Happy St. Patrick's Day, O'Bauxite Nation! Ireland - the home of Guinness Beer where an occasional pint will probably be consumed today. Where U2, Padraig Harrington, and Pierce Brosnan hail from. Where sports like hurling, gaelic football, rugby and soccer dominate the sports landscape. Ireland is not known as a baseball power yet but the sport has been picking up momentum as detailed in the DVD "The Emerald Diamond".
The 2006 documentary by John Fitzgerald is about the beginnings of the Irish National Baseball team and how it has progressed at the European "B" Pool baseball championships. It begins with the story of St. Louis native Mike Kindle, who moved to Ireland in 1990 and came across a Irish Softball bumper sticker one day. Discovering there was a slow-pitch softball co-ed league actually in existence, Kindle was able to play ball again but he wanted to play a more competitive brand of baseball. That helped lead to the eventual formation of Ireland's national baseball team that came together in time for the 1996 European "B" baseball tourney in Hull, England. Not to give the whole thing away, the Irish team endured its share of struggles but things did get better at the end of the tournament.
The documentary also highlights the making of O'Malley Field just outside of Dublin, named after former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley, who provided the money to form the diamond headquarters of baseball in Ireland. One theme that comes into play thoughout the documentary is the Irish's love of the game. Through rain, hail, or sleet - the players don't let that stop them playing the game. They also have to tend to their own fields by doing their own groundskeeping and making their own backstops out of chicken wire.
I first heard about "The Emerald Diamond" from a Baseball Prospectus podcast when Will Carroll interviewed producer/director John Fitzgerald. I then bought it for my Irish-born parents for Christmas a couple of years ago and they loved it. Overall, it's well worth picking up and if you're Irish, you'll really a get a kick out of it. It's great craic!
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20090316215326286