Baseball's global appeal mushrooms

Players look forward to World Classic tilts

By David Dorsey
Fort Myers News Press

The elimination of baseball from the 2012 Olympics should not fool fans, because, according to players, coaches and officials, the sport's international boom has never been bigger.

"Teams are definitely scouting outside the United States more now than they did in previous decades," said Minnesota Twins assistant general manager Bill Smith, who oversees the development of players in Latin America.

"No. 1, they need to find the best players," Smith said. "No. 2, as the game is expanding and growing internationally, there are better players in other countries than there were years ago."

In the final installment of this week's series, the "Miracle Melting Pot," evidence of the game's great global appeal abounds.

Major League Baseball announced the creation of the World Baseball Classic — baseball's answer to soccer's World Cup — that will begin during spring training of 2006.

Teams from 16 countries will be invited, and they will be divided into four pools of four teams each for a round-robin tournament, beginning March 3 and ending with the championship March 20.

Smith, who was in town this week to watch the Fort Myers Miracle, the Twins' Class A, Florida State League affiliate, pointed to the big-league Twins' starting infield over the past two seasons as evidence of globalization.

"Last year, they called it the 'League of Nations infield,' " Smith said, referring to former first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz (United States), second baseman Luis Rivas (Venezuela), shortstop Cristian Guzman (Dominican Republic) and third baseman Corey Koskie (Canada).

All but Guzman once played for the Miracle.

This year's big-league Twins' infield also has had an international flavor. At one point, it consisted of first baseman Justin Morneau (Canada), third baseman Glenn Williams (Australia), shortstop Juan Castro (Mexico) and Rivas.

"We've kind of had the same thing this year, but with different faces," Smith said.

With this year's Miracle full of foreigners — the team's current roster has representatives from six countries — the trend appears set to continue for years to come.

Australians Peter Tautor and Trent Oeltjen, a Miracle pitcher and outfielder, respectively, are looking forward to the World Classic, which will give their nation a chance to shine.

Australia won the silver medal in last summer's Olympics. Oeltjen keeps his medal locked away back home in Sydney.

"All of the pitchers will be big-league pitchers," said Oeltjen, who is projected to be Team Australia's starting center fielder. "It will be an awesome experience for me.

"For Australians, it's like perfect timing for us, because our summer is your winter. So we'll be coming off our own season. We're usually ready to go in spring training."

Tautor hopes to get a chance to play in the World Classic, which is referred to by many players as the World Cup.

"It's a goal to play in the big leagues, but playing in the World Cup, that would be the ultimate goal for me," Tautor said. "Even more than playing in the big leagues.

"It's my country against every other country. The World Series is really a national series. The real World Series is the World Cup, in my eyes. A lot of Americans think that Major League Baseball is the ultimate. But this is the best players from all of the countries."

In the Miracle Melting Pot, the team's players agreed that their nationality doesn't matter when it comes to boiling it down and making the big leagues.

"Everyone's trying to make the same goal, whether you're from California or Alaska or the Dominican," said San Diego native and catcher Kyle Phillips.

"It's just playing baseball," Miracle third baseman and Dominican Republic native Jose Leger said. "Anywhere you go, it's still the same game."

Miracle manager Riccardo Ingram said that presiding over a roster full of diverse players intrigues and educates him.

"You learn about different cultures," Ingram said. "Some of their ways of life rub off on you. You try to bring it all together. They all have one common goal — to improve their skills and possibly play in the major leagues."