2026 - Michael Clair - Czech Baseball Triumph

Michael Clair – We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball: How the Czech Republic’s Amateur Underdogs Became World Baseball Classic Heroes

Clair, Michael. We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball: How the Czech Republic’s Amateur Underdogs Became World Baseball Classic Heroes. University of Nebraska Press [2026]. Hardcover with photographic dust jacket. New.

The remarkable story of the Czech national baseball team and its unlikely rise to the World Baseball Classic. Clair follows a team composed largely of amateur players with full-time professions outside the sport as they emerged from the relatively little-known Czech baseball scene to qualify for the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Japan. Their performance, sportsmanship, and enthusiasm made the Czech team one of the tournament’s unexpected sensations and secured qualification for the 2026 WBC.

An unusual account of Czech sporting culture and the development of baseball in the Czech Republic, written by MLB journalist Michael Clair.