon, apologies to guys like Al Pilcarik and Freddy Spurgeon.
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So, there you have it. Make sure to go to Hall of Very Good to see the best alums of those who DID make the bracket.
World Baseball Classic Update for March 11, 2016
Finally, the rosters for the Panama and Mexicali qualifiers of the WBC have been unveiled. I’ll go deeper when I do the previews for the tournaments, but a quick rundown:
- Mexicali:
- It appears, on paper, that this is going to be Mexico’s pool to lose. They have by far the most experienced and MLB-related of the rosters in the pool, led by All-Star Adrian Gonzalez and Oliver Perez.
- The Czechs are generally using their own players (such as Cleveland farmhand Martin Cervenka), which is commendable, but they have a few guys who are there due to Czech heritage, such as Mike Cervenak.
- Nicaragua is probably Mexico’s biggest threat in the Mexicali bracket, with 11 MLB-affiliated players, as well as some players who used to be in affiliated ball.
- Germany is hurt by not having Max Kepler, but still has six affiliated players, including Donald Lutz, who has MLB experience. They also will have former MLB player Will Ohman on the squad- he was born in Germany.
- Panama City:
- The home team Panamanians are led on the field by former All-Star Carlos Ruiz, and possess nine other affiliated players. Many of the other players on the team have also played affiliated ball, with Manny Corpas having reached the Majors.
- The biggest threat to Panama is Colombia, with 16 affiliated players led by MLB or soon-to-be MLB players in Dilson Herrera and Harold Ramirez. They also have four players in AAA.
- The Spanish are one teams in the WBC that are most blatant in their use of “Passport” players who are only eligible for their team due to lax citizenship rules. Almost all of their players, as far as I can tell, are expats from the Caribbean. None of their four affiliated players (Rogelio Armenteros of the Astros organization, Luis Guillorme of the Mets organization, Lazaro Leyva of the Orioles and Carlos Sierra of the Astros’ organization) are from Spain, for example.
- France is probably the team in this pool most likely to go 2-and-out. Only one- Andy Paz- is MLB-affiliated, although some, like Rene Leveret, have been in affiliated baseball in the past.
Finally one last other piece of news:
There is some exhibition action, as Germany split a two-game series with the Tijuana Toros, France beat Seminole State College, and the Czechs lost to a Brewers’ minor league squad.
World Baseball Classic Update For March 7, 2016
It’s been a fairly quiet week in WBC news, as we await the official release of the rosters for the next round of qualifiers. Still, there has been some news:
Jon Morosi on the Czech Republic’s WBC team and how the country’s hockey heritage has led to a lot of left-handed hitters.
The Japanese National Team swept Taiwan in a 3-game early warm-up for next year’s WBC.
Nicaragua leads Panama 2-1 in a warm-up series.
Alex Rodriguez, who famously has hemmed and hawed between playing for the USA (the land of his birth) and the Dominican (the land where he spent significant parts of his childhood), has said if he takes part in 2017 it’ll be for the Dominican.
Alex Cora will be the General Manager of Team Puerto Rico for the 2017 WBC.
ESPN Deportes will be showing the Mexicali qualifying round this month for any Spanish-speaking fans in the USA.
As expected, Max Kepler will not be playing for Germany in the qualifiers, as he will be staying in camp. It was thought that it was unlikely anyway given how he has an outside chance at making the opening day roster, but this is further confirmation.
…And that’s it for now. More soon, hopefully.
World Baseball Classic News for March 1, 2016
Here’s the latest WBC news as of March 1, 2016:
Team Germany will play exhibition games against three different Mexican League teams, as well as a team from the Brewers organization.
“Samurai Japan” has teamed up with the Anime series Mr. Osomatsu to help raise awareness for the team, both in the WBC and in other tournaments (where they generally don’t draw as well).
George Springer, who’s mother is from Puerto Rico, has apparently been recruited by Carlos Correa to play for Team Puerto Rico in the main tournament next year.
News on who will and will not be in the WBC qualifiers:
First off, the Mexican League will be allowing their players to play for Team Mexico.
Jake Sanchez of the Athletics organization will play for Mexico
Jose Quinanta of the White Sox is in for Colombia.
Sadly for Colombia, Julio Teheran will not be pitching for them.
The official rosters apparently come out tomorrow, so that’s something to keep an eye out for.
Continuum Classic- Bizarre Baseball Culture: Pokémon in “The Double Trouble Header”
Today, February 27, is the 20th anniversary of the release of the first Pokémon games in their native Japan. In honor of that feat, here’s the classic Bizarre Baseball Culture look at “The Double Trouble Header”, an episode about baseball fandom and the world of Pocket Monsters.
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In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.
In a first for Bizarre Baseball Culture, we’re going international to look at one of the more strange appearances of baseball in Japanese culture. To be more exact, we’re looking at an old episode of the Pokémon anime, entitled “The Double Trouble Header”.
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Okay, are you done laughing/rolling your eyes? Good. Now go below the jump for this installment, which has been weeks in the making:
World Baseball Classic Update for February 26, 2016
Hello, everybody. Here’s some WBC news from the last few weeks, in no particular order:
The Mexican League and the Mexican Baseball Federation continue to squabble, making it unlikely that any Mexican leaguers will partake in the qualifying. However, I’ve also seen some tweets that indicate that this has been solved and that Mexican League players will take part. I’ll let you know when I have it cleared up.
Yovani Gallardo had said that he was going to play for the Mexican team in the qualifiers, but that was before he signed with the Orioles, so that may change. Another iffy Mexican pitcher is Julio Urias, a top prospect for the Dodgers, who has said he will skip the qualifiers if it looks like he has a good chance of making the team.
A preliminary roster for Team Nicaragua (thanks to Max Wildstein) was released. This roster has since changed (you can find how it has in some of the other items) and would be pared down to 28 anyway, but it gives you a good idea of some of the players who will be on the team:
Omar Vizquel will be the manager of Team Venezuela next year. Bobby Abreu and Magglio Ordonez were candidates for the batting coach position, and it appears that Magglio won the job. Other tweets have confirmed that Eduardo Perez will be a bench coach, Roberto Espinoza will be the pitching coach, and Henry Blanco will be a bullpen coach. Also in Venezuelan news: Gregor Blanco wants to play for his country in the 2017 WBC.
The Spanish have announced their coaching staff for the upcoming qualifiers, led by Tigers Latin American director Manny Crespo.
Quebecois closing great Eric Gagne, meanwhile, will helm Team France.
Mike Griffin will manage the Czech team, while Trot Nixon (!) will be hitting coach.
Speaking of the Czechs, it appears that they will have more players with North American experience than last time thanks to players of Czech ancestry, such as John Straka, Brett Tomko, Mike Cervenak, and Alex Sogard. However, apparently Eric Sogard has been denied, unless if he hasn’t. I find it much less likely that he will take part, though. The Czechs will be playing exhibitions in Arizona ahead of the qualifiers.
Donovan Solano, now in the Yankees organization, is still deciding whether he will play for Colombia in the qualifiers or if he will stay in camp. However, he is listed in a list of MLB-affiliated players who are “confirmed” for Colombia:
Peloteros de organizaciones de Grandes Ligas que están confirmados para jugar por Colombia. (vía @Beisbol2600mts) pic.twitter.com/RXbeWFd6bw
— Pinceladas del CMB (@pinceladascmb) February 26, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Dilson Herrera of the Mets, as said above, will definitely suit up for Team Colombia. Others listed in the above tweet (if it doesn’t show up): William Cuevas, Carlos Mario Diaz, Kevin Escorcia, Tayron Guerrero, Gregory Nappo, Jesus Posso, Mauricio Ramos, Reynaldo Rodriguez, Tito Polo, Harold Ramirez, and Carlos Vidal. Apparently a complete list for Colombia will be out on Saturday.
David Ortiz doesn’t think he’ll play for Team Dominican Republic next spring.
Carlos Ruiz has been authorized to play for Team Panama, which is huge, even if he isn’t as good as he used to be.
Dean Kremer, a pitcher for UNLV who’s parents are from Israel and who lives there during summers when he isn’t playing, hopes to play for Team Israel in the WBC qualifiers.
Elmer Reyes of the Braves organization will play for Nicaragua. Wuillian Vasquez, a Venezuelan-born player who has lived and played in Nicaragua for several years while also playing in Europe, is also eligible.
The German National team will have a exhibition game against the Tijuana Toros on March 9.
Quick run-down of other players who have been confirmed in/out for certain qualifying teams (from various Twitter sources found by @MaxWildstein):
Randall Delgado is out for Panama but Andy Otero is in.
Cheslor Cuthbert is out for Nicaragua, as is Wilton Lopez, who has an injury.
Luis Guillorme is in for Spain.
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Now, this was a lot of news. Maybe too much. And I probably missed some. And for that reason, I’m glad to say that starting now, WBC Updates will be FAR more frequent, occurring AT LEAST once a week, but at times happening on a daily or every-other-daily basis.
World Baseball Classic Qualifier Preview: Sydney (Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa)
The first qualifier for the World Baseball Classic will feature an eclectic group of three “Commonwealth” nations in addition to the Philippines, and while it’s likely that the host Australians will come out on top, it will be interesting to see how the others do, especially New Zealand, which arguably has the fastest-growing baseball program in the world.
Go below the jump for the more:
The Baseball Continuum 