2021
The French Baseball Federation’s president stepped down, replaced by a new one who also wants to leave. The new president isn’t even elected yet due to a lack of club interest…
Rouen keeps winning in Division 1 Baseball despite a disastrous start to the season.
The French national team lost its ranking and will have to go through qualifiers to reach the European Cup. The much-anticipated arrival of Bruce Bochy dashed false hopes, and COVID-19 killed the tournament in 2020 and his planned appearance in 2021. Will he return?
The Sénart team came close to pulling off an impressive performance in the European Club Cup but ultimately won nothing this season.
Montpellier had a fantastic season and succeeded in the France Challenge, earning a spot in the European Club Cup.
The number of home runs dropped significantly from 76 in 2019 to 27 in 2021. The ERA average of the best pitchers in each Division 1 team went from 2.41 in 2019 to 1.62 in 2021. The championship has undoubtedly become a pitcher’s league, and batters are increasingly falling behind.
Several clubs are experimenting with live-streaming their matches, and the baseball community is increasingly hungry for it.
French prospects continue to shine in both baseball and softball across the Atlantic (Antonac, Mayeux, Rogron…).
Clubs have survived the initial COVID crises, and the number of licensed players hasn’t dropped too much, allowing regional and junior teams to be filled. Baseball5 and softball are starting to interest everyone, bringing together generations and genders.
More energy is being put into commenting on French baseball, softball, and Baseball5 news: Baseblog, À coup sûr, BTVF, The Strike Out, Free Agent…
French publishers are taking an interest in baseball. A book by Meddy Ligner that mentions baseball has been released, and a new book by Gaétan Alibert is planned for 2022. French baseball card publishers are also emerging…
The Japanese Olympics, with their double victory, didn’t highlight baseball in the Olympic world. We already knew that Paris was snubbing baseball, and it seems the Americans (to everyone’s surprise) will do the same for 2028 in Los Angeles.
Ohtani became the stratospheric 2021 MLB MVP as a Japanese player, having a power-packed season as both a pitcher and a batter. Read the beautiful article by The Strike Out: here
Baseball is becoming more democratic worldwide with its innovations. For example, you can buy baseball merchandise in Australia and pay with Bitcoin. We’re light-years away from that in France, where the few baseball shops struggle to stay afloat, with one (Lex Sport) closing its doors on December 31st. The same goes for the Batting Center in Bordeaux (Playground), which is also shutting down…
But let’s return to our baseball community. It’s not very large, but it has shown resilience against COVID-19. However, it hasn’t yet shown true solidarity. Many initiatives exist and are praised on social media: a private field in Brittany, the Baseball TV France app that gathers information and streams in one place, the À coup sûr interviews that give a voice to baseball actors…
Other opportunities will arise, and it’s up to us, members of this community, to help them—not just with a like or a comment on social media. Our salvation lies in our common will to come together for better success. One might think this is the role of a Federation President, but no, they can’t do it all. Each of us holds a piece of our upward unity, and every time a divisive word or gesture arises, it hinders our future successes.
Let’s hope that 2022 regains its calendar starting in March and that every initiative is supported by the entire community for our collective progress.
Forever for our passion!!
Photo credits: Glenn Gervot, Hiep Than Trong, Benjamin Witte
