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1984 European Champs Preview
October 28th 1984 - Interest in baseball is at an all-time high in Europe and fans across the continent are all looking forward to the first ever European Championship in the sport.
Experts have predicted that the winners will come from a group of 6 favourites - Spain, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Russia, Belgium - but it promises to be a wide open tournament with only a few teams not really in contention (England, Switzerland, Poland).
The most intriguing squad in the eyes of this reporter are the boys from Ireland. They have a superb starting rotation - Malcolm Kennedy (Paris), Alois Maloney (Amsterdam), Steve Moynan (Moscow), Bart Taft (Oslo) - and if their hitters can overcome a lack of depth, they look good to go a long way in the tournament.
Other than injuries, there are not many big names who have missed out on places in their national squads. The two names worth noting are Penn Heldt, who didn't make the German squad despite winning 12 games for the EBL champion Brussels Hitmen and 14 game winner, Stuart Seaward (Dublin), who is kept out by the aforementioned Irish rotation strength.
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