Great Britain moves up the baseball world rankings

The Great Britain baseball team has moved up four places in the International Baseball Federation’s official world rankings. The new rankings were published on the IBAF website yesterday (Oct 19) following the 2009 Baseball World Cup (BWC) which was held across Europe this September. Britain moved up from 25th to 21st, just outside breaking into the top 20 in the world in a set of rankings comprising 75 teams.

The IBAF World Rankings were introduced in January 2009 and are calculated by awarding points to IBAF member teams based on their final standings in IBAF-sanctioned events in a four-year window, or a period of time that encompasses two IBAF Baseball World Cups. The latest set of rankings takes into account Great Britain’s silver medal in the 2007 European Championship (EC) and replaces the 2005 Baseball World Cup with the final standings of the 2009 event. This September, GB qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 70 years and progressed to the second round, ultimately finishing 15th of 22 participants.

The rankings provide generally good news for European nations, with Germany (#20), Spain (#17) and Italy (#12) all moving up a few spots within the world top 20 and the Netherlands remaining in sixth place following a strong campaign in the 2009 BWC in which the host nation finished sixth overall. Cuba holds onto the number one position but the United States moved up from fourth to second following the titles it won in the 2009 BWC and the Under-16 World Youth Championships. The remainder of the world top 20 was largely unchanged.

Great Britain was pipped to a top 20 ranking by Germany, which itself moved up three places from 23rd to 20th. Considering that GB finished just above Germany in both the 2007 European Championship and 2009 World Cup, it’s not immediately clear why Britain is not now in 20th place. However, Germany’s additional appearances in the 2007 World Cup and 2008 Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament will factor in the calculations.

World events command higher points awards than continental competitions in the IBAF’s rankings. Britain did not qualify for the 2007 World Cup and, due to a lack of available funding, could not afford to take part in the Olympic Qualifier despite having earned the chance through its second-place finish in the 2007 EC. Germany took Britain’s place. The Germans’ fourth place finish in the 2005 European Championship might also still be considered in the current rankings (Britain finished seventh).

Italy’s rise in the rankings is also worth noting. Although it is historically a European baseball powerhouse, Italy placed unusually low in the 2007 EC (seventh) and, as a result, wouldn’t have got the chance to participate at this year’s World Cup (and pick up further rankings points) had it not been awarded an automatic second round place when the IBAF decided to hold the BWC in Europe, extend it to 22 teams and have Italy co-host the second round with the Netherlands. It should be noted, though, that the ranking also takes into consideration Italy’s appearance in Major League Baseball’s high-profile World Baseball Classic in 2009. Unless the Classic significantly enlarges the number of invitees for future events, Great Britain will need to continue moving up the European rankings before it becomes one of the European entries in the Classic.

Nevertheless, Britain’s gradual ascent up the official rankings is added recognition of the advances the team has made, particularly in recent years, since being promoted from the European ‘B’ Pool into Europe’s top level in 1996.

The BBF, BSUK and Great Britain Baseball take no responsibility for the content of external internet sites.