Three weeks ago now, the Haarlem Baseball Week presented the field of participants for the 30th edition of the biennial tournament that is scheduled again next summer. Tournament director Léon Ravestein could proudly announce that he had managed to put together a dream field: Kingdom team Netherlands, European rival Italy, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Cuba and the United States will be playing in Haarlem next summer. We spoke with Léon about the long process behind the participant victory.
In 2020, the tournament could not take place due to the corona pandemic. After that disappointment, as tournament director, how long did you then wait to contact the teams for the 2022 edition and how did you end up with the current participants?
Léon Ravestein (LR): After the cancelled 2020 edition, we actually started inviting potential participants right away. From a survey through our social media channels, an inventory within our committee and the desire of the KNBSB Technical Director, a shortlist of 10 countries was made.
The bar for capturing participants for the 30th edition was high. We wanted our anniversary edition to be of a uniquely high standard. We therefore asked the invited countries to travel to Haarlem in the strongest possible composition.
We can imagine that it is not easy, especially during a pandemic, to bind countries to you. How was that contact with the countries?
LR: Sending out invitations and waiting for a positive response is out of the question. Communication with some countries even went from ambassador to ambassador, through to the president or chairman of a federation. Once contact is then made, a long period of informing and waiting follows. What we as Baseball Week can be incredibly proud of is our prominence around the world. Anyone who has a passion for baseball knows about our tournament. That familiarity opens doors and allows an invitation to be taken seriously.
Then, after long negotiations, about six countries emerge. Why did Baseball Week bet on these six and how do you bring them in?
LR: Our goal is always to have two participants from all three “baseball continents” – Europe, America and Asia. Fixed, of course, is the participation of the crowd-pleaser Kingdom of the Netherlands. We also have warm contacts with loyal participants Chinese Taipei and Japan. The winner of the 2018 tournament, Japan, was quick to pledge to come and Taiwan followed shortly after. As always, these countries come with a strong delegation. Again this year, they are sending top university teams. These teams are always welcomed by the Japanese and Taiwanese community in the Netherlands.
Italy, with head coach MLB Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, was immediately enthusiastic. Still, that was not immediately a done deal. The international tournament calendar was finalized late due to the corona pandemic. The internal competitions had yet to be adjusted accordingly. Fortunately, the Italian federation was willing to go all out to participate. We were also able to accommodate the Italians by deciding to shorten the tournament by two days. That way, like the Dutch, their national league only has to take one weekend off.
That did make for a shorter tournament. We understand that fans may wonder why we shortened the tournament, but we hope for their understanding. They can also visit our
Frequently Asked Questions
where we explain some of the issues in more detail.
So what were the tricky points during the incorporation process of the non-European teams?
LR: In addition to COVID and the international calendar, it is a costly trip for teams from non-European countries to come to Europe for a week. In addition, budgets are limited. Japan and Chinese Taipei always find their way to sufficient budgets and have few top-level tournaments in their own region. However, countries like USA and Cuba do not always have the money or can choose from many offers closer to home, saving some resources financially. Still, both countries eventually confirmed their participation, which was a cheering moment though.
An important reason why all these countries ended up choosing Haarlem is the respect they have for our tournament. The national leagues know they can play baseball at a high level with us, with a large crowd of true baseball fans in the stands. This is attractive to many teams. We are therefore sincerely proud and happy that Team USA is sending their best college team full of future Major Leaguers and that Cuba has been willing to send the champion team from their national league, supplemented by stars from other teams, to Haarlem.
The road to these six top countries was long and stressful, but as tournament director I am very pleased with the final result. Starting July 8, we get to see the best baseball in Europe.