There is now only one week to go before the MLB regular season gets underway properly in the States.
The second half of March always has a tendency to drag for players and fans alike. The charm of sunny, relaxed Spring Training games is still there but the understandable lack of true competitive spirit begins to make the games seem all the more missable.
Last year we had the World Baseball Classic interlude that made March whiz by and international series games such as those held in Japan in 2012 and Australia this year also help to break up the monotony.
The two-game series in Sydney between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers was a good appetiser for what’s to come.  Clayton Kershaw treated the fans to an impressive pitching display in the opener, his curveball regularly prompting oohs and aahs from the locals, while the D-Backs’ late – ultimately unsuccessful – fight back created an enjoyable ending to what was otherwise a slightly pedestrian second game.
The Dodgers’ legendary commentator Vin Scully went along for the trip and brought his customary lyrical style to the proceedings. Scully may not profess to know much about the game usually played at Sydney Cricket Ground – played by ‘cricketeers’, as he put it – but he had a genuine appreciation for the surroundings, not least the picturesque Members’ and Ladies’ pavilions that went up the right-field line as the field was configured.
There was a healthy crowd on hand for both games and early indications are that MLB feel it was a successful venture. That, of course, has prompted many of us Brits to dream of a similar series happening on these shores in the near future.
It’s a topic that has been considered on a regular basis for years and the obstacles – primarily fitting it into the MLB schedule at a time when there’s a decent chance of good weather, as well as finding a suitable venue – are well known.  These are not insurmountable problems and, despite the snide cynicism towards the sport that exists in some quarters here, with effective promotion any games would be well supported and make for an impressive event.
The sticking point really is not so much the games, but the infrastructure around them that would make the effort to stage them worthwhile by capitalising on the exposure gained.
For example, Australia has a professional baseball league in which MLB is the leading shareholder. The D-Backs’ shortstop Didi Gregorius is one of a number of players that have been loaned out to be part of the league whilst in the Minors. There is a direct financial interest in MLB increasing the profile of the game in Australia but, more to the point, the ABL creates a focal point around which the International Series can be built upon.
For us baseball fans it would be fantastic to see MLB games in Great Britain and any extra publicity would be a positive thing for the hard-working folks at BaseballSoftballUK, the British Baseball Federation and all of the clubs around the country.
However, it’s probable that a lot more groundwork is needed here before MLB would take the step to bring games across the pond in the knowledge that it will be part of a longer-term strategy to see the sport grow (for instance, the NFL’s now regular games at Wembley are, in part, driven by the possibility of expanding NFL teams into new countries). The Netherlands, with their long-established professional league and facilities, is the likely first destination if MLB does want to venture into Europe and both Italy and Germany, to name but two countries, would be ahead of us based on existing baseball infrastructure too.
All of which is not to pour cold water on the prospect of enjoying MLB games in Britain; MLB no doubt would love to plant their flag over here. We do though have to temper expectations that MLB games will fall into our laps and instead focus on what can be achieved over the next ten years so that MLB can see staging games here as a logical next step in a wider strategy to develop baseball on these shores.
National League certainties?
I normally avoid prediction articles before I’ve had a chance to put my selections together. Baseball Prospectus’ Free Friday promotion led me to make an exception in the case of their predictions and the combined views of 37 BP staff shows how important the two Wild Cards will be in the National League this season when it comes to play-off race excitement.
In all of the three NL divisions only two teams received a first-place vote and even then there was an overwhelming favourite in each case. The Washington Nationals received 38 votes in the East (the remaining 2 went to the Braves, no doubt impacted by Atlanta’s pitching injury woes), the St. Louis Cardinals received 36 in the Central (the Reds got the only other 2 votes cast) and only a solitary first-placed vote for the Giants denied the Los Angeles Dodgers from a 100% result in the West.
It’s hard to argue with the results as things stand today, so the drama is likely to come from either one of the favourites being bedevilled by injuries and/or the Wild Card race picking up the slack.
