The French Baseball and Softball Federation released the schedule for this year’s Challenge de France. The Division I tournament with all eight teams will be played in Senart and Montigny from May 16 to 20 with the winner receiving a European Cup ticket for 2013. The Challenge de France will be opened on Wednesday evening [...]
The Mets should give Dickey a Wakefield style deal where it can just be extended every year forever.Do it @MetsGM! — Craig Glaser (@sabometrics) March 30, 2012 This is an interesting idea by Craig Glaser aka @sabometrics on Twitter. There are reports the Mets are thinking about exercising R.A. Dickey‘s 2013 option worth $5 million [...]
The British National Baseball League will celebrate opening day on Sunday. Four doubleheaders will be played. The Harlow Nationals won the 2011 championship, defeating the Lakenheath Diamondbacks in the gold medal game. The Nats will square off with the London Mets on game day one. The Diamondbacks will travel to the Southampton Mustangs. Additionally the [...]
Mainz Athletics – Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg 1-7 REG 100 222 000 7 10 0 MAI 100 000 000 1 3 1 The defending champion Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg opened the 2012 season in the Baseball-Bundesliga with a 7-1 road win against the Mainz Athletics. Mike Bolsenbroek (7 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, [...]
Novara United – T&A San Marino 0-2 SMA 101 000 000 2 10 1 NOV 000 000 000 0 3 0 Box score Rodney Rodriguez struck out 11 in six scoreless two-hit innings to lead T&A San Marino to a 2-0 shutout over Novara United on Friday evening in the Italian Baseball League. Carlos Duran [...]
The German Baseball-Bundesliga is starting into the 2012 season on Friday evening. The Mainz Athletics hosting defending champion Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg for a night game. The other games will be played on Saturday with a thrilling opening day doubleheader between the Bonn Capitals and Solingen Alligators highlighting the schedule in the north. There will be [...]
Co-winners this week, for the first time, two contenders obtained the same total of points, and also for first place, second place and third place in votes. So, Giovanni Ouin (Beaucaire Chevaliers) and Owen Ozanich (Rouen Huskies) are named WEP2! Giovanni Ouin took his first win for new D1-member Beaucaire. He launched a complete game [...]
The Spanish Division de Honor continues this weekend with game day number six. The most anticipated matchup will be the doubleheader between CB Sant Boi and the Astros Valencia. It is a good opportunity for Sant Boi to make up some ground, as the Astros have a three-game lead in second place. The undefeated CB [...]
After Rodney Medina (family reasons) and Jean Toledo (contract in Mexico), Novara United loses another player who decided not to show up for the 2012 season. Fernando Gutierrez, who also pitched in Spain and in the Netherlands, is not coming either. The club doesn’t know why and they hope he won’t play for a different [...]
The wild times for Dutch right-hander Rick van den Hurk in Major League Baseball continue. The Cleveland Indians removed him from the 40-man roster on Thursday, designating him for assignment to make room for Jairo Asencio, who is coming from the Atlanta Braves. The Indians now have ten days to trade him, release him or [...]
Cariparma Parma – Unipol Bologna 2-7 BOL 032 100 010 7 8 2 PAR 110 000 000 2 3 5 Box score Unipol Bologna opened the 2012 season in the Italian Baseball League on Thursday evening with a 7-2 win over Cariparma Parma. Fortitudo scored six of the seven runs between the second and fourth [...]
So reports indicate that Michael Pineda is pitching for a rotation spot today. What I thought was a silly media meme to make it through the demands of spring training news content has become a reality. Apparently the velocity concerns of the media are also shared by the Yankees. Despite the wicked slider and changeup, the 89-93 [...]
The Rouen Huskies and Paris UC march ahead in the French Division I with perfect 4-0 records. This weekend Rouen is going to be at home for the first time, hosting Stade Toulousain for two games. PUC meanwhile will be on the road, traveling to Savigny for a matchup with the Lions. The Pessac Panthers [...]
Back in July of 2010 there were rumors the Mets were looking for starting pitching. Roy Oswalt‘s name was brought into the conversation, but most reports had the then 32-year old as costing Jonathan Niese plus top prospects. For a team on the periphery of the Wild Card race, and with a thin farm system, [...]
When the German Baseball-Bundesliga opens its gates this weekend, the Mannheim Tornados will be on the sidelines with a bye on game day one. They still will be on the field, wrapping up preparations with a preseason tournament in Utrecht against Hoofdklasse clubs UVV and DOOR Neptunus and the Czech Extraleague team Kotlarka Prague. They [...]
From March 31 to April 6 the top prospects of European Baseball will gather in Regensburg, Germany for the annual MLB Academies Tournament. The event with a record-number of eight baseball academies is returning for third consecutive year to the Armin-Wolf-Arena. Major League Baseball is using the tournament to give the players time on the [...]
The GEI Athletics Attnang-Puchheim announced on Wednesday the signing of 25-year-old right-handed pitcher Kris Edwards. He is coming from the Northern League to Austria. His college profile: Started his college career at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater before suffering arm troubles. He recovered from Tommy John surgery and had three strong seasons with the University of [...]
Before starting into his Japanese adventures, Italian right-hander Alex Maestri will start the season with Telemarket Rimini in the Italian Baseball League. The 26-year-old will stay for one or two weeks before joining the Olive Guyners in an Independent League in Japan. He already pitched for the Pirates during the preseason and will be a [...]
Joba Chamberlain is always a polarizing topic, but the reaction to breaking his ankle on a trampoline has been interesting. There really is no in-between, as some absolve Chamberlain since he was “playing with his son,” while others believe this is another demonstration of his immaturity and recklessness I understand the counterpoint. Spending time with [...]
It is rumored all winter and the Bonn Capitals apparently were hoping he would reconsider. But in their game day preview before opening the 2012 season in the German Baseball-Bundesliga the club finally revealed that Tim Henkenjohann is only a so called “stand-by-player”, being on the verge of retirement. The Caps already had signed Markus [...]
Enough with Grapefruit League action! Tonight I am joined by Paul Lebowitz, who authored the 2012 Baseball Guide, as we breakdown all 6 divisions and preview the upcoming MLB campaign. Who will make the playoffs? Who won’t make the playoffs? Which managers and GMs are in trouble? Which players might be traded at mid-season? Who [...]
This summer the Collegiate Baseball League Europe will celebrate its debut in Oosterhout, Netherlands. It is going to be a four-team, eight-day Wooden Bat Summer League with 12 games total. It is like a miniature version of the Cape Cod League in the United States. Several European prospects registered online throughout the winter. Last weekend [...]
This summer the Collegiate Baseball League Europe will celebrate its debut in Oosterhout, Netherlands. It is going to be a four-team, eight-day Wooden Bat Summer League with 12 games total. It is like a miniature version of the Cape Cod League in the United States. Several European prospects registered online throughout the winter. Last weekend [...]
Mister-Baseball.com has learned that the Boston Red Sox have released Swen Huijer. The 21-year-old right-hander from Haarlem, Netherlands, lasted four years in the farm system of the MLB organization. He didn’t make the cut, as Spring Training in Florida is entering the final stages. Between the Gulf Coast League and the NY-Penn League he had [...]
Looks like Jose Canseco is playing the lottery these days. He’s asked the Mets, Red Sox, A’s and Blue Jays for jobs over the last couple of years, but no one seems to want to take a chance on the 47-year old. He even said he would play baseball for free, if he won the [...]
Earlier in the week Mike Silva wrote a piece about whether the Yankees should take Clay Rapada or Cesar Cabral. His points are valid and I agree that Cesar Cabral should be kept on the team. I am not a big fan of having two lefties in the bullpen just for the sake of having [...]
Major League Baseball has revealed the 2012 tryout dates for this year’s MLB European Academy in Tirrenia, Italy. Mainz (Germany), Haarlem (Netherlands) and Prague (Czech Republic) will host the tryouts from May 8 to May 11. Date Time City Venue 8 May 15:00 Mainz, Germany Mainz Athletics Baseball Club 9 May 15:00 Haarlem, [...]
The Italian Baseball League opens the 2012 season on Thursday with the clash between Cariparma Parma and Unipol Bologna at 8pm. Other matchups in week one will be Grosseto Baseball against the Godo Knights, Novara United versus defending champion T&A San Marino and Telemarket Rimini against Danesi Nettuno. As usual in the last couple of [...]
Former independent leaguer Adam Sowell is going to play for the Schwaz Tigers in 2012. The poker player is well known in European baseball, having played in Belgium (2004), Sweden (2007/2008), the Netherlands (2008) and the Czech Republic (2011). The 31-year-old is a pitcher/utility player, who is also going to coach in Schwaz. In the [...]
A reunion with Wally Backman might be just what Conor Jackson’s career needs. Worth a shot. — Gotham Baseball (@GothamBaseball) March 26, 2012 Interesting point brought up by Gotham Baseball. Jackson was released by the Texas Rangers this week. Although they needed a right handed hitting outfielder, Jackson struggled with the bat going 3 for [...]
It was a quite winter for the HSV Stealers. Started with high expectations in 2011, they missed the playoffs. This year the goal is to avoid relegation, which is going to be more difficult, as the round-robin was replaced with elimination games. The club lost prospects Eric Harms and Wolfgang Reitter, while import players from [...]
A few days before the start into the 2012 season in the Italian Baseball League Novara United has to replace one of the best offensive players in the IBL last year. Rodney Medina has to stay in Venezuela due to a serious family problem according to Baseball.it. They already have found a replacement with the [...]
From March 30 to April 1 the Dutch Hoofdklasse clubs UVV, DOOR Neptunus, Kotlarka Prague and Mannheim Tornados will play the preseason tournament Jersey53 Cup in Utrecht. UVV with new head coach Frank Koene is going to have Danny Rombley, Orlando Yntema, Kyle Ward, Ryan Murphy and Stijn van der Meer on the roster. Neptunus [...]
Italian third baseman Alex Liddi might receive a chance to play in Major League Baseball’s opening game of the 2012 season on Wednesday. His Seattle Mariners will face the Oakland Athletics at 12:10 CET at the Tokyo Dome in game one of the two-game Japan Series. He got named to the 25-man roster for these [...]
On Tuesday, April 3 at 7pm ET the Cincinnati Reds will take on the Future Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The so-called Reds Spring Showcase is a contest between current and coming Cincinnati Reds players at the MLB stadium of the organization. The first batch of prospects, which will participate, was announced [...]
The Mets brought RHP Chris Young back today on a minor league deal. Although Young had the same surgery last season that has sidelined Johan Santana for nearly two years, some reports optimistically have him back on the mound by late May. Again, we know all the depth issues the team has, which makes me wonder if they would [...]
The German Baseball-Bundesliga will see a major improvement public relation wise this season. All teams are required to use Gamechanger applications to score all regular season and postseason games in real-time. With leagues in Italy, Netherlands and Spain (Czech Republic in 2013) using CEB/IBAF style live scoring software, the German Baseball and Softball Federation (DBV) [...]
A pair of French prospects went to North America to visit colleges this March in hopes to pursue educational and athletic opportunities oversees. Catcher Theo Lakmeche (Toulouse Baseball Academy/Savigny Lions) and right-handed pitcher Jonathan Mottay (Toulouse Baseball Academy/Stade Toulousain) went on the trip under the guidance of U21 National Team manager Boris Rothermundt. They visited [...]
The Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) celebrated its 100th anniversary with the CEB Congress at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam ten days ago. You can get some impressions of the surroundings with this five-minute YouTube clip, which was uploaded this weekend.
Right-hander Markus Solbach, who had signed with the Minnesota Twins organization last winter, is going to play for the Bonn Capitals when playing in Germany. He appeared in a preseason game a couple of weeks ago and the club has confirmed the acquisition. His former team, the Pulheim Gophers, withdrew from upper-level competition in German [...]
by Herts Baseball Club, www.hertsbaseball.com Herts Baseball Club has been awarded a grant of £10,000 from BaseballSoftballUK‘s capital facility funding from Sport England. This grant, together with nearly £7,000 raised separately by Herts through various fund-raising activities, will be invested into the next stage of development of Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead, creating one of [...]
The Yankees roster has pretty much been set since the start of spring. They have 13 positional players and 11 pitchers locked. The final probably comes down to the Yankees taking one of the two situational lefties: Clay Rapada or Cesar Cabral. Originally I thought it would be a far easier choice, as Rapada only [...]
A loaded Grapefruit Roundup tonight at 8pm Hear me talk about the Joba Chamberlain‘s injury and answer the critics who believe I am off base in my criticism of his judgement. I also talk about Chipper Jones being an all-time Mets killer, and what the Wilpon victory in court means for the Mets. Joining me during [...]
The Czech Baseball Association has released the schedule for the upcoming season in the Extraleague. The 2012 campaign starts on April 7 with four doubleheaders. Defending champion Technika Brno is going to be at home, hosting the promoted Olympia Blansko. Additionally AVG Draci Brno is taking on Arrows Ostrava, the Eagles Prague square off with [...]
Danesi Nettuno has signed Juan Figueroa to add some depth to the pitching staff for the upcoming season in the Italian Baseball League. The 36-year-old veteran from the Dominican Republic is pitching in Italy since 2005. He won championships with Fortitudo Bologna (2005) and T&A San Marino (2008). In the United States the right-hander reached [...]
The French Division I played its second game day this weekend. The Rouen Huskies and Paris UC are at the top of the standings with perfect records following four games. On Sunday Rouen beat the Savigny Lions 11-3 and 14-4, while PUC crushed the Pessac Panthers 11-5 and 11-1. In the third doubleheader today Stade [...]
The Spanish Division de Honor already booked game day number ten this weekend. Defending champion CB Barcelona and the Astros Valencia continued to stride at the top of the standings. Barcelona hadn’t any trouble to sweep El Llano. Valencia was on the road for a pair of lopsided wins against Halcones de Vigo. The other [...]
Today we found out that Joba Chamberlain dislocated his ankle while jumping on a trampoline with his son at an amusement center. This isn’t a laughing matter, as Deadspin reported that Chamberlain lost so much blood that there was concern for his life. This wasn’t a normal dislocation since the bone shot through the skin. It’s a serious injury [...]
The Bad Homburg Hornets have added a former minor leaguer one week before starting into the 2012 season in the German Baseball-Bundesliga. The 22-year-old right-hander Jennell Hudson from Cologne, Germany, was a member of the Boston Red Sox organization from 2008 to 2011. After his debut season in professional baseball he suffered a serious elbow [...]
The GEI Athletics Attnang-Puchheim have added German utility man Daniel Czekalla to the roster for the 2012 season in the Austrian Baseball League. The 23-year-old is coming from the Bad Homburg Hornets, where he batted .247/.333/.294 last year. Additionally the club announced that “GEI” will remain head sponsor for another season. “GEI” is a music [...]
In week one of the French Division I the Rouen Huskies, Templiers Senart and Paris UC celebrated sweeps. Rouen impressed with strong pitching in a finals rematch against the Montpellier Barracudas, while PUC showed their bats versus the promoted Beaucaire Chevaliers. Senart edged out the Pessac Panthers. Only Stade Toulousain and the Savigny Lions settled [...]
While the leaders CB Barcelona (8-0) and Astros Valencia (7-1) seemingly have easy tasks on their hands this weekend with El Llano (2-6) and Halcones de Vigo (0-8), the surprise team CD Pamplona is going to play for regional pride. After their 5-3 start, which included impressive showings against the Astros and CB Sant Boi [...]
Italian third baseman Alex Liddi has made the cut for the Japan trip of the Seattle Mariners. He was selected to the 30-man roster, which traveled to Tokyo on Friday for a pair of exhibition games and the 2012 MLB Japan Opening Series against the Oakland Athletics. However this doesn’t mean he is also going [...]
Douglas Rodriguez (Paris UC) is called Opening Day WEP1 ! He lead his teamates to their first two wins in 2012 with astonished numbers : 7-for-10, 10RBI, 6R, 1 HR and 2 stolen bases. Last year, Douglas, a Venezuelian citizen, hit .429 (3rd in the French Elite League), with 21 runs, 15 RBI and 2 [...]
By Henk Glimmerveen Noblesse oblige. To become a world champion is one thing, but to stay world champion another. Players, technical staff and board of the Netherlands federation (KNBSB) have chosen for a longer stay at the top. A both ambitious and revolutionary training program has to strengthen Dutch baseball to a higher degree. Hoofdklasse [...]
It was announced earlier today that Chipper Jones, one of the greatest sports villains in New York history, will be exiting stage right at the end of the season. When you think about some of the prominent villains over the last 25 years Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, Pedro Martinez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jones stand out. For as aggravating as [...]
Press Release Major League Baseball Qualifiers to Start in Germany from September 20th-24th, Followed by Panama, Taiwan and U.S. in November World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI) today announced the venues and pools of the new Qualifiers for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The winners of each Qualifying Pool will advance to compete in the 2013 [...]
Jakub Janda talked to Andy Berglund, who is currently in spring training camp with the Czech National Team in Italy. Jakub Janda: Andy, how is it going in Italy, where you are having Spring Training Camp in Parma with the Czech national team? Andy Berglund: We returned home from Parma after a very successful spring [...]
The collegiate Team USA is going to complete the roster of teams at the 2012 Haarlemse Honkbalweek. The organizers announced the participants Cuba, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Japan for the 26th edition of the international baseball tournament at Pim Mulier Stadium in Haarlem, Netherlands. Team USA last won the tourney in 2008 headed by [...]
The Blue Jays on Tuesday night defeated the Red Sox 9-2 at JetBlue Park to run their Grapefruit League record to an impressive 14-4-1. Lefthander Aaron Laffey, with an outside shot of starting the season with the major-league team, allowed...