TicketsSept. 3, 2009
This is the first in a series of installments from UC head baseball coach Brian Cleary as he travels overseas to coach the British National Baseball Team at the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
September 3rd
I will depart campus after attending the first head coaches meeting of the year and drive to Dayton, Ohio. From there, I will fly to Munich, Germany (through Philadelphia) to join the British National Baseball Team in preparation for the 2009 Baseball World Cup which takes place throughout Europe. I will again serve as the team's pitching coach, as I did in 2007, when GB (Great Britain) Baseball won the silver medal at the 2007 European Championships. By virtue of that second place finish (one spot away from qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics), GB Baseball qualified for inclusion (with 21 other nations) in this year's Baseball World Cup.
I will admit that before I was invited to join the coaching staff, I would not have associated baseball with Great Britain (although baseball is growing in popularity there and there is much more baseball tradition in Britain than I would have thought). With London hosting the 2012 Olympics where the host nation enjoys a bid, the importance of baseball certainly increased. Unfortunately, baseball has been dropped from the Olympic Program and so the focus for all nations is now on the other major international competitions such as this.
I will coach under Stephan Rapaglia who serves as the Head Coach of GB Baseball. "Pags" as he is referred to is a former college player and assistant coach as well as a former professional player and manager. The other assistant coach is Charlie Sullivan, who serves as the Milwaukee Brewers area scout in South Florida. Along with General Manager Alan Smith and Strength and Conditioning Coach, Alan Dean (both from England), the staff remains intact from 2007. It was a good group to be with and certainly I will learn more about baseball and coaching by again being with them.
Our players are a diverse group. The one thing they all have in common is that they hold British passports, but many do so as a result of their parents being British. They live all over, but mainly in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Some are currently playing professionally as minor leaguers in the United States, some are playing professionally in Europe, some play collegiately in the U.S., and some are no longer playing professionally but keep themselves in baseball shape by playing as they also work full-time jobs.
The age of the players' ranges from early twenties to mid-thirties - some are single and some are married with children. It is a colorful group. While they were a lot of fun to be around in 2007, the thing that sticks with me the most is how hard they played and how important this is to them - they proved themselves to be great competitors.
Upon my arrival we will drive to Stuttgart, Germany where, after a quick stop at the hotel, we will play the first of three exhibition games against the German National Team. The following two nights (Saturday and Sunday), we will again play Germany in Heidenheim, Germany, before traveling to Zagreb, Croatia for the opening round of play with Nicaragua, Japan, and Croatia.
I hope you get some feel from this brief background. If you wish to follow the Baseball World Cup, you can do so at http://www.2009baseballworldcup.com/ .
I will do my best based on the schedule and access to my computer to keep you updated with anything I think might be of interest throughout the trip.