(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The World Baseball Softball Confederation announced on Tuesday the coaching staff for Team All Euro two-game series on March 6-7, 2024 against Japan at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan.
Italian baseball legend Marco Mazzieri will manage Team All Euro for the two games against Japan. Mazzieri helped the Italian national team capture the gold at the 2010 and 2012 European Baseball Championship, where they beat the Netherlands in both gold medal games. Mazzieri is also currently serving as the WBSC Coach Commission chair for the sport’s governing body.
Netherlands native Sydney De Jong will be the bench coach for Team All Euro in the two exhibition games. De Jong was a catcher during his playing career and played in the Olympics along with being a 2011 Baseball World Cup champion for the Netherlands. De Jong also won the silver medal twice in 2006 and 2010 along with four European Championship titles during his playing career. De Jong is currently the U-23 Netherlands national team manager.
Former Italian national team pitcher Alessandro Maestri will be the pitching coach for Team All Euro. Maestri began his professional career in Italy with San Marino and was signed by the Chicago Cubs as an undrafted free agent on January 6, 2006 and played up to Double-A Tennessee with the organization until after the 2010 season. Maestri also played in the Australian Baseball League with the Brisbane Bandits in 2011-12 and the Sydney Blue Sox from 2018-20, Liga Mexicana de Béisbol with El Águila de Veracruz in 2017, Nippon Professional Baseball with the Orix Buffaloes from 2012-15 and in the Korean Baseball Organization with the Hanwha Eagles in 2016 during his career. Maestri helped Italy win the bronze medal in the Intercontinental Cup in 2010 and played for Team Europe in 2015 during the last exhibition game against Japan. Maestri is a pitching coach in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
Netherlands Olympian Evert Jan T’Hoen will be the infield coach for Team All Euro. T’Hoen helped the Netherlands win four European Championships during his playing career. T’Hoen was drafted by the California Angels in the 32nd Round of the 1995 Major League Baseball Draft out of Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla. T’Hoen played from 1996-2001 in the Angels organization and made it up to Triple-A Salt Lake during the 2001 after deciding to play professionally in the Netherlands for the remainder of his career. T’Hoen was appointed to manage the Netherlands national team in 2018 after he won four titles in Honkbal Hoofdklasse with Neptunus Rotterdam.
Steve Janssen was the last manager of Team All Euro in 2015 and will be the third base coach for the two exhibition games in Japan. Janssen played professionally in the Belgian Baseball League and won seven national championships all with the Brasschaat Braves during his career. Janssen played with Belgium during the 1993 and 1995 European Championships. Janssen was the Netherlands national team pitching coach from 2003-05 and was the manager for the Netherlands national team from 2010-18. Janssen won two Honkbal Hoofdklasse with Neptunus Rotterdam in 2009 and 2010 and was a minor league pitching coach with the Chicago Cubs from 2018-19 before becoming the Germany senior national team manager in 2019 until Jendrick Speer took the position on March 16, 2023.
Czech Republic national team manager Pavel Chadim will coach first base for Team All-Euro. Chadim helped the Czech Republic qualify for the 2023 World Baseball Classic for the first time in its nation’s history on September 21, 2022 after beating Spain in Regensburg, Germany 3-1 in the final qualifier game. As a player Chadim was an outfielder in the Czech Extraliga and played for Draci Brno where he won eight league titles during his playing career. Chadim was named the Czech Republic national team manager in 2021 after managing the U-21 national team and coaching the first team for the Czech Republic to appear in the Little League World Series in 2013. Chadim also became the vice president for development of the Czech Baseball Association in 2015.
Aritz Garcia will be the bullpen coach for Team All-Euro and Luis Camargo will be the batting practice pitcher and bullpen catcher during the two exhibition games against Japan.
Manager Hirokazu Ibata will be at the helm for Japan for all international senior events in 2024.
Japan will also play in the WBSC Premier 12 tournament on Nov. 10, 2024, after the regular seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, Major League Baseball, the Korean Baseball Organization, and the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan.
Team All Euro’s roster will be built by World Baseball Softball Confederation officials and other countries’ federations throughout the WBSC Europe sector for the two-game series in Japan.
The first edition of this event was held in 2015 at the Tokyo Dome, with the series being split. Japan won 4-3 and Team All Euro won 6-2 in the only two games both were held on March 10 and 11 before the start of the NPB regular season.
The start times have not been announced for the two exhibition games in Japan at the Kyocera Dome.