The game in Japan may be cancelled, but Major League Baseball is still eager to build a bigger overseas profile, even here in baseball-parched Europe. On Monday, the Associated Press reported that a plan is afoot to play some games of the 2004 season in Europe.The gist:

The commissioner’s office has started discussing a plan to move regular-season games to Europe in July 2004.

Italy, France, the Netherlands and England are among the candidates, according to Paul Archey, a senior vice president of Major League Baseball International.

[…] Planning for Europe is in the early stages. Commissioner Bud Selig has not yet given the go-ahead, although he’s excited about the possibilities of taking the game all over the world.

[…]“Italy is probably the front-runner because they have one of the strongest fan bases and they have facilities,”’ Archey said.</blockquote>

Better yet, the New York Mets have expressed interest in the venture. Obviously, I’m biased in favour of England, but there’s always Ryanair if they go somewhere else.

Meanwhile, details of the more significant European baseball plan have quietly been sitting on the web site of the French Baseball, Softball and Cricket Federation for months. I wonder how long it will take for someone to finally pick it up.