WBC IGT: Italian Americans v. Dominican Republic 3/9/06

[Frayed Knot]

Or maybe Fiore Gino Tennaci who used to play for the A's.
You may have known him as Gene Tenace.

With a name like that even I would have been OK if he were an Italian ringer - even though born in Russelton, PA

[Willets Point]

I'm hoping there's an Irish team for the next WBC and I can qualify under the great-grandchild clause. I mean I'd totally suck, but it would be fun.

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Or maybe Fiore Gino Tennaci who used to play for the A's. You may have known him as Gene Tenace.

He was listed on some rosters as "Fury" Gene Tenace.

Later

[MFS62]

EDIT; dupe post

[metirish]

]I'm hoping there's an Irish team for the next WBC and I can qualify under the great-grandchild clause. I mean I'd totally suck, but it would be fun.

You'll have to become a citizen I think.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Well, I missed most of the last half of the game, but Beltre hit another HR, and Alou hit a dinger as well. Dominican Republic wins 8-3!

Piazza ground out to deep short in his last at bat and Reyes made an apparently dazzling play to get him. Announcer #1 immediately labeled it "the play of the game."

[Willets Point]

metirish wrote: ]I'm hoping there's an Irish team for the next WBC and I can qualify under the great-grandchild clause. I mean I'd totally suck, but it would be fun. You'll have to become a citizen I think.

And a baseball player. But let me fantasize.

[nymr83]

metirish wrote: ]I'm hoping there's an Irish team for the next WBC and I can qualify under the great-grandchild clause. I mean I'd totally suck, but it would be fun. You'll have to become a citizen I think.

Not according the BS rules in which you must have been born there or even had a parent born there, there are apparently other ways in as well... essentially the idea is that there arent 16 strong baseball countries in the world so they needed to make a few up with weird eligibility rules.

[seawolf17]

I believe the rule is that you need to be eligible for citizenship in that country, by that country's rules. Some of them are complicated, but just about anyone with a parent or grandparent who was a citizen is pretty much eligible. MLB didn't make that up, it comes from the participating nations.

[metirish]

You're right Nymr83, but I think baseball Ireland won't let you play for them unless you are a citizen, of course getting that is not that hard.

[nymr83]

Yes but there is a huge huge difference between being a citizen (no matter how easy a given country allows you to become one) and being "eligible" to become a citizen...
I once read that under Israel's "law of return" something like 1/10th of the American population would be eligible for citizenship (though in most cases because of their blood relation or marriage to someone who is themself only part-jewish) maybe Israel should determine who some of these people are and field their own team of ringers next time around, they'll have the distinction of having never set foot in the country they are playing for... something I'd bet a few players on the Italian or South African teams are also "guilty" of.

If it were up to me (yeah its not, they'd rather leave these decisions in the hands of morons) I'd say "citizens only."