The Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament opens
on Friday in Taiwan
Eight teams will determine the last three remaining slots for
the Olympics
They will play a single round robin over the course of eight days
with the top three joining the USA, Cuba, the Netherlands, China
and Japan in Beijing this August
Australia, Canada, South Korea and Mexico should be considered
as the favourites for this event
Chinese Taipei also has chances as they are playing in front of
their home crowd
The European teams Germany and Spain in addition to the usual
African representative South Africa are considered as heavy underdogs
Preview of the competing teams, in alphabetical order
Australia
After surprisingly winning a Silver Medal in Athens 2004, Australia
is now considered as one of the best nations in international
baseball
However the Olympic Qualifier is going to be a difficult tournament
for them
They will miss their biggest stars, as Travis Blackley, Justin
Huber and Brad Harman all attend Major League Spring Training
camps
Their roster features thirteen players who are younger than twenty-five
years old
Red Sox prospect Adam Blackley is among them
Most of them played over the winter in Australian Baseball Leagues
and the Claxton Shield
The National Team did two Exhibition Series against a regional
selection and Team Canada
Although they struggled with a batting average of .183 and an
ERA of 6.43 against the Maple Leafs, they got their work in
Keys to success - veterans like Glenn Williams, Luke Hughes and
Ben Risinger have to produce early to take some pressure of the
younger players
Canada
Canada is bringing a roster to Taiwan, which should be stronger
in comparison to the Baseball World Cup in November
Led by Adam Stern, who impressed at the World Baseball Classic
2006, the team is filled with Minor League players and former
Major Leaguers like Stubby Clapp and Steve Green
During their Friendship Series against the Aussies last week they
already worked on all cylinders
After losing the first match, they won three out of four (one
tie) afterwards, batting a combined .310
Their pitchers also showed promising signs with an ERA of 3.35
James Avery and Jamie Richmond are a good one-two punch at the
front of the rotation
Their durability is somewhat a concern as these games now are
the first for them since last year
Keys to success - their bullpen needs to step up, as the starters
can’t go deep into the games this early in the season
Chinese
Taipei
They can rely on something, which no other participant can
The host will have the crowd behind their backs
This is definitely an advantage because only games with Taiwan
will be played with significant attendance
However their six-game series against Chinese Professional Baseball
League (CPBL) teams revealed some concerns
Their heart of the order with Tai-Shan Chang and Chih-Sheng Lin
struggled a bit and with them the whole offense
But they got better in the end and played nearly flawlessly in
their last warmup against the Sinon Bulls (10-0)
Jien-Fu Yang is expected to start on Friday against Spain
Keys to success - they need to lead off the tournament with victories
to thrive with the home crowd
Germany
They have the most difficult job to do of all eight teams
The German team received their invitation after the withdrawal
of Great Britain as late as January, leaving just two months for
preparation
Despite the fact that the players didn’t expected to play
baseball in March they got a pretty good roster together
Only Rodney Gessmann (Minnesota Twins organization) is missing,
as his club didn’t allow his participation
Manuel Moeller, who had missed the Baseball World Cup due to professional
reasons, will replace him
They also only could work together a couple of days and played
only a single test match against a Italian Baseball Academy selection
It should be even a miracle if they are winning at least one game
Keys to success - the starters Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez, Tim Henkenjohann
and Manuel Moeller have to be on top of their game to give Germany
a small chance
Mexico
Most of the players are coming fresh of a full winter league season
in their home country
This is a big advantage, as most of their opponents didn’t
play at all
The roster should be better than at the Baseball World Cup
Walter Silva, Pablo Ortega, Roberto Saucedo and the former Major
League catcher Miguel Ojeda and outfielder Karim Garcia impressed
in test games against Mexican Summer League teams
After this series they went to Tucson, Arizona and faced the reigning
National League champion
After being crushed in the first match, they defeated the Colorado
Rockies by a score of 2-1
Mexico is definitely one of the favourite teams at the Qualifier
and as good as anyone
Keys to success - they need to find their rhythm faster than in
November as they are facing the favourites in the first four games
South
Africa
They are relying mostly on the same roster as in the Baseball
World Cup
The team travelled earlier to Asia and met with Chinese squads
to see some game action
They also squared of with Spain during workouts this week
Among Germany those three are considered as heavy underdogs
South Africa lost all seven games last November and was overmatched
against nearly every opponent
They featured a .222 batting average and an ERA of 7.90
They will only get a chance versus the European teams
Keys to success - pitchers Carl Michaels and Robert Verschuren
have to bring their best performances to the mound
South
Korea
South Korean manager Kyung-Moon Kim selected several big name
players for the tournament
They are missing only Chan Ho Park, who is trying to restart his
MLB career with the Dodgers, and Jae Seo, who is injured
Nevertheless they are having one of their best rosters on hand
since a long time
The sluggers Seung-Yeop Lee, Dae-Ho Lee and Dong-Joo Kim are forming
a formidable heart of the order
Former San Francisco Giant Sun-Woo Kim along with Hyun-Jin Ryu
and Min-Han Son lead the pitching staff
Like Chinese Taipei they have played a series of warm-ups against
CPBL clubs, winning all three relatively easy
They have some concerns regarding their middle infield and the
depth of their bullpen as key players like shortstop Jin-Man Park
and closer Seung-Hwan So are injured
Keys to success - the defense has to make all the plays, as the
pitching staff features no strikeout artists
Spain
Spain received a berth at the Qualifier due to an impressive performance
at the European Championships last September, finishing in third
place in front of a enthusiastic home crowd
The roster consists mostly of players, who played for the squad
at the Baseball World Cup
They held a productive training camp in South California and played
a series of test matches against College teams of this area
Their pitchers Manuel Olivera, Yoel Hernandez, and Audi Nunez
are already in good shape
Closer Fernando Gutierez along with Jorge Balboa and Remigio Leal
struggled a little bit, giving away leads at the end of games
They also have some concerns about protection for their best hitter
Dewis Navarro in the batting order
Keys to success - the offense needs to show some power to support
the pitching staff