Ireland Buccaneers Make Third Trip to MSBL World Series
Editor’s note: MSBL is thrilled to have Ireland again represented at the MSBL World Series in Arizona. They first competed in the World Series in 2017 and followed up in 2019. They left without a ring but maybe the third time is a charm!
I asked Buccaneer manager Jon Carter to forward a few words about what this trip means to his team and their mission as a ball team representing a country. Below are Jon’s comments. Welcome back, my friends! (mo chairde)
Submitted by Jon Carter, Buccaneers manager
After being invited to play in the World Series for the Dodgers back in 2015 I made it my mission to bring my team from the United Kingdom and Ireland to Arizona to experience playing different teams on the best fields. In 2017 we came to Arizona as did we in 2019, and both times we had a blast. We are currently 0-12 but this year we believe we can shake it up a bit and notch a few W’s. (On a side note, I am only the second British/Irish player to record a win in the tournament’s history so far, this was whilst playing for the Dodgers).
The Buccaneers Travel Team was founded in 2017, is based in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is heading to Arizona this year with two teams. One in the 35+ ‘cactus’ bracket and one in the 40+ ‘mountain’ bracket. Word is getting out about the MSBL World Series and guys from this side of the pond want in! This time ‘round we have players joining us from England, Ireland, Lithuania, Romania, Australia, Japan, Canada, USA, Italy, Venezuela, and Hungary, which probably makes us the most multicultural team you can find. Baseball truly is worldwide!
We play in tournaments all over the world, and this year we are ‘Battle For Britain’ Champions which is held in the United Kingdom. We also finished a respectable third place in the ‘Ashbourne International’ held in Ireland. Notable kudos in this tournament were two wins against the Irish National team, 25-9 and 12-9.
We look forward to competing once again against the best amateur players in the United States!