Coaching the Lithuanian National Team

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After two nights staying at the hostel and seeing Moscow, I took the metro and then a minibus toward the outskirts of the city to meet up with Sigitas, the coach of the Lithuanian National Team, at the field in Moscow where the tournament was to be played. It was Monday evening, and we met there for the first organizational meeting for the tournament with all of the coaches, umpires, Commissioners and organizers of the event.
My role on the team was to be the assistant coach, to help Sigitas with player decisions and to be a sounding board during the games about strategic things. And, in his words, to ‘see everything’ and to tell him things I notice. I also kept pitching charts and scorebook for the games, which is something new for the Lithuanians. This was what was ultimately the most helpful to Sigitas and the team, because it gave our pitchers a concrete way in which to reflect on their performance during the game. They could look at the pitching chart after the game and see exactly what happened in each moment of the game. Thanks, Mark, for supplying me with ‘Lituanica Beisbolas’ pitching charts.
The games did not go exactly as planned for the Lithuanians. In our first match against Belorussia our starting catcher (and team captain) Mantas injured his knee; he actually injured it before the game began during the throwing of the first pitch by the assistant to the Mayor of Moscow. It was a bad throw and in lurching to the side to catch the ball he injured his knee. He was out for the tournament.
Being a neighbor of Lithuania, Belarussia was the one team we knew very well. Lithuania and Belarussia play each other regularly during the season. In this match, we lost to them 10-4.
In our second contest we played Finland. We played much better in this one (though Finland was a much weaker team) and won by the 10-run rule in seven innings. This time it was our starting shortstop who was injured; he was sliding into home head-first, the catcher jumped up to catch a high throw and came down on his hand, the cleat puncturing the skin of his left hand. He was taken to the hospital for stitches, and was out of commission for two games.
The following day we played Turkey and once again won in seven innings by the slaughter rule. It was the Turks’ first time fielding a national team. Most of their players were guys who lived in Germany and played in amateur leagues there; they all had dual citizenship and had returned to Turkey to play for the national team.
Winning two games put us into the semifinal game against Russia, who was the favored team in the tournament. We lost to Russia 11-1, putting us in the final game for 3rd/4th place.
One Lithuanian baseball ‘tradition’ that I think is really great: if you hit a home run, then you buy a round of drinks for the team. Yes, for the whole team. In the US, it is usually the guy who hit the home run who gets dinner or a drink (if he is lucky). But in Lithuania, it is the home run hitter who buys the drinks. Shaquillas, our big left fielder, hit two home runs in the tournament. As a result he returned to Lithuania with about $50.00 less in his pocket.
Another one of the players (Evaldas, our center fielder) would bring a bag of vitamins and a bottle of amino acids on the bus for every game. Evaldas is part-owner of the only baseball sports bar in Lithuania; he also does part-time business selling vitamins and dietary supplements. So he would bring these vitamins on the bus and would say to Sigitas “I have fourteen packets of vitamins,” and Sigitas would tell him whom he should give them to. Basically, all of the players who were playing that day got vitamins. The amino acids were for the pitcher who was pitching that day, to help his arm recover faster.

The Lithuanian team finished third place, behind the Austrians and the Russians. The Russians were far better than the other teams, winning the championship game against Austria 17-0 in 7 innings. The Lithuanians got redemption in the 3rd place contest against

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Photos

Balashika Stadium
This is the stadium where we played most of our games.

Lietuva
The Lithuanian Squad, during opening ceremonies

Opening Ceremonies
The ceremony included a performance by the an acrobat troupe from Moscow.

Game 1
Waiting for the game to begin

Drying out the field
The Turks' head coach had the idea to pour gasoline on the puddles, then light it; he maintained that the flame would burn off the water and dry the field. It didn't work.

Hurt Hand
Ramonas' hand, post-hospital visit.

Shaquillas
the lithuanian home run king

Comments

[Ann Mom]

Leituva!
LIETUVA! LIETUVA! LIETUVA! Wish we could have been there to cheer! Thanks for your entries. Love you!