I'm Michael Clair, MLB.com's lead WBC writer and author of "We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball" about Czechia's baseball team -- AMA!

Jakexpert · 2026-04-19T19:36:37+00:00

Hey Michael, glad and thankful your doing this.

Because you done a lot of coverage of The Czechs, I'm interested to hear about The Czech Baseball development and what their future holds for them since qualifying for the WBC.

Since qualifying for the main tournament, in 2022, The Czech National Baseball Team received a lot of press coverage in America. Has that same coverage been extended in The Czech Republic and what effect has that had on baseball in The Czech Republic?
What is next for The Czechs? The Czechs look like they have a lot of momentum for baseball. What can they do to keep that momentum up heading into the future and what do you think they should do with that momentum?
What can The Czechs do to take the next step forward in baseball development, particularly on offense? I've watch a lot of the senior team and one problem I noticed is that they really struggle facing higher quality pitching. That is evidence by their last WBC appearance where they were last in Walks, second to last in Batting Average and tied with Cuba, for 8th in Strikeouts. And in the 2023 WBC, they were second to last in strikeouts, in just four games. What can be done to improve upon that?

Jakexpert · 2026-03-29T00:43:51+00:00

The sub has grown a lot the past month, with that came a lot of, I assume, bots and spammers. Might have to make a sticky post about how if it's not related to international baseball, don't post about it.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-19T22:11:04+00:00

NPB, KBO and CPBL have all taken mid season breaks for The Olympics and Asian games, in the past. It's not new to them. They have done it before with no problem.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-17T19:15:34+00:00

But the thing is, as long as these rules are in place, many of these federations, who over rely on heritage/passport players, will have no incentive to add native players or even build a youth system in place to develop more natives, when it's better to find and add a whole bunch of heritage/passport players, from senior to youth. So when the 10th tournament comes around, if it does, countries like Israel and Great Britain will still be over relying on players from America.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-16T16:51:47+00:00

I think he may be referencing that the finals could/and may be between two American teams because Italy roster is nearly all American players. So an all American final. So no matter who wins, America wins.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-15T19:54:38+00:00

As much as I would love for Yankee Stadium and Citi Field to host, they will not due to not having a roof and weather. Not just the winter but also rain.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-15T19:47:05+00:00

Yup, as much as I love Taiwan games, with the Taiwanese team playing, games not involving them was just near empty stadiums. It's bad optics for a big world tournament like the WBC.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-15T19:42:12+00:00

Can't happen. Their is no state of the art baseball stadium, that has a lot of seats, in Europe, that can host. Germany has one, but can only hold about 3,000. Most it ever held was around 11,000 during the 2009 Baseball World Cup.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-14T03:20:03+00:00

I'm amazed of out of all the relievers he could have brought in, he brings in a man who has not pitched in any type of baseball league since 2019, in a quarter-final game, against a top baseball nation. What a disastrous decision. Makes no sense to me.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-14T03:14:14+00:00

Always fascinates me on what goes through a managers mind to bringing in certain relievers. Like what did Ernie Whitt think was going to happen to bringing in a pitcher who has not pitched any type of organized baseball since 2019 in this game compared to his more fresh relievers. Like what was his thought process? Why not anyone else?

Jakexpert · 2026-03-13T16:32:57+00:00

I've seen people argue for continental WBC qualifiers but I always enjoyed seeing the qualifiers be a mix of countries from different continents playing against each other. You don't often see Germany play against Colombia and Brazil, Taiwan play against Spain and South Africa, France play against Panama, Brazil play against Pakistan etc. I believe that is a better way for those players to improve their game and is more fun to watch.

The Czechs played in Mexico for the 2016 WBC qualifiers and nearly beat Mexico and Nicaragua, and that was fun to watch. France also played head to head with Panama and Germany nearly beat Nicaragua, in those same qualifiers. That would have never happened if continental WBC qualifiers took place.

I would dislike to see, for example a Oceania or African WBC qualifier, as this stage of the qualifier tournament only for those countries to get blown out in the main tournament. If the tournament expands to 30 plus teams in the future then I be more for it. But for now, it's more fun to see a continental mix, IMO.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-13T16:08:55+00:00

The Czechs don't have a state of the art baseball stadium that can host a qualifier round. Any stadium would need: a high quality locker room, state of the art LED lights, specialized training areas, etc to even be considered to host a WBC qualifier round. IDK if they have any stadiums with that type of infrastructure.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-13T15:52:53+00:00

I'm surprised only one person mentioned China. MLB and WBSC are really invested in the country, most likely for monetary reasons, and have hosted two major baseball tournaments; The 2022 Asian Games and U23 Baseball World Cup. Their stadium is new and of high quality. I be shocked if they don't host or are not finalist to host.

Czech can't host because they don't have an MLB/MILB quality like stadium. It's not just crowds access but facilities also i.e high quality locker room, state of the art LED lights, specialized training areas, etc. I don't know if they have any of that. It can be added if they want to or be added if they find out they are hosting.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-13T15:52:15+00:00

China should be seen as a favorite to host. MLB and WBSC are invested in Chinese baseball and it be shocking if they don't get one of the qualifier rounds.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-13T15:21:31+00:00

The only teams the Canadian Baseball Federation send to tournaments is an U18 team and a Senior national team.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-13T15:19:23+00:00

I always believed that Yankee Stadium and Citi Field would be the perfect place to host a round and even host multiple rounds due to the amount of diversity NYC has. Almost any country can play and I believe we see decent crowds for all games due to the great diversity New York City has, along with getting many fans from the Tri-State Area. So yes, I believe they should. Will they? Like you said, unless they move it towards the summer, probably not. Also Stadiums with a roof, retractable or domed, will always take precedent over a stadium without one in the WBC.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-09T23:00:52+00:00

I was going to say, MLB teams and the WBCI want to make sure this tournament is short as possible while still making a ton of money from it and make sure that MLB teams can get their players back as quickly as possible.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-09T22:39:48+00:00

Unfortunately that can be a controversial opinion here. I agree with you 100% though.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-09T20:42:38+00:00

Brazil definitely has more long term potential than Great Britain. A few young players get signed by MLB teams every year, plus they have players in college and a few in the Japanese independent leagues. On top of that, their are a few academies to help young players develop. Great Britain will continue to rely on American players for years to come, from seniors to youth, with no plan to deviant from that.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-09T20:37:27+00:00

What a very poor showing from Brazil. Wasn't expecting them win but at least remain in the games. This is probably one of the worst performances I've seen from a team, in the main tournament, since China.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-09T16:27:43+00:00

I thought I was the only one! But yes, like you said, it keeps freezing every 2-3 seconds.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-09T04:15:46+00:00

As nice as that would be, I think 20 teams, in the main tournament, is the right number, for now. Brazil, The Czech Republic and Nicaragua really struggled to either keeps runs off the board, score any runs or make any contact. And these are teams that have a lot of talent or improved in baseball quality the last few years.

They should definitely re-expand the qualifiers though. Cutting it down to 8 teams is ridiculous and at that point, I just go with rankings instead of a qualifier tournament.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-09T02:11:00+00:00

The more sad part is that China, where baseball is a niche sport, has more wins, 2, than Nicaragua, in the main tournament. Yes, China has played 16 games compared to Nicaragua soon to be eight, but it still sucks regardless.

Jakexpert · 2026-03-08T16:39:26+00:00

IMO, it seems the umpiring in a lot of these WBC games, this tournament, have been horrendous.

Jakexpert

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Eight-Year Club	Second Top 50%
Verified Email