Nashville Sounds International........

The current roster of the Nashville Sounds certainly has some geographic variety. The 24 players hail from 6 countries, 1 territory and 12 states.

Going along with the current international flavor of major league and pro baseball, the Sounds have players from, in addition to the USA: Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Canada and Australia.

The two countries perhaps somewhat unique on the list are Canada and Australia. The players on the road less traveled are Adam Stern from London, Ontario, and Trent Oeltjen from Sydney, Australia.

They are both living their dream of playing pro baseball. Both are outfielders. Stern is 30 and Oeltjen is 27. Both played for their national teams in international competition, including the Olympics.

They took time out of their hectic schedule to speak to reporters before a Monday game recently.

"Coming up through the ranks, it has been a great experience," said Oeltjen, shirtless, in the clubhouse. "My goal has been to make to the major leagues." He realized that goal last season with the Diamondbacks. He is one of only 26 players from Australia in the history of the major leagues.

Oeltjen is 6-1, 190 with speed and power and bats and throws lefty. He often bats lead-off and can hit the long ball. On this particular night, he tagged a home run about 390 feet, helping the Sounds win.

Stern has played with four organizations in his career and has spent parts of four seasons in the majors.

Being from Ontario in Canada, Stern described how players there do not get as much playing time because of the weather and the heavy emphasis on hockey.

"Our season was shorter and we only usually played on weekends," said Stern. "Playing college ball here helped me a lot." Stern and a group of players from the London area all played for the Univ. of Nebraska in the Big 12, some of the top college baseball in the nation. He was 2nd team All-Big 12 one season and turned pro after three years. Stern has also made it to the majors, with the Red Sox, Orioles and Brewers.

"There are more players from Canada these days, like Morneau and Jason Bay, so people are more aware of baseball in Canada," said Stern. Currently, there are approximately 19 players in the majors from Canada.

Oeltjen said that baseball is about "eighth or ninth" on the list of most popular sports in Australia, behind the leaders like rugby, cricket, swimming, tennis, golf and others. His dad is from the states, Seattle, and introduced Trent to baseball at a young age.

He played seven years in the Twins organization before playing for Arizona and now Milwaukee. He came up through the Twins farm system with Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and others.

By the way, he likes living in Nashville. After greeting a reporter with a friendly "Hi, mate," he was asked about his adopted city.

"It's a nice place here," he said. "It's neat to go downtown and see all the music playing in the restaurants and bars."

Cruz and Almedo: Ballet Without Music

Ballet without music. Drama without words. A carnival without kewpie dolls.

That's how some have described baseball.

And in Nashville, music city USA, that sounds right. It rings true- especially up the box, where shortstop Luis Cruz and second baseman Ray Olmedo orchestrate the middle of the Sounds' defense.

Their defense is almost an art form- gracefully taking shape amidst the hard-nosed reality of baseball at the highest levels. In a recent series against Oklahoma City, 26 of the 48 players on the two rosters spent time in the major leagues last season. This is not your everyday baseball game- these are the top players in the world.

Cruz, from Mexico, and Olmedo, from Venezuela, have both spent considerable time in the majors.

Olmedo has spent five years in the bigs, four with Cincy and one with Toronto.

Cruz has spent parts of two seasons in the show with the Pirates.

Both are high character guys who are well-spoken and courteous. They make a tough, fast-paced sport look easy. Running to balls all over the field, jumping high during double plays, turning double plays faster than a salsa move on the dance floor, these guys are the real deal.