Three years ago, when former big leaguers Jim Lefebvre and Bruce Hurst were asked to manage and coach the Chinese National Baseball Team, the charge was to build a team that could represent the country when it hosts the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The mandate, however, was a lot easier said than done.

The country of 1.3 billion people is light years behind countries like the United States, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Japan and Korea when it comes to baseball. There aren't many suitable fields, only one six-team professional league which started as a four-team league in 2002, and Little League programs are few and far between.

"They're developing. They don't have a lot of people that play the game," said Hurst, the St. George native who played 15 seasons in the Major Leagues with Boston, San Diego, Colorado and Texas.

"When they're 15 years old they begin teaching them to play baseball. They are good at practice but they don't play a lot of games."

China is still suffering from the effects of a cultural revolution that banned baseball and all its teams in 1959. The game was viewed as an evil western influence. Baseball finally returned in 1975.

China's current 30-man team, consisting of players ranging fro 18 to 30 years old, has played together for three seasons, and what would be considered minimal success by some is viewed as tremendous success for the Chinese.

Just last year, Team China took the bronze medal at the Asian Baseball Championships, which, in turn, earned it a spot in the World Cup in Holland. The team went on to finish ninth in the 18-team tournament.

In early March, Team China went 0-3 in the inaugural World Baseball Classic while competing in pool play with Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei.

"We played in a very talented pool. There are great players in Asia," said Hurst, a St. George native who was selected in the first round (22nd pick overall) by the Red Sox in the 1976 draft.

"The Chinese didn't think they were going to advance but they weren't overwhelmed with the talent we played."

Hurst, who speaks with the players through an interpreter, travels to China two or three times a year to hold practice sessions with the team. Also, they'll practice on site for a couple of weeks before playing in tournaments.

In preparation for the WBC, Team China worked out in Scottsdale, Ariz., for a month and then practiced in Tokyo for a week before opening the tournament with Japan — the team that eventually beat Cuba for the world championship.

Team China, which didn't have one player on the team under a major league contract, was outscored 40-6 in three games, but it learned what it needs to do to be competitive.

"It was a great learning experience. The WBC was huge," said Hurst, the team's pitching coach. "You listen to every player talk and it was a great thing to represent your country and play against the greatest players in the whole world."

Team China now has two years to get ready for the Olympics. Although it has made great strides over the last three years, there is still a lot of work to do: get more kids playing the game and cultivating a sound pitching staff.

"We got to develop more talent over there," Hurst said, comparing the team's play to Class-A baseball in the United States. "We've got to get more talent and more guys competing for jobs on the national team. We need competition to make it more prestigious in order to get the maximum out of our players . . . There are some incredible athletes in China and certainly they have the numbers to get what we need."

Currently, players are selected from their provincial teams to play on the national team. That in itself is a problem, especially with the pitching.

"All of the more talented kids get hurt and break down (because they are overworked). Then we get handed pitchers that are less experienced. It's a complicated thing," Hurst said.

Right now they are in the process of creating more suitable training, rehabilitation and medical programs to help keep pitchers healthy.

"Because of that, the pitching isn't developing as much as the position players," he said.

The Chinese National Sports Authority keeps a watchful eye on the national team and and according to Hurst, it likes the direction in which the team is heading.

"We have great relationships there. I think they are happy with the way were are going. They understand there are a lot of hurdles to cross and they are willing to go to work."


Bruce Hurst file

Played 15 seasons in the major leagues with Boston, San Diego, Colorado and Texas.

Besides working with Team China, he works for Major League Baseball International.

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Baseball officials in China called MLB asking for an experienced manager, and MLB asked Jim Lefebvre to manage the team. Lefebvre asked Hurst to be his pitching coach.

Resides in Gilbert, Ariz., with his family.

Retired as a player in June 1994. He was with the Rangers at the time.


E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com

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