Great Britain Baseball

By Tim Stride

The Great Britain baseball team concluded its campaign at the 2009 Baseball World Cup on the afternoon of Sunday, September 20, after 12 days and 10 games in Croatia and the Netherlands. Prior to that, players and coaches had spent several days preparing in Germany, including three training games against the German national team. After more than a fortnight of international baseball, with virtually a game a day, squad members have since had some time to reflect on an experience that very few GB baseball squads have been lucky enough to enjoy previously – the opportunity to test themselves against some of the best hardball-playing countries in the world. Despite leading the team through one of the most successful phases in its history, the Great Britain Head Coach and General Manager have also voiced their concerns about the the programme’s future.

During the campaign we published an initial ‘reflections’ piece after Great Britain had played the World #1, Cuba, in its first game of the second round in Haarlem, Netherlands. The end of that game on the night of Sunday, Sept 14, marked a whirlwind 24 hours for GB Head Coach Stephan Rapaglia and his squad. Britain’s place in the second round had not been confirmed until late the previous night after the final result came through from Germany’s defeat to Venezuela in the final first-round game. It meant that Great Britain took the last qualification spot over Germany due to having conceded less runs than the Germans in the first round. General Manager Alan Smith then had to round up the troops in the early hours of Sunday morning for a flight from Zagreb, Croatia, to the Netherlands. Later that day they were facing a team full of Major League-calibre ball players which has won the World Cup 25 times. Great Britain was making only its second appearance in a major world competition since winning the inaugural Baseball World Cup (BWC) back in 1938.

The Cuba game was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the campaign for the GB squad for a number of reasons. First and foremost, there are few better signifiers that your team has ascended to a new level of baseball than playing the Cubans in your opening game of the World Cup second round. Though the Cubans eventually ran out 6-0 winners, they were contained to just a 3-0 lead until the eighth inning.

“In ten years Great Britain went from losing 27-0 to the Netherlands at the 1999 European Championship to holding Cuba to just six runs,” observed Will Lintern, one of the squad’s catchers and a former member of the National Baseball League’s Brighton Buccaneers and London Mets.

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Stephan Rapaglia

Great Britain Head Coach Stephan Rapaglia has released a statement describing his experience with the national team at the 2009 Baseball World Cup this September. Despite leading the team through one of the most successful phases in its history, he also voices his concerns about the programme’s future.

On the World Cup

“Competing with Great Britain at the Baseball World Cup (BWC) was truly the opportunity of a lifetime. The senior national team consists of a great group of guys who love the game of baseball, come to play for each other every day and take great pride in wearing the GB uniform. To see these guys compete fearlessly day after day against many of the best teams in the world is something that I will never forget, and I will be forever grateful for having been part of this.

Like most competitors, I am not a big fan of moral victories, and we would undoubtedly be much happier today if we had we pulled off a major upset in the second round. That said, we accomplished our primary goal of advancing to the second round, and we competed hard until the last out of the last game. We may have been at a decided disadvantage in terms of ability, but we played with great heart and character. There is no doubt that GB made the international baseball community sit up and take notice, and I am proud of how the guys performed.”

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