Baseball Tri-Weekly: UnAmerican Pastime?

An American Flag covers the infield during pre-game ceremonies at a Las Vegas/Bridgewater game last season. U.S. based teams are going out of style in the EHCC faster than african-american players in the MLB, reported in a University of Tijuana study.

By Listen DePlayohs, Baseball Tri-Weekly

No one thought much off the Piglets opening shop in the haven of hockey, placing their roots across the border in the Nordic-ish city of Quebec, Canada. Even more turned their heads as the Texas Hold’em failed to make a profit their first season, then slipped below the border for the cheap labor of Tijuana Mexico. And the move across the Pacific at the hands of feisty Japanese businessmen was welcomed by the majority of the owners who were hungry to exploit the Asian market.

While the EHCC brass turned a blind eye to the bastardization of the league, the fans did not.

Surprising, Kevin Neville made is mark in Itolpi, Italy, as owner of a minor league ball club. In 16 years, his club dominated the Spaghetti Baseball League, with many of his players making the move overseas to play in baseball’s birthplace. America.

“It is my goal to begin a franchise in America where I can compete with the best,” Neville said. “I am a skilled businessman who knows baseball.”

That knowledge earned many victories in the land of meatballs, and even a few suitors back in the states. Several ownership groups in both the MLB and Can-Am leagues asked Neville to invest alongside them.

“At this point in time I am a solo partner in ownership,” he said proudly, deciding to forgo the lesser leagues and take on the EHCC. But that decision also left him with little help facing off against three other groups vying for a coveted franchise. That hasn’t been the hardest part, with his experience nullifying their shorthanded advantage, rather the trend he saw in some of the prospective owners and the league in general.

“After researching and noticing a bid has already been offered in the Dominican, I became upset,” Neville said. “We need some good ol' American Pride brought back to baseball.” A quarter of the league plays outside of the United States, even if you count the island of Weymouth as still being a part of America, and that doesn’t sit well with Neville. “The idea of bringing teams back to America will allow for a comforting environment for players and coaches.”

But some around the league don’t see the foreign expansion as a problem.

“I think the base of the league is still cemented in the United States,” said Roger Lodge, the Las Vegas Doggs manager. “The expansion into other countries is inevitable, I think, in this day and age. More and more countries are getting interested in the sport and to not internationalize the league would be a shortsighted move in my opinion.”

The question of international completion tipped off a debate among league officials, including an adamant objection from Golden’s newly-named general manager J.J. Redick.

“There is no place for them in this league,” said Reddick. “If they want to be so different and be outside the US, why don't then continue their rebelion and play in an international league too. We are in this league for the best competition in the country, and obviously these international teams have not brought that competition to the table.”

Heading the most unsuccessful team in EHCC history, Tokyo’s Enkidu Ishtar was quick to defend his fellow foreigners.

“Baseball is no longer the‘America's Pastime’,” said Ishtar. “The WBC this year showed that the whole world is interested in baseball. This could easily be leveraged to bring baseball up to the level of soccer worldwide. The percentage of actual people from the USA playing in the major leagues has been falling over the past twenty years while the percentage coming from South America, and more recently, Asia, has been on the rise.”

Yet, comparing the EHCC to soccer only highlights the riff between top teams and poor teams. While popularity will surely increase, the competition level will likely suffer.

“I would like to keep the competition at the highest level possible,” said Reddick. “Bringing in more international teams to fill in the bottom of the league doesn't really appeal to us.”

Or to Neville. That is why he is planning to build a state-of-the-art outdoor stadium in South Carolina, banking on the healthy, flourishing economy in Myrtle Beach.

“[South Carolina has] never had their own baseball team,” said Neville. “With the rise of housing in the area and the excitement a new ball club will bring, we don't feel it will be difficult to create a fan base.”

He hopes it will be an attractive offer to lure baseball back to its birthplace.

Kevin Neville is the prospective owner of the Myrtle Beach franchise. To read the full transcript of the interview, check out the Expansion Committee Report coming out next month.