The general manager of the German National Team Jesco Veisz was so kind to answer a few questions regarding the preparations for the Baseball World Cup in September and the selection of the preliminary 40-man roster a few weeks ago.

Mister-Baseball: How are the preparations going for the Baseball World Cup?

Jesco Veisz: The coaching staff has picked a 40-man list of players that are under consideration to play for Germany at the World Cup 2009. 24 players will travel to Canada on July 15th to attend the World Baseball Challenge in Prince George, British Columbia. Some athletes could not be with the team for that due to work duties or university exams, but are still considered for the World Cup. Also, the current players under professional contracts will not be with us in Canada.

MRBB: What do you expect from the upcoming World Baseball Challenge?


JV: We expect very good competition. This will be a great chance to prepare for the upcoming World Cup. The local organization is doing a superb job and we are really looking forward to play in front of a good crowd at this high class tournament.

MRBB: After the Bundesliga season a training camp will be held in Heidenheim. We heard rumors about eventual exhibition games against France and Australia. Can you already specify any dates?

JV: We are still in the working process for the immediate preparation for the World Cup?s first round in Regensburg. Australia was on the agenda but can?t make it. France is still checking its possibility to play team Germany the weekend of September 4th to 6th.

MRBB: Obviously the selection, even of a preliminary roster, always creates discussions all around the Baseball community. Let?s go case for case to clear up some questions.* Why did you choose to include Octavio Medina and Edward Martinez to the roster? It is for certain that they are strong enough to play, but especially in the middle infield positions it seemed that Germany looked relatively strong.

JV: Medina and Martinez are worthy players to be considered for the national team. They bring a lot of experience to any team. Offensively and defensively they are, even at their age, outstanding baseball players. They have been playing excellent in the past and they are doing it now. We always look to improve our game.

MRBB: Why are strong hitters like Marvin Appiah, Sascha Steffens or Christian Nsien not on the roster?

JV: All the players that you have mentioned are very good guys. Due to limited roster spots they are not on our list at this point. In general, we talk about the players that made the roster and not the ones, that didn?t make it.

MRBB: Regarding the three players in the American Minor League system. Did you already talk to the clubs about their availability during the World Cup?

JV: The coaching staff is in contact with the professional players regularly.* All of them want to represent their country at the Baseball World Cup in September. The DBV (German Baseball Federation) office is working together with the IBAF, MLB and the clubs to get them eligible to play.

MRBB: Did you try to bring back players, who already retired from the national team like Jens Heymer for example?

JV: All of the retired players did a great job for Team Germany in the past and brought success to the team. They retired from active participation with the national team, we accepted that and we will move on. In 2008 we tried out a lot of young players that we think can help us in the future. They will grow into their roles as time moves along. Other veteran players take over their roles as team leaders.

MRBB: How do you keep track on your players during the season?

JV: Due to the fact that men?s national team head coach Greg Frady can?t be in Germany all year long, we established a well functioning scouting system. Local area coaches send in scouting reports on a weekly base. I travel during the season basically every weekend to one or more Bundesliga games to scout and keep touch with possible national team players. Coach Frady visits Germany a couple of times too to conduct workout camps and to scout Bundesliga games as well. Combined with the stats, we get a pretty good picture of our pool of players.

MRBB: Did you already start with the scouting process for the three opponents of Germany in Regensburg? How difficult is it to find good information?

JV: Of course, everybody tries to collect information on opponents. We have people that scout for us worldwide.

Our focus however will always be on our team, playing the best baseball we can play. That is the most important task on our agenda.

Mister-Baseball thanks Jesco Veisz for the interview. Good luck in Canada and the Baseball World Cup in September.