by Josh Chetwynd

Despite teams from the Italian Baseball League dominating inter-European club championship play, it’s the Dutch squad DOOR Neptunus that earned its second straight title in 2014 as the continent’s top ranked team in the Mister-Baseball Top 50. As was the case in 2013, Italian league clubs advanced to the finals of the European Champions Cup series as ASD Rimini Baseball and T&A San Marino prevailed in their Euro Cup tournaments. Rimini won that title, but with Unipol Bologna capturing the IBL crown (and Rimini earning the Coppa Italia) no one team from the circuit amassed enough points to upend Neptunus. Instead, Bologna, Rimini and San Marino finished, two, three, and four, respectively. The German Bundesliga champions, the Solingen Alligators, rounded out the top five.

As for Neptunus’ position, the club was certainly helped by its country’s gold medal result at the European Championships in September, which bolstered the nation’s overall strength rating (see below for more explanation on the annual rankings’ methodology). In addition, even though Neptunus lost in the finals of its European Cup event to Rimini, it helped mitigate that stumble by soundly defeating the Italians 17-3 during a 5-0 pool phase performance at the tournament.

Beyond the abovementioned, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany also dominated the rest of the top ten. Hoofdklasse runners-up L&D Amsterdam placed sixth, while Euro Cup silver medalists, Vaessen Pioniers, came in seventh. Germany’s vice-champions, Heidenheim Heidkoepfe, finished eighth and Italy’s ASD Parma took ninth. Corendon Kinheim, a semi-finalists in Holland’s playoffs, rounded out the top ten.

Elsewhere in the rankings, KNTU-Elizavetgrad (Kirovograd) came in at eighteenth, marking the highest-ever finish for a Ukrainian club in the rankings’ eight-year history. In nineteenth, Belgium’s K. Borgerhout Squirrels also set a new benchmark for that country.

As in years past, these rankings are based on a combination of factors. Point totals for teams were amassed from two categories:

Strength of baseball in each club’s country: The strength of domestic leagues and the countries’ overall international success are significant factors in these rankings. To varying degrees, the elements considered include: The standing of each country’s national team in the European Championships (and qualifiers); the country’s overall performance in CEB club events; the size of the country’s baseball membership; and the number of international quality facilities in the country. In looking at country performance, both recent events and historical performance are taken into account. Club’s performance: This is the actual performance of each club. It includes final standings in domestic leagues (and inter-league play where applicable) and cup competitions; club winning percentages; and performances in CEB-sanctioned competitions. Head-to-head performance against other teams in the rankings is taken into consideration – but it is one of many factors. In this category, a team’s performance for the 2014 season is exclusively considered.

The mix of country strength and individual team performance is intended to give a snapshot of European club play for a single year. These rankings do not attempt to offer a historic comparison of clubs and do not assert that a team ranked higher than another is a “better” team. Rather, a combination of performance and league strength reflects the ordering.

We recognize that these rankings stir debate. In part, that’s their very purpose. We do not claim this list to be definitive. If you have any questions or comments, send e-mails to rankings@mister-baseball.com.

Finally, please note, the Mister-Baseball Top 50 reflects only countries where enough data was available to calculate rankings. Most notably, Russia was missing this year as we lacked the data to include its teams in the rankings.

2007 Mister-Baseball European Top 50

2008 Mister-Baseball European Top 50

2009 Mister-Baseball European Top 50

2010 Mister-Baseball European Top 50

2011 Mister-Baseball European Top 50

2012 Mister-Baseball European Top 50

2013 Mister-Baseball European Top 50

Mister Baseball's 2014 European Top 50 Pos. Club Country Points 1 Curacao Neptunus Netherlands 33.33 2 CNF Unipolsai Bologna Italy 32.17 3 ASD Rimini Baseball Italy 31.92 4 T&A San Marino San Marino 30.17 5 Solingen Alligators Germany 28.50 6 L&D Amsterdam Netherlands 27.83 7 Hoofddorp Pioniers Netherlands 27.08 8 Heidenheim Heideköpfe Germany 25.00 9 Parmaclima Italy 24.67 10 Kinheim H1 Netherlands 24.33 11 Draci Brno Czech Republic 24.17 12 Les Templiers de Senart France 23.73 13 Tenerife Marlins P.C. Spain 20.50 14 Kotlářka Praha Czech Republic 19.92 15 Paris Université Club France 19.83 16 Buchbinder Legionäre Germany 19.50 17 Rouen Baseball 76 France 18.28 18 KNTU-Elisavetgrad Ukraine 17.92 19 Eagles Praha Czech Republic 17.67 K. Borgerhout Squirrels Belgium 17.67 21 Montpellier Barracudas France 16.83 22 Arrows Ostrava Czech Republic 16.67 23 North Stars Moscow Russia 16.50 Sant Boi Spain 16.50 25 Brasschaat Braves Belgium 15.92 26 Stockholm Monarchs Sweden 15.67 27 Olympic School 42 Moscow Russia 15.00 28 Baseball Klub Nada SM Split Croatia 14.25 29 Astros Spain 13.00 30 CB Barcelona Spain 12.50 Olimpija Karlovac Croatia 12.50 32 Leksands Lumberjacks BSK Sweden 12.42 33 Essex Arrows United Kingdom 11.67 34 BK Apollo Bratislava Slovakia 11.25 35 Vienna Metrostars Austria 10.50 36 Brest Zubrs Belarus 9.00 Therwil Flyers Switzerland 9.00 38 Blagoevgrad Buffaloes Bulgaria 8.75 39 Kiili Pantrid Estonia 8.50 Stal Kutno Poland 8.50 41 London Mets United Kingdom 8.17 42 Juodasis Vikingas Vilnius Lithuania 8.00 43 Espoo Expos Finland 7.75 44 Dornbirn Indians Austria 7.50 Riga Lions Latvia 7.50 46 Atletico Alexandria Romania 7.25 47 West Fire Rivne City Ukraine 7.17 48 Beograd 96 Serbia 7.00 Oslo Pretenders Norway 7.00 50 Zajčki Rabbits Slovenia 6.75

Honorable Mentions: Club Country Almada White Sharks Portugal Greystones Mariners Ireland Panathinaikos Greece Reds Sleepwalkers Hungary Vilnius BK Lithuania