Spain <\/b>seems to be a long shot among the 12 teams remaining in the third World Baseball Classic, <\/b>but there were plenty of smiles and expressions of hope when I tracked down several of the 13 current or former Independent Baseball players on the 28-man roster shortly before they left Florida<\/b> for their first round of competition in Puerto Rico.<\/b><\/p>\n
Espana opens play in Pool C in San Juan <\/b>against the host country Friday, and also will go up against the powerhouse teams from the Dominican Republic <\/b>and Venezuela<\/b>, <\/b>knowing that only two teams will advance to the second round in Miami <\/b>next week.<\/p>\n
Independent players are vital for Italian<\/b> resident Mauro Mazzotti’s <\/b>team, as best evidenced by the fact eight of the 10 starters in this week’s exhibition opener against Pittsburgh<\/b>, a 10-0 loss, have been in the non-affiliated ranks with only nine players on the entire roster so much as in major league organizations today.<\/p>\n
These players are used to fighting for their baseball life, which they do most every day in Indy ranks, still everyone I talked to was upbeat because they have had the joy of playing baseball restored outside of the major league-affiliated minors where winning is not the top priority and it is easy to get lost if you are not among the elite.<\/p>\n
While it may seem somewhat conflicting because of past experiences that have not always ended up as each player would have liked, participating in the WBC also is a welcome opportunity for the players to take part in games where the world is watching with every at-bat or pitch featured on the MLB Network<\/b>. They can showcase themselves one more time since the only direct route to the glamour and fortune of the major leagues is through an organizational job.<\/p>\n
“You (can) get lost in organizations,” expressed centerfielder Daniel Figueroa<\/b>. “It humbles you a bit.” Then there is the opinion of Nick Schumacher <\/b>that playing for Team Spain could be “a perfect launching pad” for a greater career. Fellow reliever Eddie Morlan <\/b>also wants to <\/b>take advantage of the opportunity at a time when “my career is at the low point. I’m excited because it is a way for people to see me.”<\/p>\n
Every one of those I got to chat with spoke fondly of their time in Independent leagues. “It has kept me alive (in baseball),” Gabe Suarez praised. Schumacher pointed out “it gave me a chance to be the player I was in college”, which had led to him getting drafted. “I got a lot better when I went back to an organization because of the Atlantic League,” added infielder Jesus Merchan.<\/p>\n
* * * *<\/p>\n
ANXIOUS FOR MORE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE?<\/b><\/p>\n
We Have It Regularly at <\/span><\/b>www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n * * * * <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n New Lancaster Signee Curt Smith Helps The Netherlands Advance<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n While many of the 34 World Baseball Classic <\/b>players with Independent experience are hoping this added exposure might lead to major league-affiliated jobs, Netherlands <\/b>first baseman Curt Smith <\/b>knows he has his next role, signing to play in the Atlantic League (Lancaster) <\/b>shortly before the games started.<\/p>\n Smith blistered the ball at a .335 clip in the American Association<\/b> (Lincoln) <\/b>two years ago, and was at Double-A Jacksonville, FL (Miami Marlins <\/b>farm) <\/b>last year. The 26-year-old went 2-for-7 with two runs, an RBI and a .500 on-base percentage in helping The Netherlands advance to the second round of the WBC. Yurendell de Caster, <\/b>a .327 hitter at Winnipeg <\/b>(American Association) last season, also is on the team, but did not see action in the first round. Ching-Lung Lo<\/b> (Lancaster) hurled two scoreless innings to help Chinese Taipei <\/b>advance.<\/p>\n Many Independent Baseball fans will have their attention affixed on Italian first baseman-DH Chris Colabello<\/b>, who homered in the team’s first game against major league competition (Oakland)<\/b>. The longtime Can-Am <\/b>star (Worcester, MA)<\/b> has been getting a good look in Minnesota’s major league camp where he was hitting .333 (5-for-15, three RBI) when he left for the WBC.<\/p>\n Greeenberg Perfect This Time<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Adam Greenberg<\/b>, beaned in his very first major league plate appearance in 2005 then given one more at-bat last September by the Miami Marlins<\/b>, had an opportunity to move from Baltimore’s <\/b>minor league camp to the major league diamond on Wednesday. The fleet outfielder, a fixture for years with Bridgeport, CT (Atlantic League), <\/b>came to the plate twice this time, and left with a perfect on-base percentage. He walked once, singled another time, drove in a run and also scored in the Orioles’ <\/b>romp over Team Spain.<\/b><\/p>\n (This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball. Forty columns are planned during 2013. Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com<\/a>, enjoy the blog, www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a>, which has supplemental stories, or comment to RWirz@aol.com<\/a>. The author <\/b>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)<\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spain seems to be a long shot among the 12 teams remaining in the third World Baseball Classic, but there were plenty of smiles and expressions of hope when I tracked down several of the 13 current or former Independent Baseball players on the 28-man roster shortly before they left Florida for their first round […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4746,4235],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-indy-baseball-insider","category-top-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23387\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}