Major League Baseball

European baseball gaining ground on world stage

Published Mar. 19, 2015 2:16 p.m. ET

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A couple weeks ago, the Chicago Cubs set the all-time attendance record for a Major League Baseball spring training game; an announced 15,331 fans witnessed the Cubs’ 5-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz.

That’s a larger crowd than some teams get at regular-season games. Still, the record-setting day wasn’t the best-attended baseball game this month.

Or even the second-best.

Instead, the No. 1 and No. 2 games occurred on the other side of the world, in a March 10-11 showdown series between the Japanese national team and selection of European All-Stars at the Tokyo Dome.

According to the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), the event drew crowds of more than 20,000 on both days. And in a surprise to some observers, the Europeans earned a split; they took a two-run lead into the eighth inning of Game 1 before losing, 4-3, then won the second game, 6-2.

The series was conceived as a matchup of the best Japanese and European players not affiliated with MLB clubs. Although top Japanese pitchers Kenta Maeda and Shohei Otani didn’t participate, the roster included most of the same players who defeated a selection of MLB All-Stars (including Robinson Cano, Yasiel Puig and Jose Altuve) in a five-game November series in Japan.

In that sense, the strong showing by Team Europe was a legitimate demonstration of baseball’s growth on the continent. According to IBAF, Japanese manager Hiroki Kokubo said afterward: “We have to give them credit. They’ve come a long way and played the game at a high level.”

Europe’s roster included players from six countries: the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, and France. The national team managers of the top baseball countries in Europe — Steve Janssen (Netherlands) and Marco Mazzieri (Italy) — led the team as manager and bench coach, respectively.

The Dutch and Italian national teams are rated highly enough in the world rankings that they’ve received invitations to the Premier 12 tournament in Taiwan and Japan this November.

This week, Mazzieri answered three questions from me about the experience via email:

Q: What are the most significant things you will remember about the experience, both during the games and also the way Team Europe was received in Japan?

A: The respect they showed us and the way we were welcomed was very, very refreshing and exciting. The fans’ excitement throughout the game was awesome. The facilities they have are of another planet.

Q: What are your objectives for baseball in Europe over the next five to 10 years?

A: We proved time and time again Europeans can play baseball at a good level, so now the next step would be to establish a so-called baseball culture around the continent.

Q: What can MLB do in order to help European baseball reach those objectives?

A: The only thing I would say is that talent is born everywhere (as has been proven lately), so why not have a heavier presence for the clubs where they could cultivate what is out here? Establishing a more profound legacy with this continent could only help.

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