Kristaps Aldins to Coach Latvian National Baseball Team
Justin Lutes
HOBOKEN, N.J. (July 21, 2014) – Head Coach
Kristaps Aldins of the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball program will guide the Latvian National Team this summer in the European Baseball Championship. Pool play begins for Latvia on July 29th in Ljubljana, Slovenia, while the championship will take place in the Czech Republic.
Aldins, a dual citizen of the United States and Latvia, began managing the Latvian team in 2011 where it competed in the European Qualifier in Antwerp, Belgium. Box scores and schedules can be found by
visiting this link.
Over his three years at the helm of the Stevens program, Aldins has guided the Ducks to an overall record of 74-51, which included the first-ever victory in the NCAA Division III Regional Championship this past May. The Ducks posted a program-best 27 victories in 2014 and earned an automatic bid to the DIII New York Regional by winning the CUNYAC title.
Below are some excerpts of an interview Aldins took part discussing the Latvian National Team:
CD: How did you get be in touch with European Baseball?
KA: My experience with European baseball started in the summer of 2002 when I was contacted by current Clark University Head Coach, Jason Falcon, to travel to Brasschaat, Belgium to participate in the Flanders Invitational Tournament. Representing the United States Athletes International organization, I was exposed to the quality of European baseball and always knew that I would like to return some day in some capacity.
CD: What do you know about European baseball?
KA: I know that the game has been growing by leaps and bounds. While in Europe in the summer of 2002 I was impressed by the quality of play from various European national teams including Belgium and Sweden. I'm sure progress has continued to take place ever since thanks to the efforts of MLB International, MLB Envoy and, most importantly, the passion and dedication of the baseball enthusiasts in each individual country. Although this has been my only true overseas baseball experience, I have been doing research on European Baseball ever since… The level of play in countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain is obviously tremendous as all are rated highly in the IBAF World Rankings.
Although it has been disappointing to have baseball taken away as an Olympic sport I am confident that it will reappear in the near future. I know that there are many dedicated people out there who are working hard to make this happen. The efforts to promote the game on a global basis through events such as the World Baseball Classic have been tremendous and there is no doubt that baseball has the potential to continue growing in popularity around the world.
CD: What led you to accepting the position of head coach of the Latvian National Team?
KA: The chance to serve as Latvia's Head Coach in the European Qualifiers [was] an opportunity that I [could not] turn down [in summer 2011] and I am very grateful to have a chance to do it again in Summer 2014. There are not too many opportunities that involve representing your [families] native country in international competition!
Ever since I have been a college coach I have actively worked with the National Team in Latvia. In fact, upon returning from my trip to Belgium with USA Athletes I decided to Google "Latvian Baseball", on a whim, and was surprised to find a website (
http://www.beisbols.lv) that also happened to have some contact info for some of the managers. After sending out some emails and subsequently beginning dialogue with the people over in Latvia, I have assisted the Latvian National Team as a consultant in numerous capacities – culminating in the Head Coaching opportunity of the national team.
A major factor in making this summer's [and Summer 2014] trip[s] to Latvia a possibility has been the assistance and guidance of MLB Envoy. During the 2011 ABCA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee I met with representatives from MLB International and Envoy. The result of these meetings was an agreement to send a MLB Envoy representative to Latvia for first time in history.
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