baseball marches on without the Olympics

[Richard]

If you hear of any baseball expansion throughout the world, please post it . For example the new baseball stadium in Rome, expansion of the Colombian league, a player signed by a country not known to produce baseball players, etc.

I read yesterday of a new baseball stadium being constructed in Pohang, Korea. The author insinuated possible KBO expansion.

Thanks

[Rally Monkey]

As far as I've seen, the "new baseball stadium in Rome" is still all talk. Does anyone know of any, you know, actual groundbreaking on this?

[Richard]

According to an article on mister-baseball.com, it was approved. But who knows until the shovels start digging.

[dominik]

If you here of any baseball expansion throughout the world, please post it . For example the new baseball stadium in Rome, expansion of the Colombian league, a player signed by a country not known to produce baseball players, etc.

I read yesterday of a new baseball stadium being constructed in Pohang, Korea. The author insinuated possible KBO expansion.

Thanks

baseball is marching on without olympia-in the US, latin america and japan where it is big anyway.
In europe and other non baseball regions baseball is stagnating for decades(of course here and there a new stadium is built but the overall player numbers didn't go up in the last 15 years). It wasn't going to bebig anyway(even in the netherlands which is by far the biggest baseball country in europe with the WB success baseball ist still small and no boom is in sight). unfortunately soccer is a plague here, it's just too big and baseball with his static set up and many breaks doesn't fit the european market(they like boring ball kicking games...).

The olympics didn't change much about this, but with the loss off the olympics the status of baseball is even decreased. Public funding is cut to zero and the chances to get fields(we lost our field to an atrocious soccer club and still waiting for a field-it was planed that we get one when our region wanted to get the olympic games) is slim. For american or japanese baseball the olympics mean nothing(like it would be for soccer here) but for non baseball countries this means the death. The consequences for baseball here are more like the loss of olympic status for figure skating or so, since baseball here is an amateur sport and the olympics are the top of amateur sports in the world.

But the MLB decided that making money is more important than the developement of international baseball and they don't want baseball to be olympic so we have to deal with it. This won't get us down and we will still have fun playing it even if we have to play on an acre like we do, but we won't have a chancee to get any bigger.

[Richard]

According to an article on baseballdeworld, more baseball stadiums are scheduled for construction in Korea. KBO expansion to follow?

[Richard]

According to an article in a Jamaican newspaper, MLB is assisting the Jamaican government with the construction of a baseball stadium in Jamaica. Babe Ruth Little League is donating equipment and baseball will be introduced in a dozen primary schools in Jamaica. Kinda cool.

[Richard]

According to an article on IBAF.com, Japan and Korea will join forces to spread baseball in Asia.

[Rally Monkey]

According to an article on IBAF.com, Japan and Korea will join forces to spread baseball in Asia.

Do you have a link? I couldn't find anything like that there...

[Richard]

It is under the 'President of Korea Baseball Association guest of honor at the Koshien Stadium' in which it mentions a collaboration to develop baseball in Asia and strengthen ties regarding high school baseball. I wish there a tournament like the Koshien touney in the US.

[brewcrew82]

^^^

http://www.ibaf.org/index.php?id=10&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=527&tx_ttnews[backPid]=9&cHash=0a0965171c

[King Crimson]

It would be cool to have baseball in Europe but won't happen, since they like their boring hit and ball game.

[SouthwestAmAZins]

MLB considering spring training in Italy

Here is part of the USA article:

ROME — Major League Baseball is exploring the possibility of sending two teams to Italy for spring training next year or in 2012.

International Baseball Federation president Riccardo Fraccari told The Associated Press on Wednesday that MLB officials recently scouted possible sites in Sicily -- Palermo and Messina -- Nettuno (near Rome) and Parma.

"In Sicily, the weather would be better," Fraccari said. "It's still winter in Parma in March."
While the plan is still in the early stages, if it becomes reality the teams could come to Italy for a week and play several games against one another.

Paul Archey, MLB's senior vice president of international business operations, said the league would exhaust every effort to make it happen next year but that time is running out to make all the arrangements.

"We would like to play spring training games in Italy at some point, whether that's 2011 or 2012 or 2014," Archey said by phone from New York.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseb...60354060_x.htm

[Rally Monkey]

Here is part of the USA article:


Source: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseb...60354060_x.htm

I think this is exciting. But what does this tell us of the likelihood of a stadium in Rome? At the very least, it ain't gonna be up by 2012.

UPDATE: Maybe the Italians are serious about this stadium after all. I'd missed this last month: http://www.repubblica.it/sport/vari/...eball-3049710/. Here's what it says:

Mayor of Rome announces plans for stadium

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Baseball is about to have a permanent home in Rome.


Mayor Gianni Alemanno announced plans Sunday to donate a parcel of land for a new, baseball-specific stadium that can host international events. It will be built in Tor Vergata, an area south of the city where there’s a campus for the University of Rome.

“Rome doesn’t have a baseball stadium that can host international events and as a mayor, I felt I had to fill this deficiency,” Alemanno said in a statement issued following an executive meeting of the International Baseball Federation.

The meeting was the first under the direction of IBAF president Riccardo Fraccari, who hopes to expand the game on a global basis after it was removed from the Summer Olympics.

“I am positive baseball has a great potential in Rome,” Alemanno said.

Also on hand for the meeting was Dan Bonanno, who represented Major League Baseball.

“I think there can be an important cooperation between the city of Rome, IBAF and MLB,” Fraccari said. “I expect the synergy effect to be really strong.”

The executive committee also announced that Roberto Fabbricini, the former director of Olympic teams for the Italian Olympic Committee, will take over as executive director of the baseball federation. He had worked for the Italian team until the Beijing Olympics.

[NattyBaller]

http://www.mister-baseball.com/ballp...pens-saturday/ Fixed capacity of 500 is larger than I would have thought for a Swiss stadium

[Richard]

A Canadian is establishing a baseball academy in Ghana per baseballdeworld.