Barry Larkin has ambitious plans to grow baseball in Brazil
— -- NEW YORK -- Barry Larkin doesn't have any delusions of baseball supplanting soccer as the king of sports in Brazil.
But the Hall of Fame shortstop, who serves as manager for Brazil in baseball's version of the World Cup, is deeply ambitious about the potential to cultivate the game in Latin America's most populous nation -- and he knows the best way to do it is to spark national pride by winning at the international level.
Brazil is competing in this week's World Baseball Classic qualifier at MCU Park in Brooklyn, New York, against Israel, Great Britain and Pakistan. The winner secures the final berth in the 16-team field for the 2017 WBC and advances to face South Korea, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands in pool play in March in Seoul. Brazil took the first step toward returning to the WBC main draw Thursday with a 10-0 win over Pakistan. Two more victories would secure a trip to Korea.
Larkin has assembled a roster that includes six players younger than?20 and four players at least 40. Nine played this year for minor league teams affiliated with Major League Baseball organizations, including two at the Triple-A level. Four are natives of Cuba who defected. Three were born in the United States but have parental ties to Brazil. Several players and coaches are Brazilians of Japanese heritage.
How unusual is Team Brazil? In Thursday's game, 40-year-old outfielder Juan Carlos Muniz hit an inside-the-park home run, and 15-year-old pitcher Eric Pardinho took the mound the next inning.
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