More about the Greek team

There are some more profiles of the American baseball players playing for Greece in the Olympics. With the team practicing at Camden Yards, the Baltimore Sun writes up Orioles farmhand (and 2003 Number 1 draft pick) Nick Markakis. The same article reports that Greek coach Dusty Rhodesthinks the Olympic facilities will prevent a lot of home runs:

"We've got an outside shot [at a medal]. Our pitching's not as strong as the other clubs', but the field over there is a tremendous field, and I really believe the wind is going to make a big difference. This time of year, it blows 25 to 30 mph, 24 hours a day. That's going to keep balls in the ballpark."

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the attention is on Brewers minor league pitcher and local boy Jared Theodorakos. The article repeats the story of how the team was assembled, including one infrequently-reported fact: that the Greek government passed legislation exempting its ringers from the compulsory military duty that Greek men normally have to serve.

The article also touches on the controversy surrounding the small number of Greek-based players in the squad, which Dimitris Goussios of the Hellenic Baseball Federation loudly objected to last week:

But John Kazanas said Goussios is "way off-base." Kazanas is a Normandy High graduate who helped assemble the team and is administrating and co-coaching it in the wake of the recent sudden death of head coach Rob Derksen. Also a longtime scout for major league teams, Kazanas noted that Goussios had failed to provide him with evaluations of local players when asked and simply "is not a baseball guy."

Moreover, he said, in a country that had one baseball field five years ago - on an abandoned U.S. base - there just aren't enough developed players to field a team that wouldn't be repeatedly humiliated.

"They have no clue how good these Olympic teams are; they think they can just show up and play," Kazanas said in a phone interview from the Netherlands, where he was scouting. "A lot of these guys (in Greece) couldn't play for high school programs" in the United States.

Kazanas said he is going to address the issue with Goussios when the team arrives. First, he said, he would tell Goussios to look each player in the eye and try telling him he doesn't belong on the team.

Oh dear, oh dear.