However, if you are John Genzale, you can’t afford to kick back that much.  You see, Genzale is excited about a new venture — an expansion franchise in a city and region steeped in tradition, in a league showcasing an exciting new star and playing in a baseb-ball specific stadium named for an American president.  What could be more exciting about the national pastime than that?

Actually — everything.  Genzale’s new team is not in Queens, or Iowa or California or Texas.  It’s not in Mexico or Canada.  It is in Italy.

The veteran journalist now expatriate is taking his first real stab at team ownership with Milano United, a trailblazing expansion team in the Italian Baseball League, the oldest professional baseball league outside of Japan or the United States.

Now while it may seem quaint to try and run a team with all the details of baseball in a country which knows the game, Genzale’s approach is different from any professional sports venture on the continent.  Milano United will be the first-ever all commercial venture tried for sport in Europe, very much along the lines of what Americans understand as a professional sports franchise.

But how can this be, when there are such marketing powerhouses in soccer like Manchester United or Real Madrid in soccer, or the Springboks or All Blacks in Rugby, or even Maccabi Tel Aviv or Betteton Treviso in basketball?

“It’s different,” Genzale explains. “Yes, those are powerhouse marketing brands, but the business of sport side is run by a separate corporation away from the day to day in field running of the club.  The clubs of Europe are essentially that.  They are usually multisport local athletic organizations that feed a system from youth through the professional side. They are subsidized by the corporation to grow the game, but those two elements are separate in the way they do business.  We are going to try and be the first to unify what happens on the field with what happens in the business, just like American teams are run.”

To try and undertake such a venture, Genzale, who has a passion for both baseball and all things Italian, had to get the buy-in from the IBL, CONI (the governing body for sport in Italy which funds club-based development), the clubs that will feed into Milano United (there are four, including the oldest baseball club in Italy, Milano 1946), and the City of Milan, which owns the stadium where the team will play, aptly named John F. Kennedy Stadium in western Milan.

“It was and will be an education for all, but the IBL and those responsible for sport see the opportunity to change the model of clubs to help bring in more revenue, and baseball in Italy seems like the right place to give it a try,” he added. Genzale’s positive relationship with Major League Baseball, which helps run and grow the game around the globe, also helped make the vision of Milano United a reality.

Even with all the go-aheads, the launch this spring will not be an easy one, much like the launch of any expansion franchise Americans would understand. There are players to be found, rules to be followed, sponsorships to be sold and seats to be filled (JFK has about 2,500 seats in an all-baseball stadium for a season that will run from April to July). Educating brands on the value of sponsorship and promotion is not an easy thing in Italy either.

“Companies here know baseball and know sponsorship, but they don’t yet fully understand how we can use sponsorship to promote and grow their business,” Genzale added. “So with no track record for ROI, it is slow going to get brands to spend money with us, but it is coming along.”

John Genzale

The promotions Genzale envisions will be very American, like those you see in the minors and the majors in North America, and ones he feels will be readily accepted.

“It is a culture thing, but yes I see the day where the fun promotions that enhance the game experience here for fans will be accepted, because they are fun and give people a reason to come back time and again. We want it to be fun and educational, as well as it being good baseball.”

The baseball side will also have its challenges, but those will be ones Genzale will have some solid help with.  He has enlisted ex Major League outfielder Mike Marshall as his manager, and is looking at a number of former MLB players as a coach, including former Indians and Rays pitcher Albie Lopez. Marshall, who spent 11 years in MLB with the Dodgers, Mets, and Red Sox and helped LA win the 1988 World Championship, had left baseball after his retirement, but returned to manage Indy League franchises in Albany, El Paso and most recently Yuma of the Golden League last year. He was recommended to Genzale by baseball officials in the United States, and will make the trek to Italy with his wife in early 2012 as the start of a new adventure in a sport he loves.

“Pete Caliendo (a fellow Illinois native who has run baseball development programs all over the globe) worked with me with Schaumburg (Ill.) Flyers and knew John and what he was trying to do, and thought we would be a good fit,” Marshall added. “We talked and found our passions and interests were similar, so now we are excited to see how we can make this work.”

“We are now empty nesters with our kids in college, and I love the chance to experience and grow baseball in a place like Italy,” Marshall added. “I know it’s going to be a challenge dealing with the rule nuances and who we can have on the field at a certain time, but the level of play is what I have seen in the Independent leagues and it is what I love doing, working with a mix of veterans and young guys to grow and be successful as a team. That’s no different in Italy as it is in the states, and it will be a worthwhile and fun cultural challenge.”

Baseball has been part of Italian culture for decades, since the mark of the game was implanted by American GI’s during World War II. The game has been played professionally by a mix of home-grown club talent and Americans for about the same amount of time, with elite clubs in places like Nettuno, Bologna and Parma achieving success on the field and followings off the field for years.  Milan was a hotbed of baseball for a time, with one of the oldest clubs in the country, Milano 1946, leading the way. Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi owned the club at one point, according to Genzale, although his sport passion was much more tied to “calcio” (soccer) and AC Milan than what went on between the foul lines in baseball.  Milano United will actually unify four area clubs as one, giving Marshall and company a larger pool to pick from when selecting his team for the inaugural season.

That depth, along with the support of Italian rocker and baseball fan Nicola Fasano, known as “Faso” to music fans, will help get MU off to a good start come opening day. Faso, according to Genzale, has agreed to play a series of concerts during the season around home games, which will help boost attendance and promotion.

“Our goals for year one are modest,” he added. “We want to draw about 800 a night and 1,200 for bigger games, and let people and our sponsors have a good time. Faso will help us fill some other dates and bring people back, which will show even more how much fun baseball as entertainment can be.”

The attempt by Milano United to run a true commercial sports venture comes at an interesting time not just for baseball, but for the club system in Italy and all of Europe. On the baseball side, the growth of the World Baseball Classic and increased interest at the elite level by Major league Baseball has helped forge a higher level of home grown talent, most notably infielder Alex Liddi, who became the first native Italian to reach the Major leagues with the Seattle Mariners this past season.  However the downturn in the economy, and the fact that baseball is no longer on the Olympic programme, has seen a drastic downturn in funding at the club level. Effective commercial dollars and promotion could help ease the burden and keep baseball growing at a strong pace not just in Italy, but in other countries like The Netherlands and Germany, where the sport  also has deep roots.

“This is a long term plan with great potential, but we have to show value to brands and not look at their dollars like it’s a charity,” Genzale added. “It will be a big learning curve for all, but one that I think we can be successful at over time. It is exciting and daunting, which I guess makes it very worthwhile.”

Marshall, who also spent part of his professional career playing in Japan, agreed that the effort to grow the game in a foreign land, but one not foreign to baseball, will be an exciting next step.

“I think we will get that mix of players, veteran Italians, some Americans (although league rules limit the number of non-Italians on both field and roster), some young, some vets, who think they can and will be part of something special,” he said. “Sure there is an unknown, but John’s enthusiasm and the potential of helping grow the game will make it pretty worthwhile. It is a great game, Italy is an amazing culture, and we are proud to be a part of where it will lead us.”

Exactly where that will be will start to come together early in 2012, when Genzale, who already spends most of his year in Italy when he is not handling duties as co-director of Columbia University’s Graduate Sports Management Program, makes the full-time move to the Milan area to run the team. His wife Jenny will be a key part of the business success, as she has launched a company called Sports Marketing Italy, representing not just Milano United, but the IBL and other properties in sponsorship as well.

In the meantime, there are players to look at business conversations to be had, work visa to be worked out and a new business to be forged, which if it works, may make many give thanks for Milano United and its trailblazing and passionate owner.

It also often helps them determine which name they’d like to put on the back of a customized jersey.

To put on a Major League uniform for the first time and make an impact is one thing. To do it in a foreign land, amid culture shock on top of the always present obstacles for rookies is another. Hideo Nomo is one of those players to accomplish the feat and was the first Japanese player to ever relocate permanently in order to play in MLB.

Aside from his ROY honors, when you hear the name Hideo Nomo, the first thing that comes to mind is his unique wind up motion. In the Nippon Professional Baseball league, Nomo was a coveted talent racking up over 1,200 strike outs from 1990-1994 for the Kintetsu Buffaloes. Earning the nickname ‘The Tornado’, after media and opponents witnessed his unique back-to-the-plate delivery, early on Nomo gained national attention in his debut season with the Buffaloes striking out 287 hitters in 235 innings. His stats earned him the 1990 Pacific League MVP and Rookie of The Year honors.

Fans and members of the media were more appreciative of the results Nomo produced than the Buffaloes however. After the 1994 season, wrapping up a stretch within the first four years where he compiled 17 or 18 wins per season, Nomo demanded a multi-year contract.

What was the Buffaloes’ loss, turned out to be the Los Angeles Dodgers’ gain.

After retiring from Japanese baseball in order to get out of his contract with the Buffaloes, Nomo found a new opportunity in Los Angeles. His career in the States started off oddly enough, very similar to the way his career began in Japan. Due in large part to his unique delivery, batters were unable to solve the pitching mystery Nomo presented every five days in each start and he ended up leading the league in strike outs with 236, finished second in ERA at 2.54. Along the way, he broke Koufax’s team record of strike outs per nine innings with 11.101 to Koufax’s 10.546, started the All-Star Game and won the NL Rookie of the Year award.

Many would argue that a professional ballplayer with years of experience in Japan should not be up for MLB Rookie of The Year voting consideration. I understand that mentality, however, a player’s first year in the league is just that, no matter where their prior experience comes from. Also, it can be argued that the player coming in from Japan or some other international location is up against much more than the rookie of the year contender that is from the United States. The language, culture, nuances, and comfort are not the same as they were in their other league. The player from the international league has to figure out how to survive on the playing field as well as within their new surroundings off the field. The argument could certainly be made that an outstanding rookie campaign by an international star is much more difficult. That argument was made in 1995 and the pro-Nomo side won. Future star, Chipper Jones, finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year race that year as voters gave the advantage to Nomo. Or perhaps I should say, disadvantage.

Baseball Digest’s John Kuenster highlighted Hideo Nomo’s performance as one of the bright spots of the 1995 season. An interesting read about one of the great young pitchers to wear the Dodgers’ uniform.

Like other great puzzles that are tough to figure out such as the Rubik’s Cube, Sudoku or ‘what happened to Tony Soprano at the end of ‘The Sopranos’?', eventually the answer is found and they get a little easier to figure out. (Ok, perhaps that Sopranos one is still left up in the air). NL batters finally got used to seeing an opposing pitcher’s back before the release of a pitch and Nomo’s efficiency lacked as his stats became less impressive. Despite finishing as the only other pitcher to strike out at least 200 batters in each of his first three seasons, the early years of his MLB career are definitely the most impressive.

There must be something in the water at Dodger Stadium. When Nomo won the NL Rookie of the Year, he became one of 13 Dodger debuts to earn the honor, the most of any team in the National League. Dating back to 1952, the team has had a rookie win the award in back-to-back seasons three times. The most recent time coming in a stretch where Nomo was one of those rookies as the team won the award in five consecutive years (Eric Karros, 1992; Mike Piazza, 1993; Raul Mondesi, 1994; Nomo, 1995; Todd Hollandsworth, 1996). In recent years the Florida Marlins have dominated the category however, for a stretch, it was the Dodgers system producing the best young talent in the league, Nomo included.

One stand out highlight of Nomo’s latte portion of his career came on April 4, 2011. It was Nomo’s first start as a member of the Boston Red Sox and he would once again come out of the gates quickly with his new team. The Orioles were the team he would face that day and they would provide Nomo with a no-no as the team was unable to muster up a single hit against Beantown’s new star pitcher. In doing so, Nomo became the fourth pitcher in the history of the game to throw a no-hitter in both the American and National Leagues. After a couple more productive years after returning to his first major league home in America from 2002-2003, Nomo started to fade.

His career path led to signing with the Kansas City Royals, who ultimately released him on April 29, 2008. Nomo retired from MLB that same July. Nomo was both a journeyman and a pioneer in his time as a professional baseball player. In MLB, he would go on to spend time displaying his unique ‘tornado’ wind up for fans across the country, proudly wearing the uniform of the Dodgers, Mets, Brewers, Tigers, Red Sox, Devil Rays and Royals.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the meaning of the name ‘Hideo’. Turns out it means ‘excelling man’. After analyzing Nomo’s career, you’ll realize he compiled over 3,100 strike outs in his time between the NPB and MLB competition. Excelling man? Sounds about right to me.

Hideo Nomo turns 43 today.

Also Born Today

Frank Robinson turns 76 today. Robinson’s career saw him spend time  playing with the Reds, Orioles, Dodgers, Angels and Indians. He managed the Indians, Giants, Orioles and Expos/Nationals. At the end, it all added up to a plaque in Cooperstown. Robinson is the only player to win MVP honors in both the American and National Leagues and finished his career with a batting average of .294, 586 home runs, 2,943 hits and 1,812 RBI. Robinson won the World Series with the 1966 and 1970 Orioles, winning MVP honors in 1966. Other career highlights include NL Rookie of the Year (1956), 14 All-Star appearances (MVP in 1971), AL Manager of the Year (1989) and he had his number retired by both the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles.

Eddie Plank was born on this day in 1875. Plank pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Terriers and the St. Louis Browns. Eight times, Plank finished a season with twenty or more wins. He has the 13th most wins in MLB history, led the American League in shutouts twice and has more career shutouts by a left-hander than anyone in MLB history (66). Plank’s win-loss record of 326-194 matched with his career ERA of 2.35 and 2,246 strike outs earned him induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame by vote of the Veteran’s Committee in 1946.

Ryan Maloney is a staff writer for BaseballDigest.com, author of the popular Chicago Cubs blog titled ’Prose and Ivy, and a contributing writer to MLB.com.

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Yet for all the talent, the tools for helping really elevate and assist in the development of younger players have still pretty much been confined to North America.  True, academies set up throughout the Latin world by MLB clubs provide the equipment and instruction, but those players not yet with an Academy or developing a bit later still have had to rely on the national federations and other programs, which in many cases were lacking the latest state of the art technology to assist those looking to gain an edge or keep up with the best development practices available in the United States and even Canada.

That is until now.  Through a growing partnership with Bloomberg Sports, a number of key federations and national development organizations for Latin American baseball are now being outfitted with state of the art video and analytic tools that will assist each country develop its talent like never before.  The systems, which are similar or equal to those now being used by no fewer than 18 of the Major League clubs, were discussed and will be implemented with professional and development programs in countries ranging from Mexico and Venezuela, to the Dominican Republic and the territory of Puerto Rico.

“In terms of technology we were light years behind what is going on in the States,” said Sadi Antonmattei, the President of the Puerto Rico Baseball League this past week, when he was one of a large number of Latin American baseball officials who met with Bloomberg Sports in New York. “These analytic tools will help us better develop young talent and keep our fans easily aware of the development of our players in the minor leagues, which will hopefully get baseball back to where it was in terms of development in Puerto Rico.”

The program with Latin American baseball-playing nations is the latest move in what has been a very quick growth curve for Bloomberg, a company which for years has been the gold standard in terms of data analytics in the financial markets.  Just last year, Bloomberg Sports, a new business within Bloomberg, launched analytic tools for both fans and the professional teams, and since that point its products are becoming widely accepted as best in class.

On the professional side, Bloomberg is now assisting nearly two-thirds of the MLB clubs in their data analysis programs for all players on a club’s 40 man roster.  Some teams, like the Kansas City Royals and Arizona Diamondbacks, have fully integrated the Bloomberg system into their player development programs, while others, like the World Champion San Francisco Giants, the Los Angeles Angels and the Houston Astros, have been working on developing customized platforms designed to take advantage and improve more specific areas.  The company has also recently launched a player-specific tool, which many individual players are championing as a way to analyze and improve their game any place they can bring an iPad and download video and data. The iPad version gives the players freedom to examine their strengths, weaknesses and opponents while sitting on a plane, a hotel room or in the clubhouse.

Bloomberg’s work with “Front Office,” its fantasy tool for the consumer, has also seen steady growth and improvement, with its iPad and iPhone apps landing as number one and two in terms of paid sports apps in the Apple store this month.

The programs are quickly making Bloomberg the standard of excellence in baseball analytics for professionals and consumers, and has given the company the bandwith now to expand to other areas of baseball, including potentially college and high school baseball, and the places where professional baseball is played and developed like Latin America and Asia.  Although Latin America was the first choice, the company is clear in its desire to use the technology to improve the development of baseball globally.

“Latin America was the next natural step for our product,” said Bloomberg Sports head Bill Squadron recently.  “Although our focus is still on improving our consumer tools and our work with the MLB clubs, we know that these tools can work to help Latin American improve their development, and we will look at Japan and Korea at some point as well.  Baseball is a global business, and we are excited to apply the work we have done in all markets where it is relevant.”

Roberto Clemente

That relevance is not lost on Puerto Rican baseball officials, who have seen the game slide in recent years on the island that has brought the world talents like Roberto Clemente and Juan Marichal, among hundreds of others over the years.

“This system will help us track and develop our younger players year-round, and when we have our professional leagues running, will make our training and analysis as good as anything our players will be using when they are playing professionally in the spring and summer,” Antonmattei added. “These tools will not just help us, they will help all of Latin America improve, and that is great for everyone involved in the game.”

Baseball has not always been the quickest sport to adapt to new technology.  Its rituals and rhythms are what make the game special, but in a world that is expecting things quicker, faster and more detailed in all areas of life, the game is making adjustments. Tools like the ones Bloomberg Sports have developed, which at one point may have been seen as intrusions, are now being seen as necessary enhancements and investments, not just in America, but now around the world where the game is played.

162 games is a long season, the longest in professional sports.  Stay with one team long enough and those 162 game seasons tend to add up.  As the manager, you better know when to sit back, when to get upset, when to get in your guys’ faces and when to have a laugh if you’re going to survive and have any sort of success.

Valentine was the manager of the New York Mets from the end of the 1996 season through the 2002 season.  He lead the team within one game of the playoffs in 1998, won the Wild Card in 1999 (losing in the NLCS to Atlanta) and led the team to the World Series in 2000.  You don’t land that type of success on the Major League level without knowing how to balance your emotions and have some fun along the way.

Valentine’s probably most well-known act of humor was in 1999 when Mike Piazza was called for catcher’s interference and Valentine argued the call.  He was ejected from the ballgame but reappeared in the Mets dugout innings later in a Groucho Marx style fake nose/mustache/glasses get-up.  MLB may not have found it funny, but I’m sure many of his players and most Mets fans found it to be hilarious.

Considering Valentine guided the team over .500 for nearly his entire campaign, and is the only manager to get the Mets into the post-season in back to back years, most would agree he is the second best manager in Mets history behind Davey Johnson.

If there was a category ranking passion and heart, you could argue Valentine ranks number one.

A Connecticut native, Valentine was born in Stamford, CT and is considered one of the state’s greatest student athletes ever.  A star baseball player at Rippowam High School, he played ball at USC and was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers as the number five pick overall in 1968.  Valentine went on to play with the California Angels as they were known at the time and then, the Seattle Mariners.  His career stats are as follows:

Games   AB    Runs  Hits  2B   3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS   BB    SO    Avg.
639         1698  176   441    59   9     12   157  27  20 140   134   .260

Before managing the Mets, he was their third base coach. Before moving from the baseline to the dugout in New York, he spent eight seasons in Texas as the manager of the Texas Rangers where he finished second in AL Manager of the Year voting in 1986. Though he guided the Rangers to a 581-605 record over his tenure, his true success came in New York.

Baseball Digest’s Phil Rogers wrote an article about Valentine’s rookie year as a major league manager with the Texas Rangers. Click here to check it out.

His love of baseball, not only in the States but it’s place in the world on a global scale,  led him to take advantage of opportunities to manage in Japan.  With the influx of Japanese players in recent years (Dice-K, Ichiro, Fukudome, Takahashi, etc) it’s hard to believe that Japan is losing interest in the game, however this is the case according to Valentine in the documentary, ‘The Zen of Bobby V’.  He is concerned that the  country is slowly showing a loss of interest in the game of baseball and as a result, Valentine has been fighting hard to keep it alive, moving full steam ahead.

In the film, Valentine comes across not only as a fun-loving, hard working, passionate and smart baseball guy who had great success in his time as the Mets’ manager, he is also apparently an ambassador to the sport when it comes to helping out students also looking to leave their mark on the world.  The film played in the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and Valentine agreed within five minutes of the students asking if they could document his actions and follow him with a camera in Japan for eight months.  True to his work ethic and personality, Valentine’s willingness to participate is noteworthy, as  that would open up an opportunity to students looking to make a feature length documentary.

Bobby Valentine is one of the true characters in baseball. You can see his on-camera career continue this season as part of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball team – a gig where a Groucho-style nose and glasses disguise may be more appropriate and perhaps, a bit more welcome.

Also Born Today:

Barry Zito turns 33 today. The Las Vegas native left the city of sin to achieve an impressive pitching resume. To his credit, Zito has been an All-Star 3 times, a Cy Young winner and a World Series champion with the San Francisco Giants.

Jose Rijo turns 46 today. Born in the Dominican Republic, Rijo spent time with the Yankees, A’s and Reds. Rijo finished in the top five for Cy Young voting in National League twice in the early ’90s, starting more games than any other starting pitcher in the National League throughout the 1993 and 1994 campaigns.  Rijo’s post-season career is highlighted by his 1990 World Series MVP.

Ryan Maloney is a Staff Writer for BaseballDigest.com, the author of popular Chicago Cubs blog Prose and Ivy and contributing writer to MLB.com/Entertainment.

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Coming off a career in Japan they usually have dominated competition or have stats that are superior from their playing days overseas compared to a vast majority of players in the same position here in the States. As a result, their new respective teams and media blow the expectations out of proportion, thus creating a monster of a fan base. The fans end up expecting that this new player is the “chosen one”, the one missing link to get their team over the hump.

What Kosuke Fukudome has endured that others have not is that Fukudome is not only seen as a difference maker, but a potential difference maker for the Chicago Cubs, the team with a 104 year championship drought.

Cubs fans have been waiting for their team to capture the elusive World Series championship for over a century now. Before the 2008 season, the Cubs announced the signing of Kosuke Fukudome. He was showcased as a one-time MVP in Japan’s Central League, capable of putting up numbers with a .343 average, 34 HRs and 104 RBIs in a given season. He was to be the left-handed, leadoff bat the Cubs were lacking and he was going to make a difference at the top of the order. With this year being the last year of his contract, it remains to be seen if Fukudome can finally deliver on the championship he was brought in to capture. The pressure he faces as a Cub is like nothing talented Japanese players such as Ichiro Suzuki or Hideki Matsui have ever seen in Seattle or even a team with a rabid fan base in the Yankees.

I believe part of it has to be attributed to culture shock. A new batch of opponents. A new group of stadiums. New pitchers. A grueling schedule. A language you may not be fluid in as of yet. That is a lot to take in as a ‘rookie’ in the major leagues, ever after putting nine years of professional baseball service under your belt like Fukudome.

In his nine years playing with the Chunichi Dragons, he played in 1074 games, collected 1175 hits, 494 of them of the extra-base variety, a career .305 AVG and an OPS of .940. He originally was drafted in 1999 as a shortstop, but after committing many errors due to the inability to field ground balls, he was moved to third base and then to the outfield where he excelled. In his rookie season he batted .284 with 16 home runs and was a key part to the Dragons winning the title that year.

It didn’t take long for Fukudome to be considered as one of the best in the game. In his fourth season with the Dragons, he hit .343 and stopped Hideki Matsui from winning the triple crown. He followed up that season with a .313 average and 34 home runs. 2006 was Fukudome’s greatest year where he batted .351 with 31 home runs and 104 RBIs, winning him the Central League MVP. It garnered attention from MLB scouts and set the stage for great expectations from fans in the States.

In a July 2008 issue of Baseball Digest, Jim Molony wrote about the excitement Fukudome brought to the Chicago Cubs during his first season. Click here to check it out!

In his major league debut with the Cubs, fans in the right field bleachers were instantly smitten with Fukudome, wearing headbands in his honor and bowing down to him for his three-run home run he hit in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game off of Brewers’ closer Eric Gagne. Since that day, Fukudome has struggled to win over the Cubs faithful despite being named to the National League All-Star team during his rookie season. Part of this may be because he has only collected 34 home runs in his three seasons with the Cubs. With the fans seeing his numbers in Japan, they had visions of Fukudome hitting that mark in a single season, so overall, he has been a bit of a letdown. He is a key part of the 2011 Cubs outfield rotation and is off to a strong start yet again.

Recently, Fukudome got some news of the personal-life variety. His wife delivered the couple’s second child, a baby girl on April 19^th.

Cubs fans hope Fukudome himself can deliver something soon as well – a World Series championship for their Chicago Cubs.

Also Born Today:

Joe Crede turns 33 today. Crede played third base for the Chicago White Sox from 2000-2008 and for the Minnesota Twins in 2009. He won the World Series with the White Sox in 2005. During the Series, on October 22^nd, on the due date of his second daughter, he hit his first World Series home run.

Virgil Trucks turns 94 today. Trucks made his major league debut on September 27, 1941 for the Detroit Tigers. Through 17 seasons, he maintained a strong ERA of 3.39 and a win-loss record of 177-135. A World Series champion in 1945, Trucks has two no-hitters on his resume three months apart. The first on May 15, 1952 and the second on August 25, 1952.

Ryan Maloney is a Staff Writer for BaseballDigest.com, the author of popular Chicago Cubs blog Prose and Ivy and contributing writer to MLB.com/Entertainment.

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Check out Ryan’s Top 100 MLBlogs Cubs blog Prose and Ivy

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Overall, 27.7 percent of the 846 players (749 active 25-man roster players and 97 disabled or restricted Major League players) on March 31st rosters were born outside the 50 United States, representing 14 countries and territories. The all-time highs occurred in 2005, when 29.2 percent (242/829) of Opening Day players were foreign-born, and in 2007, when 246 players were born outside the U.S., totaling 29.0 percent of all players. Last season, 231 out of 833 players were foreign-born, also totaling 27.7 percent.

Grant Balfour

Once again, the Dominican Republic leads the Major Leagues with 86 players born outside the U.S. Venezuela ranks second with 62 players, its highest total ever on Opening Day rosters. Puerto Rico (20) has the next highest total, followed by Canada (16); Cuba (11); Japan (10); Mexico (8); Australia (5); Panama (4); Colombia (3); Curaçao (3); Taiwan (3); Nicaragua (2); and Korea (1). Since 1995, when MLB began to release annual Opening Day data, the 16 Canadian-born players rank second-highest (19 in 2007). Cuba matched its high of 11 set in 2002 and Australia matched its high of five set in 1998. In addition, Colombia, Taiwan and Nicaragua each matched their previous Opening Day bests.

The New York Yankees have the most foreign-born players with a total of 16, the first time the club has led the Majors since its 10 foreign-born players on Opening Day in 2000 shared the lead with three other clubs. Four Clubs – the Colorado Rockies, the Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Los Angeles Dodgers – feature 11 foreign-born players apiece, while the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Houston Astros, the New York Mets and the Texas Rangers each have 10. The Dodgers have players from eight different countries and territories outside the United States: Canada, Curaçao, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Venezuela.

El Torneo Supremo will consist of four teams playing one game per week in addition to a mid-tournament All-Star event, as well as championship and consolation games. The tournament will provide resources intended to help prospects prepare for a career on the field and life skills off the field. In addition to the educational opportunities, prospects and their trainers will be invited to clinics and workshops on topics such as physical conditioning and the potential transition to professional baseball.

“El Torneo Supremo will increase the exposure given to young men who are aspiring to professional baseball careers and will broaden their skills beyond the diamond,” said Jorge Perez-Diaz, head of Latin American Oversight for Major League Baseball. “This event will help the Dominican Republic continue to play a vital role in international player development, while also providing Major League Clubs with a new outlet for scouting.”

Moises Alou (photo/Flickr-sghmom56)

The tournament staff has decades of combined experience playing, coaching, and managing professional baseball. Longtime Major League player Moises Alou will serve as the Tournament Director. Alou was a six-time All-Star in his 17-year Major League career, during which he hit .303 with 332 home runs and 1,287 RBI. In 1994 with the Montreal Expos and in 1998 with the Houston Astros, Alou finished third in the balloting for National League Most Valuable Player honors. Alou, who went to high school in Santo Domingo, helped the Marlins win the 1997 World Series, batting .292 with 23 home runs and 115 RBI in the regular season and then hitting three homers and collecting nine RBI in their seven-game triumph in the Fall Classic. Moises is the son of longtime Major League player and manager Felipe Alou and the nephew of Felipe’s brothers Jesus and Matty Alou.

The Tournament managers will be former Major League players Juan Bell and Nelson Norman and former Minor League players Jorge Meran and Nelson Silverio. Norman is a former Major League coach and Minor League manager, and Silverio served as a coach for the Dominican Republic in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Rounding out the tournament staff will be a pair of former Major League pitchers, Mel Rojas and Bienvenido “Ben” Rivera, who will serve as the event’s Pitching Coordinators.

“El Torneo Supremo has the potential to help many young Dominican players,” Alou said. “I care about the image of the Dominican player, and I want to help improve it. In addition to the 15 and 16-year-old prospects, I want to help older players get the opportunity to showcase their talents.”

The Dominican Republic produces more Major League Baseball players than any other country outside of the United States. Among the 2010 Opening Day Rosters and disabled lists, 86 players were born in the Dominican Republic, comprising 10.3 percent of all Major League Baseball players.

That history varies in distinct ways from the Irish-Americans who preceded the Italians in the sport, and while the Italian-American influence on baseball was not as groundbreaking as that of the African-Americans and Latin players who followed, Italians looking to make their way into the game faced many of the same roadblocks and not-so-subtle prejudices that their parents experienced in everyday life.

In Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball (Univ. of Nebraska Press, 520 pps.), Lawrence Baldassaro looks beyond the familiar stars like DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto, giving long-forgotten players like Abbaticchio and Ping Bodie credit as the first significant players of Italian descent, while chronicling the lives of dozens of players, managers and executives, some more notable than others. Lazzeri joined the Yankees in the mid-1920′s, beginning a steady stream of Italians in Pinstripes for several decades.

The history of Italian immigration to the U.S. around the turn of the 20^th century and the ensuing attempts to assimilate – or in many cases, avoid doing so – is central to what can be seen as a delayed entry into the highest levels of the sport by an ethnic group that, from all accounts, enjoyed the game immensely, particularly in the second generation, which was more open to embracing American culture. A common refrain in Beyond DiMaggio is the reluctant parent not wanting their son to play, until they realized that they could make a better living through baseball than at their own jobs and trades. “Base-a-ball, what the hell is base-a-ball? You go to school.” was Phil Cavarretta‘s father Angelo’s command.

With interviews conducted by the author over the past decade and references to first-person accounts of the play and personalities of the older subjects, Baldassaro unearths colorful details such as the origin of Oscar “Spinach” Melillo‘s nickname and Sal Maglie‘s run-ins with his Mexican League pitching coach, former Big Leaguer Dolf Luque, which even included some gunplay. While the portrayals clearly accentuate the positive aspects of each player, the details gleaned from those interviews make the profiles both varied and thoroughly readable.

Jerry Hairston was born on February 16th 1952, seven months after his father made his major league debut.  Sam Hairston only played in a handful of games with the Chicago White Sox, but he also had a 6 year career in the Negro American League from 1944 til 1950 with the Birmingham Black Barons and Indianapolis Clowns.  He won the Negro League Triple Crown in 1950 and set the tone for the rest of his family that continues to play at the top level of baseball.

Sam Hairston’s son debuted with the Chicago White Sox 22 years and 5 days after his own debut.  Also like his father, he notched his first career hit in his first game played.  The similarities end there, more or less, as the younger Hairston went on to establish himself as a great roleplayer and a professional pinch hitter. Over fourteen seasons spent mostly with the White Sox(three plus seasons were spent playing in the Mexican League and one half season with the Pittsburgh Pirates), Hairston had 94 career pinch hits.  Only recently has he been bumped from list of top 20 all time in pinch hits.

In a March 1986 issue of Baseball Digest, Al Doyle profiled the Mexican League that Jerry Hairston spent nearly four seasons of his prime playing in.  Click here to read the article!

As the son of a major leaguer, a father of two major leaguers, and the brother of a major leaguer, the three generations of Hairstons have had at least one member of the family representing in the major leagues or the negro leagues over the course of 34 seasons going back to 1944.  The extended family includes several more players that reached the minor leagues.  Current major leaguers Jerry and Scott Hairston played together for the first time during the 2010 season as members of the San Diego Padres.

Also Celebrating A Birthday Today:

Manny Delcarmen was born on February 16th, 1982 and became the first player drafted out of the Boston Public School system in 34 years when the Boston Red Sox selected the right hander in the second round of the June Amateur Draft.  He had a 3.87 ERA over six seasons in Boston before being traded to the Colorado Rockies at the deadline in 2010.

Eric Byrnes(b. 1976) logged eleven seasons in the big leagues with five teams, most of his time being spent with the Oakland Athletics and Arizona Diamondbacks.  Between 2003 and 2007 he averaged nearly 20 home runs a year to go along with more than 20 stolen bases and more than 30 doubles yearly.  He retired in May of 2010 and has joined the MLB Network in addition to a local slow pitch softball team.

Terry Crowley(b. 1947) was the first Designated Hitter for the Baltimore Orioles when the addition was made to the American League rulebook.  A 15 year veteran, Crowley also had a long career as a hitting coach with the Baltimore Orioles and Minnesota Twins.

Michael Maher is a senior writer for BaseballDigest.com.  He can be reached at MinorLeagueSpotlight@Gmail.com or you can follow him on Twitter @BD_Maher.

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The event is slated to include 16 competing teams and will be held in the last week of September and the first week of October.

Panama City will be the primary city for the event, and also the host of Pool A, while Aguadulce, Cocle; Santiago, Veragues; and Chitre, Herrera will play host to Pool B.

“Panama’s bid looks very promising for the event, and there is no doubt they will be an excellent host and provide a memorable experience for the 2011 edition IBAF Baseball World Cup,” said IBAF  President Riccardo Fraccari from Havana.

Though it no longer hosts Grapefruit League contests, beginning on Feb. 21 and continuing through March 13, the stadium will host a 13-game spring series that will include some of the world’s best baseball teams paired against some of America’s Major League Baseball franchises and college squads.

St. Petersburg’s first season of International Baseball will feature three international teams – national squads from Canada and The Netherlands, along with the Seoul Nexen Heroes of South Korea (the No. 2 finisher in the 2009 World Baseball Classic).

The teams will play each other as well as the Rays, Blue Jays and Phillies, and college teams including Penn State and St. Petersburg College.

Games will be held at Al Lang starting at noon, 1, 2 or 7 p.m., with full schedule ticket plans available.

The schedule is as follows:
Monday, Feb. 21 – noon: Penn State vs. Nexen Heroes
Thursday, Feb. 24 – 7 p.m.: Seoul Nexen Heroes vs. USA (St. Petersburg College)
Saturday, Feb. 26 – 2 p.m.: Canada vs. Seoul Nexen Heroes
Sunday, Feb. 27 – 1 p.m.: Beach State vs. Canada
Monday, Feb. 28 – 1 p.m.: Seoul Nexen Heroes vs. Canada
Tuesday, March 1 – 1 p.m.: Seoul Nexen Heroes vs. Netherlands
Tuesday, March 1 – 7 p.m.: Canada vs. USA (St. Petersburg College)
Thursday, March 3 – 7 p.m.: Netherlands vs. Seoul Nexen Heroes
Friday, March 4 – 1 p.m.: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Canada
Saturday, March 5 – 7 p.m.: Netherlands vs. Canada
Wednesday, March 9 – 1 p.m.: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Netherlands
Friday, March 11 – 7 p.m.: Netherlands vs. USA (St. Petersburg College)
Sunday, March 13 – 1 p.m.: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Netherlands

According to the city, St. Petersburg International Baseball is an international baseball program created by Mayor Bill Foster that will include a spring league, and both a summer and fall series, all playing and practicing in St. Petersburg’s spring training facilities.

“I envision St. Petersburg as an international baseball city,” said Foster in a statement. “We already enjoy an expanding international visitor base. This baseball series will add a unique new dimension to our tourism activities, give our residents an opportunity to enjoy international ball, and bring baseball back to Al Lang Stadium.”

John Genzale, co-director of Columbia University’s sports management program and founding editor of SportsBusiness Journal, today announced that he has acquired majority interest in Milano United, an Italian professional baseball franchise created by four Milan-area teams, including Italy’s most historic professional club, Milan 1946. Milano United is established as Europe’s first fully commercial sports franchise and will begin competition in the Italian Baseball League in the spring of 2011. Genzale is an American who has Italian citizenship and lives a good part of the year in Umbria. Milan will become Italy’s largest baseball market.

“This will be both a great deal of fun and a great challenge, and maybe we have an opportunity to create a little history,” said Genzale. “With baseball’s expulsion from the Olympics, national funding for the development of the game has been drastically cut in Italy and elsewhere around the world and in some countries the growth of the game is jeopardized. We have to find a new way to support the game we love, and even though this is not a new idea elsewhere, it’s new here in Italy.”

“John and I have spent many hours discussing the path forward for baseball in Europe and I welcome his acquisition of a franchise. I look forward to closely following the path of Milano United,” said Clive Russell, Major League Baseball’s managing director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “We believe that with the right support from the political and business community that the club can become a central part of the city, building a strong fan base with a family focused entertainment option.”

Milano United was the vision of four Milan-area clubs: Milan 1946, Italy’s oldest professional team with the country’s most championships, and three successful clubs from communities in the market footprint: Novara, Rho and Senago. The four club-run organizations will continue to compete independently and serve as United’s minor-league affiliates. Novara becomes the No. 2 team in the five-team organization.

Marco Giulianelli, the president of Milan 1946 who engineered the creation of Milano United with Elia Pagnoni and Senago president Mario Colombo, said, “Genzale put together a plan for the development of baseball in Italy’s most commercial market. The four clubs believe in the vision of commercial baseball. This is an historic occasion for baseball in Milan and baseball in Italy.”

Joining Young on Team USA are pitching coach Kirk Champion, hitting coach Leon “Bull” Durham and assistant coaches Jay Bell, Carlos Tosca and Rolando “Roly” de Armas. Young, Champion and de Armas are all veterans of past USA Baseball professional teams, including the 2009 gold medal-winning World Cup Team.

“We are thrilled with the staff we have put together for the Pan American Qualifying Team,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO. “Ernie Young is one of the greatest competitors ever to wear the U-S-A across his chest, and we have surrounded him with a first class group of coaches.”

Ernie Young

Young, who playe for five MLB clubs from 1994-2004, also won a gold medal as an outfielder with the U.S. Olympic Team in the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia. He also played for the 2003 Olympic Qualifying Team. After serving a season as the hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox’s rookie-level team, he was named manager of Single-A Kannapolis prior to the 2009 season. Most recently, Young served as the hitting coach for the 2009 World Cup Team.

The Pan American Qualifying Team will first gather in Cary, N.C. at the USA Baseball National Training Complex where it will train from Sept. 25-28. It will work out on Sept. 25 and square-off against the Canadian Pan American Qualifying Team, Sept. 26-28. The U.S. will then depart for San Juan, Puerto Rico where the qualifier is set to run from Oct. 1-10. The 12-team tournament will feature top Pan Am talent, including host Puerto Rico, Canada, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela.

The 2009 World Cup Team is the most recent professional team fielded by USA Baseball. The ’09 club finished with a 14-1 record, including a 10-5 win over rival Cuba in the final. The team was made up of some of the best Minor League players in baseball, several of whom have since made their Major League debut this season, including third baseman Pedro Alvarez and pitcher Brad Lincoln of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak, Houston Astros catcher Jason Castro, Minnesota Twins shortstop Trevor Plouffe and New York Mets first baseman Ike Davis.

The 24-man roster for the U.S. Pan American Qualifying Team will be announced in early September.

The Senior Baseball-Larry Doby Championship Trophy was awarded to the Houston RBI team, led by championship game MVP and starting pitcher Felix Gomez (7 IP, CG, 1 R, 1 ER, 7 K, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 HBP).  Gomez threw a complete game, two-hitter with seven strikeouts.  He also contributed at the plate with a single, a stolen base and a run scored.

The Junior Baseball-John Young Championship Trophy was awarded to the Santo Domingo RBI team, led by championship game MVP and winning pitcher Ricardo Soriano (3.2 IP, 8Ks, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB). Soriano entered the game in the bottom of the fourth inning with the bases loaded and one out, but closed out the frame without giving up a run by getting the first two batters he faced to strike out looking. Soriano then proceeded to strike out the next five batters to give him seven consecutive strikeouts.

“Major League Baseball congratulates the Houston RBI and Santo Domingo RBI teams for winning this year’s championships at the 18th annual RBI World Series presented by KPMG,” said David James, Director, RBI program presented by KPMG. “Although there is one team per division holding the trophies, all the young players from across the United States, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic that participated in the baseball portion of the RBI World Series are champions for the way they played on the field and how they conducted themselves off of it. I would also like to thank KPMG and their many invaluable volunteers for making this a memorable tournament for all the players, coaches and families.”

Tournament play of the girls’ softball portion of the RBI World Series will begin on Tuesday, August 10, at the Lake Catherine Sports Complex in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and will conclude at the softball championship game on Saturday, August 14, at Amanda J. Buckley Memorial Field, also in Palm Beach Gardens. The softball championship game will be taped to air on Sunday, August 22, at 1:00pm ET on MLB Network and streamed on MLB.com, the official web site of Major League Baseball.

The RBI World Series presented by KPMG is a national baseball and softball tournament, which is the culmination of the RBI program presented by KPMG. RBI is the Major League Baseball youth baseball and softball initiative designed to provide underserved youth with the opportunity to play baseball and softball, encourage academic success and teach the value of teamwork.

In 2010, RBI operated more than 300 programs established in more than 200 cities worldwide, providing more than 175,000 boys and girls the opportunity to play baseball and softball.

From the MLB press release:

“Major League Baseball is very excited about the opportunity to join the Australian Baseball Federation in bringing professional baseball back to Australia,” MLB senior vice president of international business operations Paul Archey said in a statement. “With the level of talent originating Down Under, it is only natural that a national baseball league returns, both for the players and for the fans.” Click here for the rest of the press release.

During last season’s Claxton Shield, games starting at 5PM in Adelaide, Australia on a Friday evening were watched by fans on the east coast of the United States at roughly 3:30AM on Friday morning.  The live internet feeds during the championship series regularly had dozens if not hundreds of viewers from all around the world.  A renewed interest from MLB may mean there is even more coverage for baseball down under.

Some of the six teams that will make up the league have already set up websites to spread the word of the new ABL season.

• Adelaide Bite
• Brisbane Bandits
• Melbourne Aces
• Perth Heat

For baseball fans, the announcement of a ABL season means they will be able to follow baseball all year round.  Despite a huge difference in time and location, do you plan on following the ABL if prospects from your favorite teams are playing? Let us know in the Bleachers Forum!

Michael Maher can be reached at MinorLeagueSpotlight@Gmail.com.

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In all, the games will be available to over 400 million Baseball Fans globally.  ICRT Cuba and TELE Sports 13 Puerto Rico in North America and ESPN STAR Sports’ television channels, ESPN HD networks and ESPN Player, ESPN Player, a broadband network, in Asia.

‘We are very excited to be able to make this game available to the global baseball fan base,” said Federation President Riccardo Fraccari.  “All of us at the IBAF appreciate the support Rogers Communications to make this possible.”

Fans should check the listings for their respective networks and regions for broadcast times.

Game times (ET) are:
Saturday, 7 p.m. (Semi-Final 2)
Sunday, noon (Bronze Medal Game)
Sunday August 1st, 4:30 p.m. (Gold Medal Game)

Canada defeated Czech Republic, 8-7, with a 9th-inning rally to clinch first place in Pool B yesterday .  Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay, Ontario, was on the verge of capacity, with the home fans getting a glimpse of the baseball to follow in the playoff round.  Pool B also saw the Netherlands suprise Cuba, 9-8, and South Korea toppling Panama 12 -2.  Pool play finished with the hosts claiming first place, followed by South Korea, The Netherlands and Cuba.

Game recaps, complete results, statistics and live play by play can be found here.

Pool play saw crowds in excess of 30,000 over the six-day period, and the playoff round is expected to see capacity crowds for most games.

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Thursday will be a day of rest for the teams, leading into the round of 8 on Friday, that will see one of baseball classic rivalries with Cuba set to take on the United States.  Korea will also take on Australia, Canada vs. Italy and Chinese Taipei vs. the Netherlands to round out the fixtures.

Watch Episodes from the Original BASEBALL Series

Cuba’s starter Eddy Valentin held Panama to two hits over seven innings, striking out five on his way to the complete game shutout.  The game ended after the seventh per IBAF 10- run rule.

Click here for boxscore.

First pitch of the 2010 IBAF World Junior Baseball Championships is tomorrow in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, with teams representing 11 countries set to participate through August 1.  A total of 46 games are to be played between Port Arthur Stadium and Baseball Central, both in Thunder Bay.

The 2010 field includes USA, Cuba, Panama, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, France, Czech Republic, Korea, Taiwan and host Canada.  The Canadians are the two-time defending champions and have won four of the past six titles.

The event, first played in 1981 when Newark, N.J. hosted, is the rough equivalent of the World Junior Hockey Championship and the FIFA Under 20.  It was an annual event through 1997 and has since been held bi-annually.

BaseballDigest.com will have daily updates on the action through to the final.

After nine seasons with the Montreal Expos, Cromartie played for Japan’s Yomiuri Giants under world career home run record holder Sadaharu Oh and later signed on as manager of the Samurai Bears in an effort to jumpstart his managerial career.   He also played for the Kansas City Royals in 1991 after his successful Japanese league career.

Cromartie is not the only former Major Leaguer to participate in the Golden Baseball League: 60 others have played in the league, including Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, who played for the San Diego Surf Dawgs in 2005 and is featured throughout Season of the Samurai.

Season of the Samurai was directed and produced by Danny Gold and Matthew Asner of Mod 3 Productions.  The film premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the Comedia Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, Canada.