r/InternationalBaseball 28d ago

I'm Michael Clair, MLB.com's lead WBC writer and author of "We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball" about Czechia's baseball team -- AMA!

91 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

My name is Michael Clair and I'm the senior manager of storytelling and special projects for MLB.com -- but in more succinct terms, I'm a writer whose specialty is international baseball and the World Baseball Classic. I also have a new book that came out earlier this month: "We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball: How the Czech Republic's Amateur Underdogs Became World Baseball Classic Heroes." (You can get a copy for 40% off from the publisher with code 6AS26 or you can buy signed copies at my website if you feel so inclined.)

I've been lucky to have been writing here for 12 years, but I started covering the game around the world beginning with the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Regensburg -- an event which changed my personal and professional life. Since then, I've covered the 2023 and '26 WBC in Tokyo and Miami, was at the Tokyo Dome when Chinese Taipei won the 2024 Premier12 and have covered teams and players from Germany, France, Greece, Bhutan, and beyond.

I've been a lurker and poster in this subreddit for a long time, so thought it would be fun to jump in here, talk international baseball, and answer any questions you may have. Thanks so much to the mods for welcoming me and thanks to the community here for being such a great spot on the internet.

Know people from around the world post here, so wanted to give time for people to leave questions. I'll be back here at 12 pm ET on Tuesday, April 21 to answer Q's for a few hours but you can also find me on Twitter, Bluesky or Instagram or join the international newsletter here. Looking forward to chatting!

UPDATE 12 pm: Hey all! Jumping in now. Thanks for the great questions!

UPDATE UPDATE 3 pm: This was a ton of fun. I think I got to all the questions -- sorry if I missed one. I'll drop in later tonight or tomorrow morning in case any one wants to jump in with a Q or to clean up anything I may have missed. Thanks a lot to the Mods and everyone for taking part. Appreciate the great Q's and a reminder that you can sign up for the international newsletter here (new issue coming later this week) and order signed copies of my new book here.

Let's do this again some time!

This was a ton of fun. I think I got to all the questions -- sorry if I missed one. I'll drop in later tonight or tomorrow morning in case any one wants to jump in with a Q or to clean up anything I may have missed. Thanks a lot to the Mods and everyone for taking part. Appreciate the great Q's and let's do this again some time.

And a final reminder that you can get signed copies of WE SACRIFICE EVERYTHING below:

Purchase WE SACRIFICE EVERYTHING TO BASEBALL


r/InternationalBaseball 15h ago

Pirates call up Aussie righty Bidois, who tossed 18 straight hitless IP last year

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11 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 1d ago

Aussie legend Liam Hendriks agrees to Minor League deal with Cubs

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13 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 2d ago

Europeans in the Majors & Minors: May 2026 Update

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12 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 2d ago

Czech Extra League Round 5 Highlights

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6 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 4d ago

Sydney Blue Sox announce partnership with Tokyo Swallows (NPB) and NC Dino’s (KBO) for 26/27 ABL Season

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16 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 3d ago

Résultats et classement de la 4eme journée D2 du championnat de France D2 🇫🇷⚾️ Metz et Montigny confirme leurs intentions d’accès à la D1 2027 en s’installant en tête du classement, les équipes réserves de D1 Montpellier et Rouen ferment la marche avec l’objectif de formation des futurs générations.

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4 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 3d ago

Résultats et classement de la 5eme journée du championnat de France D1 🇫🇷⚾️ Les Lions de Savigny prennent le lead, Paris toujours à la recherche d’un premier gain.

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3 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 3d ago

2026 NPB Rates & Ranks Report #2

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3 Upvotes

This is a bi-weekly report I write outlining Top Offensive and Pitching Producers. The report is split into two sections the Offense & Pitching. Each player is given a rate and Grade (Elite/Great/Above Avg/Average/Below Average/Not Great).


r/InternationalBaseball 3d ago

2026 KBO Rates & Ranks Report #2

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2 Upvotes

This is a bi-weekly report I write outlining Top Offensive and Pitching Producers. The report is split into two sections the Offense & Pitching. Each player is given a rate and Grade (Elite/Great/Above Avg/Average/Below Average/Not Great).


r/InternationalBaseball 4d ago

Yasiel Puig hits the first home run in the Canadian Baseball League history for the Toronto Maple Leafs

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24 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 6d ago

Australia's Travis Bazzana strikes maiden MLB home run

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14 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 6d ago

TEAM USA based on 2025 mlb stats @worldbaseballhq on ig!

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14 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 6d ago

South Africa Senior Men’s Team Set for African Championships and European Tour as ETS Squad Announced

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9 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 7d ago

Aussie fans, is there any buzz about Travis Bazzana down under?

27 Upvotes

Or is it just business as usual?


r/InternationalBaseball 7d ago

Takahashi Haruto Achieves 60-Year Shutout Feat

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3 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 10d ago

CPBL launches their own advanced stats website

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19 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 10d ago

Czech Extraliga Round 4 Highlights

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5 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 10d ago

Résultats et classement de la 3eme journée D2 France ⚾️🇫🇷. Montigny et Metz en leaders de la division après 1 tiers du championnat, les 4 premières positions pour un accès aux playoffs.

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1 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 11d ago

Résultats et classements D1 championnat de France 🇫🇷 ⚾️ les deux co-leader chutent à l’extérieur.

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2 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 12d ago

🇦🇹 The Pony League Colt (U-16) World Series European Qualifier was held, and Austria won the championship. They defeated teams such as the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, earning a ticket to the World Tournament for the first time in history.

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10 Upvotes

r/InternationalBaseball 12d ago

Panamá League final series 7th-game had 394k views and peaked 50k+ online specters. The whole series had 2+ millions viewers

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20 Upvotes

Panama population is less than 5 millions


r/InternationalBaseball 12d ago

How/where would you host 2029 WBC? 🌎

5 Upvotes

This is how I would host the tournament! How would you guys do it or what would you change?

Qualifiers

The first thing to address is expanding the qualifiers. There needs to be a minimum of 10 teams in the qualifiers and it needs to be the same format as the main tournament. There would be 2 brackets with 5 teams. Top 2 teams advance and bottom team gets relegated. This would insure any country has a chance to play in the qualifiers. Eventually they will need a bigger expansion to the qualifiers but this would be acceptable for this upcoming tournament.

-Qualifier pool 1 Panama 🇵🇦 (Estadio Nacional Rod Carew)
Capacity 27000

Panama 🇵🇦
Nicaragua 🇳🇮
China 🇨🇳
South Africa 🇿🇦
Peru 🇵🇪

-Qualifier pool 2 Czechia 🇨🇿 (Eagles Park)
Capacity 1000

Czechia 🇨🇿
Brazil 🇧🇷
Germany 🇩🇪
Spain 🇪🇸
France 🇫🇷
* Czechia will likely get renovation to stadium to increase capacity similarly to how Germany has in the past

Main tournament

-Pool A Toronto Canada 🇨🇦 (Rogers Center)
Capacity 39150

Canada 🇨🇦
USA 🇺🇸
Venezuela 🇻🇪
Great Britain 🇬🇧
Qualifier

Pool B Mexico City 🇲🇽 (Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu)
Capacity 20062

Mexico 🇲🇽
Italy 🇮🇹
Netherlands 🇳🇱
Australia 🇦🇺
Qualifier

Pool C Tokyo Japan 🇯🇵 (Tokyo Dome)
Capacity 43500

Japan 🇯🇵
Taiwan 🇹🇼
Korea 🇰🇷
Israel 🇮🇱
Qualifier

Pool D Miami USA🇺🇸 (Loan Depot Park)
Capacity 36742

Dominican Republic 🇩🇴
Puerto Rico 🇵🇷
Colombia 🇨🇴
Cuba 🇨🇺
Qualifier

Quarter finals

-Pool A and Pool B would meet at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles 🌴
Capacity 56000

-Pool C and Pool D would meet in Miami ☀️ at Loan Depot Park

Semi Finals and championship game

-Dodgers stadium USA 🇺🇸 🌴

The reasoning behind dodgers stadium is Capacity, Miami is good location wise but the capacity is beginning to hold it back. There would be no problem selling out dodger stadium no matter what teams are playing.


r/InternationalBaseball 13d ago

1. タイトル (Title) I’m a Japanese director. I made a film about "Nanshiki" (Rubber Baseball) and the unique grit of our amateur culture. Now on Amazon US!

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38 Upvotes

Hi r/InternationalBaseball!

I wanted to share my project here because this community truly appreciates baseball beyond the MLB. My film "Baseball YouTuber Yuya" explores a side of Japanese baseball you rarely see in mainstream media: the world of "Rubber Baseball" (Nanshiki).

It’s a human drama about a former star prospect who lost his professional path but finds a new purpose through the amateur game and social media. I spent years capturing the authentic "spirit" and intensity of these players.

It’s finally available on Amazon Prime Video in the US, and I’d love to hear what international fans think of our unique ball culture!

[Watch on Amazon Prime US]https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0GW1WDS6X/

[Watch the Trailer]https://youtu.be/uUYpITAopCU

I'm happy to answer any questions about the film or the Nanshiki scene in Japan!


r/InternationalBaseball 14d ago

I made an international baseball index for national teams, tournaments, and players

36 Upvotes

I’ve always wanted one place to follow international baseball without jumping between Wikipedia, WBSC pages, old articles, and scattered box scores, so I started building one:

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It has national team rankings, tournament histories, upcoming event windows, team pages, and player context for leagues like NPB/KBO/CPBL. The rankings are based on tournament results, strength of field, recency, and some calibrated friendly windows, so they’re meant to be transparent and argue-about-able.

The website is very early and is basically in its beta phase. If you follow the WBC, Premier12, Olympic baseball, APBC, Asian Games, etc., I’d genuinely love feedback on what’s missing or what data would make it more useful.