POSTED: Thursday September 3rd 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2009 IBAF BASEBALL WORLD CUP FIRST ROUND ROSTERS TO FEATURE RECORD NUMBER OF MLB-AFFILIATED PROFESSIONALS

More than 100 players currently not on 25-man MLB rosters to take part in tournament’s first round, beginning 9 September across five European cities; several other professionals highlight rosters as well

( LAUSANNE, Switzerland) – The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) announced Thursday the final rosters for the first round of the 2009 IBAF Baseball World Cup, which will be held across five different European cities next weekend, 9-12 September. The rosters contain a World Cup-record of more than 100 current professional players not currently on 25-man Major League Baseball (MLB) rosters.

 

Joining these athletes are 11 former
MLB-affiliated players, 13 past and present players from the Korean Baseball
Organization (KBO), and members of numerous other professional leagues from
Europe and around the world.  The overall number of professionals competing
in this year’s tournament is more than double that of the 2007 World Cup.  Additionally, this number is set to increase
in the World Cup’s second round, as
Italy
and the
Netherlands
– second round hosts which received a round 1 bye – will announce their rosters
which promise to include MLB-affiliated players and players from Italian and
Dutch professional leagues as well.
 


“We are thrilled about the continued
development of baseball on all levels around the world as a sport for all, and
the World Cup, which will begin next week and will go throughout September in
Europe, is very symbolic of that growth,” IBAF President Dr. Harvey Schiller
said.  “It is exciting to see the number
of players affiliated with Major League Baseball competing for countries like
Great Britain, Sweden, Germany, and the Czech Republic, and we look forward to
the enthusiasm that their participation will generate in the first round host
nations.”
 


The MLB organization sending the most players
under contract is the Minnesota Twins, who will be represented by 10 players,
including six from
Australia.  All players on the
USA,
Canada and Puerto Rico
rosters are either currently or have previously been under professional
contract with an MLB club, while
Australia has 17 current or former
MLB-affiliated professional players on its roster.
 


The 2009 Baseball World Cup first round will be held in
Regensburg,
Germany;
Zagreb;
Prague;
Barcelona; and
Sundbyberg,
Sweden from
9-12 Sept. The second round will be played across
Italy
and the
Netherlands from
13-20 Sept., while the final round will be held exclusively in
Italy, 22-27
Sept.  In total, 22 nations will compete
for the coveted world championship.
 


A
complete breakdown of past and present MLB-affiliated professional
players is below, by country.  Players with MLB experience and the
teams they played for are in bold italic.
 


For the latest 2009 World Cup news and
complete rosters for each round 1 team, please visit www.2009baseballworldcup.com.
 


AUSTRALIA                ORG

 

James Beresford        MIN

Travis Blackley           ARI

 Adam Bright               COL

Bradley Harman         PHI

Liam Hendriks             MIN

Justin Huber                MIN    

Luke Hughes               MIN    

Matthew Kennelly       ATL    

Timothy Kennelly        PHI     

Paul Mildren                PIT     

Damian Moss              COL   

Joel Naughton             PHI     

Drew Naylor                PHI     

Bradley Tippett            MIN    

David Welch               MIL     

Stefan Welch              NYY   

Matthew Williams        MIN    

Brendan Wise             DET 
 


CANADA
 

Cole Armstrong           CWS  

Chris Begg                  SF

Shawn Bowman         NYM   

Nick Bucci                  MIL     

Terrance Dayleg         FLA    

Bryan Dumesnil          TOR

Emerson Frostad        TEX    

Jimmy Henderson      MIL     

Chris Kissock              PHI     

Brett Lawrie                 MIL     

Adam Loewen             TOR   

Trystan Magnuson      TOR   

Jonathan Malo            NYM   

Brooks McNiven         SF

Dustin Molleken          PIT     

Jamie Richmond        OAK   

Chris Robinson           CHC   

Tim Smith                   TEX    

Adam Stern                 MIL     

Robert Swindle           MIN    

Philippe Valiquette      CIN     

Jimmy Van Ostrand   HOU   

                                   

CHINESE TAIPEI
 

Yi Lin Wang                 BOS   

                                   

CZECH REPUBLIC

 

Jan Rehacek              MIN    

Petr Cech                    CIN     

Matej Hejma               MIN  
 


GERMANY
 

Kai Gronauer              NYM   

Donald Lutz                 CIN     

 

GREAT BRITAIN
 

Thomas Boleska         PIT     

                                   

MEXICO
 

Arturo Lopez               NYY   

Pablo Oramas             SD      

 

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
 


R. van Gurp                NYY 
 


NICARAGUA
 

Eilvin Orozco              NYY   

 

PUERTO RICO

 

Raul Casanova           NYM   

Carlos Rivera           COL, HOU, PIT

Tony Valentin              NYM   

Alex Cintron                WSH  

Luis Matos                  NYM, PIT, BAL

Ruben Gotay              ARI     

Miguel Abreu               BAL    

Irvin Falu                     KC      

Miguel Negron            CHW  

Angel Sanchez           TOR   

Stephen Morales         SD, CHW, FLA

Orlando Mercado        ARI     

Luis Atilano                  WSH  

Mario Santiago            KC      

Alex Woodson            CHW

Jose Santiago             NYM, CLE, KC

Orlando Roman          TOR, BAL, NYM

Melvin Pizarro             SEA, PHI

Nelvin Fuentes            MIN    

Efrain Nieves              MIL     

Juan Padilla                NYM

Angel Garcia               OAK   

RJ Rodriguez              PIT     

Miguel Mejia                DET    

 

SOUTH AFRICA
 

Anthony Phillips          SEA    

Gift Ngoepe                PIT     

Brett Willemburg         PIT     

Hein Robb                   MIN    

Dylan Lindsay             KC      

 

SPAIN
 

Paco Figueroa             BAL    

Daniel Figueroa           BAL    

Antonio Noguera         HOU   

Lesther Galvan           MIN    

Rhiner A Cruz             NYM   

Eric Gonzalez             SD
 


SWEDEN
 


Christian Staehely       SEA  
 


USA 
                        

Pedro Alvarez             PIT     

Cedrick Bowers          PHI     

Jason Castro               HOU   

Jason Childers            TB      

Ike Davis                     NYM   

Daniel Descalo            STL    

Geno Espineli              SF      

Nate Field                    FLA    

Lucas Harrell               CHW  

Tug Hulett                   KC      

Kasey Kiker                TEX    

Josh Kroeger              CHW  

Cory Luebke               SD      

Brad Lincoln                PIT     

Trevor Plouffe             MIN    

Trevor Reckling          LAA    

Todd Redmond           ATL    

B.J. Rosenberg           PHI     

Justin Smoak              TEX    

Terry Tiffee                 PHI     

Ehren Wasserman      CHW  

Jon Weber                  TB      

                                   

First round teams without MLB-affiliated players
(does not include Italy and the Netherlands whose rosters will be release prior
to Round 2): China, Croatia, Cuba, Japan, Korea, and Venezuela     

 

About the International Baseball Federation (IBAF)

Founded in 1938, the International Baseball Federation is a non-governmental organisation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as administering men’s and women’s baseball at the world level.  Located in Lausanne, Switzerland – the Olympic Capital – and counting 125 National Member Federations, the IBAF organises the IBAF Men’s and Women’s Baseball World Cup, the AAA (18U) and AA (16U) World Championships, the Olympic Games Baseball Tournament, and it sanctions the World Baseball Classic, among other international baseball tournaments.  The IBAF works to develop and grow the game of baseball around the world. For more information, please visit www.ibaf.org.

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Keywords · IBAF · MLB · baseball · 2009 IBAF Baseball World Cup

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Name: Jake Fehling
Organization: IBAF
Email:
Phone: +1 919 474-8721 x225
URL: http://www.ibaf.org

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