Off Hours: Fran McCrossan works the Irish pen

Serving two weeks as bullpen coach for the Irish National baseball team in Stockholm last month was a matter of the heart for Fran McCrossan.

“I love baseball and I love Ireland,” said McCrossan. The executive dean for medical affairs is a longtime baseball coach with the Slocum Baseball Club in North Kingstown. Most of the club’s coaches and players are of Irish descent.

McCrossan and three other Slocum coaches coached the Irish team through the European Championships, which are held every two years. The winner represents the continent in the Olympics. The competition was a chance for the Irish ballplayers to test their skills against teams from outside the country, McCrossan said.

The team played through the preliminary round, defeating Finland and Lithuania, but losing to Austria. During the medal round, they fell to eventual champion Sweden. In the bronze-medal game, the team lost to Poland by a run in the ninth.

“This was an opportunity for the players to improve,” McCrossan said. “We saw such better pitching, and the skills of our players evolved greatly in the short period of the championships. The proof was that we made it to the medal round for the first time. To be competitive and to play for a medal was a big, big success.”

Over the past few years, the Slocum club has built a rapport with the Irish Baseball Federation. In 1999, McCrossan helped coach Slocum against the Irish squad in Dublin. Last year, he helped host the Irish players, who faced amateur baseball teams across Southern New England.

Ireland has close to 4 million people and is about four times the size of Massachusetts. There is one baseball diamond. It was built in Dublin a few years ago with a $1-million donation from the O’Malley family (Americans and former owners of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers).

Popular sports in Ireland include soccer, Irish football, hurling, rugby and comogue, which is similar to women’s hockey.

“Generally, baseball is not understood or appreciated in Ireland,” said McCrossan. “Most Irish are probably not even aware that there is a baseball diamond or a national team.”

But the Irish baseball players are a dedicated lot. Some drive more than two hours to Dublin for each game.

“What is impressive is the love and commitment these players have for a game not appreciated in their native land,” McCrossan said.

Next summer, the Slocum club will travel with the Irish team to a French baseball tournament. “We have cemented a relationship with a great bunch of guys,” McCrossan said. – Scott J. Turner

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