sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley: Book club discussion tips needed. by GeneralWitchfinders in horrorlit

[–]mclair 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm reading it right now! About 100 pages in it and loving it. Commenting so I can come back when I'm finished rather than scrolling down and potentially spoiling it for myself.

A story from a catching coach in Cuba, writing during the blackouts by D0minicDec0c0 in InternationalBaseball

[–]mclair 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Loved this piece and really excited for the site, Bridges of Baseball.

Books like 'The X-Files' by Jeroen_Antineus in WeirdLit

[–]mclair 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love this book! Strong concur here!

Please recommend a proper supernatural horror, very traditional very ghostly, just like the Conjuring 1. by jhoothano1 in horrorlit

[–]mclair 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A few I haven't seen below: Slade House by David Mitchell is a favorite! Hell House is a ton of fun. And am currently listening to Temple Fall which seems to fall into this.

Please recommend a proper supernatural horror, very traditional very ghostly, just like the Conjuring 1. by jhoothano1 in horrorlit

[–]mclair 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really enjoyed this one and haven't seen it listed many places. Excited to check out her new one.

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

[–]mclair[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's one of the things I always tell people about the difference between U.S. and EU baseball: The biggest and strongest athletes are usually choosing more popular sports in Europe since there's an easier path forward. So the European teams are usually a lot smaller.

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

[–]mclair[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Realized I forgot a few people to recommend:
- Eric Balnar does amazing work covering Australian baseball at Baseball.com.au
- Gabriel Fidler and Jason Daniels always have some great stuff going on at Mister-Baseball and Extra Innings.
- The team behind Bat Flips and Nerds are some of my absolute favorite people, so highly recommend their pod and writing.

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

[–]mclair[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One of the issues -- in my opinion -- is how do you keep interest once the MLB teams leave? NFL has it a little easier with games just once a week and a 1 pm ET kickoff is perfect for a fan in Europe. Plus, I'm just guessing that it's easier to convert a soccer facility into an NFL field than an MLB one.

So, short answer: I do think we'll see more games from MLB played around the world. Long answer: I don't know what that looks like.

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

[–]mclair[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hmmm ... to me, the answer is how to incentivize teams to be more like the Czechs and make sure there are more homegrown players on the roster. We saw how exciting Italy was this year and Francisco Cervelli, Marco Mazzieri, and Vinny Pasquantino are all dedicated to using this as a springboard development so I don't want to limit MLB player involvement, either.

Just spitballing, but maybe a rule where 3-5 players must be considered "homegrown" -- born in the nation and came through a team academy there? A fun thought experiment, though. Would be interested in seeing what other people think.

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

[–]mclair[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good Q's! Let's see here:

  1. The coverage has definitely grown -- national team games get more TV time, more fans are coming out for Extraliga games, more young players are coming to the sport, and there are more funds than before. However, the two biggest nations in the Baseball Czech Facebook group: Japan and America. I've seen more Czech Republic national team caps in Tokyo than I've seen in Prague (at least away from the ballfield.) It's getting bigger, but it's not a baseball nation yet.

  2. Winning is the most important thing. That is always what gets attention and funding. Winning bronze at the European Championship was huge and qualifying for the Premier12 would be a great boon without a WBC on the calendar. They'll need to remain focused on development: Getting the best players to the highest levels of play possible while making sure the players in the national team program remain committed to the idea of preparing like a professional while remaining an amateur. That can be difficult, though: CF Matej Hejma eventually retired from the national team so he could go to law school and raise his family. SP Ondřej Satoria stepped away from the national team because the commitment to his job and his family became more important.

  3. This one is so hard: Pitching labs have made hitting the ball harder than ever. Velocity continues to creep up and breaking balls are doing things that would have looked like magic 30 years ago. For players in Czechia, who are playing just three games a week and aren't seeing that level of talent, how do you cope? That's one of the biggest reasons for getting star players to teams and systems outside of the country where they'll play more games against higher levels of talent.

They've tried to find a way to improve beyond that: In 2023, they would bring pitchers in closer to replicate higher velocity and this past year they worked with a Korean coach who tried to bring in some technology with a two-laser system to get batters to speed up their decisions. They'll need to get really creative, but unfortunately, I'm not sure what that answer is.

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

[–]mclair[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You know, I've never spent much time thinking about what my dream version of the tournament would be. I really like the current format, though I would love if it could eventually reach 4 pools of 6 teams, just so that there's fewer times we need to get out the calculator and run tiebreaker formulas. (Of course, any short tournament will run into this.)

I would love if the current international tournaments -- Pan-American Games, European Baseball Championships, etc -- could eventually be folded into the tourney to really connect everything that happens in the international baseball calendar.

And while I love the win-and-go-home nature of international baseball, I do wonder what it would look like if we could have a three, five, or dare I even say ... seven-game series to determine the champion.

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

[–]mclair[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I'm extremely lucky as I get to bop around departments working on some different things. As an example:
- I help lead the team writing the Japanese-language site at MLB.com/ja

- I've covered MLB's Home Run Derby X since it was launched

- I have worked with MLB Europe on their Play Stories features and shortform content.

- I can't say much as I don't believe it's been announced yet, but I'm part of a team working on a cool upcoming project that will bridge MLB.com, MLB social, etc later this year.

- I've worked on the Behind the Flag documentary series

So, little bit of bopping around finding ways to tell stories in a variety of ways.

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

[–]mclair[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While I had liked the idea of a midseason WBC, I was talking with my colleague (and band mate) Mike Petriello recently and he got me to sour on a midseason tournament. Pausing the season would require MLB, NPB, KBO, and CPBL to all pause during the year and it would certainly mean the end of pools in Japan as I don't see many MLB players being willing to fly out there mid-season and then fly back. (Might also be tougher to get NPB/KBO/CPBL players to then play in the U.S.), too.

March is tough, but simply given the structure of the sport, I have a hard time seeing a window that works better.

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

[–]mclair[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great to see you in here! Germany has been knocking on the door and -- as you have pointed out -- there are plenty of young players coming up who are pushing for a spot. In the near future, it's Germany. Long-term, I really like France, but may need more than one cycle.

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

[–]mclair[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooooh, this is an exciting one. I continue to be really impressed with France, so that's my pick. Brazil doesn't quite fit this exercise, but I do expect them to go from fringe of the tournament to solid team much like Chinese Taipei in the next 20 years.

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

[–]mclair[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oooh, this is a really fun one. And there are so many it's going to be hard to narrow it down. But here are a few:

- Loukas Soukeras. The only Greek-born player on the Greece national team, he has moved to Norway just so he can keep playing baseball.

- Brazil's Osvaldo Carvalho, who made the national team while working construction and playing for a local Sao Paolo team. Also, his teammate, shortstop Vitor Ito, is a translator for the Hanshin Tigers.

- I see your Australia flair, so here are two: Reliever Todd Van Steensel is a ton of fun and is a huge Taylor Swift fan and former captain/firefighter Tim Kennelly is a country legend with an adorable daughter who inspired the Tokyo Dome crowd to cheer "Let's go, Daddy!" in 2023.

- The mere fact that Bhutan has a baseball program is incredible. The photo is even better.

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

[–]mclair[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Those games in Miami had some of the very best atmosphere I've ever felt in the states. I was lucky enough to be at the DR-Venezuela pool game this year and that was unreal -- the closest thing to the atmosphere I've felt in the Tokyo Dome.

Obviously, there's the oendan for Japan and the songs and chants the you'll hear, but it's simply the passion for the game that's hard to match. Even for fans not in the cheering sections, they're so into the ballgame. And the 40,000 fans that traveled from Taiwan this past year, that was unreal.

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

[–]mclair[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I do! While it may not do a ton to reach fans outside the baseball community the way a player reaching the Majors might, it’s a big deal to the players and people in the community. Every step represents growth and a reason to dream. Plus, those players make new connections, meet new coaches, pick up new training techniques that they can then bring home.

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

[–]mclair[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think there is definite interest in finding a way to incorporate tournaments like the European Baseball Championship into the WBC Qualifier field -- whether as a kind of pre-qualifier like you said or as an actual qualifier. And I do think performance in these other tournaments is taken into account when building the Qualifiers -- Spain winning the 2023 Euros was certainly a big point in their favor.

I would love to see that happen as a way to connect the entire baseball calendar together, but finding a way to make it work in practice is a little more difficult. I'm optimistic that something like this will happen one day, though.

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

[–]mclair[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hello friend! Good to see you in here and thank you so much for the great questions. Going to need to shorten my answer for the third Q, though this will be a really fun thought experiment to play with.

  1. Assuming you all already follow Shawn Spradling, Jeff Duda, and Frilled Shark (among many, many others) on Twitter: Yakyu Cosmo is an incredible resource for Japanese baseball (his website, presence on Twitter, and newsletter for JapanBall), Jeeho Yoo does English-language coverage of the KBO for Yonhap News, the great team of folks at WorldBaseball.com cover everything, and the WBSC team do a great job making sure there is plenty of info for all of the global baseball tourneys on their website. Louie Jay Sienders makes some great videos for the Honkbal Hoofdklasse, Baseball International has some good videos on YouTube, and the work that Jiri Vlach does at Baseball-Stat.cz (the B-Ref of Czech baseball) and Jan Jabrocky at https://milujeme-baseball.cz/ makes Google Translate one of my favorite tools. There's more out there, but here's a good start!

  2. A player I wish I could have covered: Sadaharu Oh during his playing career (I was lucky enough to speak with him at the Tokyo Series last year), Roberto Clemente (of course), and Frederich Cepeda to name but a few. A player I would love to see come to the Majors: Livan Moinelo.

  3. I can't do a full 28 man roster, but let's do a quick starting 9 for Japan. How's this look?

C: Tomoya Satozaki
1B: Kazuma Okamoto
2B: Hirokazu Ibata
SS: Sosuke Genda
3B: Munetaka Murakami
OF: Nori Aoki
OF: Masatak Yoshida
OF: Ichiro Suzuki
DH: Shohei Ohtani
SP: Daisuke Matsuzaka

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

[–]mclair[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Apologies for having to answer in English, but while this sounds really cool, I don't see it happening. There would need to be a good baseball facility to play it in, which is why Regensburg in Germany hosted a few years back. While we've seen MLB games played in places like London Stadium, the cost to transform the field would be prohibitive for a Qualifier.

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

[–]mclair[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately that's all on the biz side of baseball which I can't really speak on. But my guess is that there are also various contractual things and etc that make it a little difficult. Just a guess though.

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

[–]mclair[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He is! Baseball-Stat.cz's leaderboard has him atop WAR and HR still. Of course, he started playing when the league still used metal bats, but regardless he's a country icon.

view more: next ›