The Rise of European Baseball.....Or Not?

[cavebird]

The Netherlands and Italy are on fire in the World Baseball Classic; the Dutch are one game away from Frisco and Italy is 2-0 in Arizona. Gotta be a great sign for European baseball, or honkball in Holland (gotta love that, right?), doesn't it? Well, sorta, kinda.

MLB no longer lists birthplace for the WBC rosters, and I think this is the reason. Here's the breakdown on the Dutch and Italian teams by country of birth:

The Kingdom (so European) of the Netherlands:

Curacao: 13
Aruba: 2
US: 1
Dominican Republic: 1
Canada: 1
The Netherlands: 10

That's 10 Europeans. 8 are pitchers, 2 are position players. In four games, the European born pitchers have pitched 15 innings, including one start, so that is something. Of the two position players, one is the backup catcher who hasn't played, but the other is Kalian Sams, who has started three of the four games.

This all being said, still very impressive. Yes, the core of the team is from Curacao (mostly) and Aruba (Bogaerts), but those two islands combined have a total area and population less than Orleans and Jefferson Parishes in Louisiana (New Orleans and the closest suburban parish, Metairie and Kenner and west bank stuff). And a combined population well short of 1/10 of San Pedro de Marcos. Just sayin'.

Italy:

Italy: 5
Venezuela: 1 (Juan Infante, I have no idea how he qualifies)
United States: 17
BR (designation from B-R.com I have no idea): 1
Canada: 1
Unknown (per B-R.com): 1
Nothing on B-R.com: 2

Mostly a US team, but still impressive because no much in the way of major league talent. That being said, Alex (actually Alessando) Liddi was actually born in Italy, and he has been huge for them.

So, is European baseball up and coming or are these American teams (albeit impressive)? My verdict: I don't care, it is fun to watch.

[cavebird]

This applies to MLB as well as WBC, but both seem like WBC managers missed these points:

1. Don't call a team bad if you are going to possibly play them in an elimination game a few days later.

2. If you are the favorite to possibly win the whole thing and are playing an important game, just don't start Edison Volquez. Or have him pitch when up less than 7 runs.