Of Dutch team and European baseball

is doing a great job. They were one of the first countries to invest into American coaching, especially to work with the kids.

On the flip side I remember playing in Brno in mid to late nineties on a European Cup Winners Cup tournament. The field was completely covered with sand — not the normal red one, but rather a dark gray kind — and when I tried to stretch a lead-off single into a double and slid head first into second, I realized just how sharp those little sand particles were. My pants tore off at both knees, which together with my forearms immediately turned red.

When I came back to the dugout, my teammate said – you look like you’ve been thrown out of a running car.

It is somewhat of a poor man’s Coliseum, as baseball team shares it with the same named (Nada, meaning hope) rugby team.

Split is where Croatian baseball started, albeit on a less then honorable note. Local kids stole some baseball equipment from one of the US Navy vessels and soon afterwards the team was formed. Gives “stealing a base” a whole new meaning, I guess.

They also had a first bona fide star of the region, Mladen Sasso, a fireballer who went on to play in the Dutch League. In a typical showing of his Mediterranean temperament, his career was cut short when he wanted to prove — without warming up, still in his streets clothes — that he can throw a ball over the outfield fence while standing behind home plate.

they can not draw upon any other European countries. Wouldn’t bring much either, as there is a significant drop off in quality afterwards and it is always easier to find someone in the US whose grandmother once made her own pizza, thus qualifying him for the Italian squad.

It is probably the most improving country of the three you mentioned. They are pretty ambitious and have a good infrastructure (they are partially hosting a World Cup in September).

I’ve always thought that if a sport does not have the olympics as it’s primary tournament, it probably doesn’t belong there.

Hence, I don’t think that tennis or soccer should be there (even though i love both of these sports). Baseball, too, does not have the olympics as it’s primary focus (though, an argument could be made that international baseball would. but whatever).

There was talk of cricket being included in 2012 (it was in the first olympics, fact fans. England beat France!), but this now does not look like it’s going to happen. Yknow, if the UK is not bankrupt by then, and the games actually do go ahead

Of course, getting to know baseball while living in Upstate NY, I jumped on the Yankees train first. But I guess if you were raised in communism and finally got rid of it, you don’t want to become a part of another dogmatic, infallible group, no matter on what grounds.

When I started working for the company I work for now, I often made trips to HQ in Northern Cal and used it to watch Giants and A’s. Nicer stadium and all, but Giants were not that appealing to me. And, I loved what the Oakland front office was trying to achieve. Last, but not the least – this very site. It was so heads and shoulders above any other sports related that I knew, with so much insight and possibility to learn and exchange opinions in a dignified manner.

And do make that visit. Life is so about the things we will remember in the end and that would definitely be one of them.

You will be forever connected to your ancestors…..

There are already some organizations and individuals who do things like Masaryk said in another thread — just go around asking their little league or HS teams if anyone can spare an old glove or bat instead of throwing it away. This is usually a great help, because many kids can’t afford them and there is also no better way to hook a young kid to baseball then lending them their very own glove, he or she can take care of.

Another form of foreign help comes from the MLB itself, in form of coaching. There are numerous coaches touring Europe in summer, working with the local teams and their staff, trying to improve the training techniques.

As far as individuals donating money directly, there is not much of that, unless some kind of heritage line exists. If you come to that point, I would be glad to try to assist you on finding something of your liking that you would like to support. Let me know if the chance arises.