Baseball is still America’s Pastime. But representing the game on a national level brings a new level of responsibility and importance.
Players and coaches both share in those feelings.
Incoming Collegiate National Team head coach Paul Mainieri understands this better than most.
Mainieri is currently the head coach at Louisiana State University, but was chosen to lead Team USA this summer for the first time. He had previously been an assistant for the same program in 2015.
“The first time I pulled that USA jersey on over my head, it was in the privacy of my own hotel room,” Mainieri said. “I stood in front of a mirror to see what it would look like, and it overwhelmed me emotionally. I literally started to have tears stream down my cheeks.”
Current Houston Astros minor leaguer Jake Adams had similar emotions as a player when he represented the United States as a member of the University of Iowa’s baseball team in 2017. The Hawkeyes played two exhibition games in the Dominican Republic as a part of an international goodwill trip.
“It was a great once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Adams said. “I loved seeing how they play over there and getting to interact with a different culture.”
Mainieri noted that baseball is more like a religion in Latin countries, but in some situations, winning might be secondary to the experience of visiting a new way of life.
“They take their baseball very seriously in those countries,” he said. “The goal is to win, but we also want to do it the right way and we want the players to have a wonderful experience.”
According to Mainieri, it also takes a certain kind of player to represent the country in international competition.
“I want it to be life-changing for them, honestly,” he said. “I don’t want a player on the team unless they understand the significance of what it means to be a member of Team USA.”
Adams understood that significance well. He still uses what he witnessed during his international trip today as a professional player.
“I took away how much they love the game with what little they have,” he said. “They work every single day to get as good as they can be, and it pays off. I remember that when I work to get to the next level.”
While Adams gets ready to kick off his second professional season in April, Mainieri has to finish his season at LSU before he leads Team USA beginning in late June.
Mainieri has reached the highest level in collegiate baseball, winning a national championship in 2009. That doesn’t stop him from having high hopes for his national team.
“If we can have a really successful summer and take care of business in the three series that we have, it will just be icing on the cake,” he said. “To coach representing the country that I love so much, and then to win and have success, it would just be fantastic.”
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