Belgium's Finest

Congratulations to my brother Barnabas, who made the Belgian Junior League Baseball All-Star Team! He'll train six days a week for a month prior to the Europe Junior League championship tournament in Kutno, Poland, July 8-17. The Junior League is administered by Little League International, and is a division for 13- and 14-year-olds. I believe the teams which place well in the tournament will be invited to the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Michigan, August 14-20. This is played on a standard-sized baseball diamond, which is a significant step up from Little League.

The competition at Kutno will include England, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Austria. No word on the format of the tourney.

Here's the latest scouting report on Barnabas:

He is the smallest kid on the team; some of them look like they could be his dad. What he lacks in strength, he makes up for in other ways: agility, good fielding, knowledge of the game, team spirit, [and] a "feel" for a play.

Think David Eckstein.

Not only does this give me enormous pride in my brother, it also means I get to keep the car for most of July, which is not quite on par with when he told me I should get married so he could have his own room.