Baseball in a distant land

Westheim · 08-31-2018, 07:00 PM

Today I was mindlessly browsing Youtube for stuff to busy my brains when I came across a live broadcast by the Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg (sic!), a team in the top flight of German baseball (promotion and relegation league!), who were playing the Mainz Athletics as the regular season is drawing to a close. Interest piqued, I started to watch. And yes, there is baseball being played in Germany, but it's hard to recognize.

There were some 300 viewers at any one point to the livestream; a lot more than in the ballpark.
People without any sort of trust issues were parking their cars right behind the outfield fence.
The broadcast was run by like three people and would routinely show the wrong camera angle.
The home team inexplicably had a guy with a .176 OBP batting leadoff.
Although maybe that was an error, because the chat moderator said how they were mostly doing the graphics from a selfmade Excel file.
The broadcaster largely refrained from translating any baseball terminology, which surprised me, because I know well worse from even educated Germans - … except for the word "run(s)", which he insisted to translate as "Punkt(e)" (point(s)).
Low-key hitting and pitching (there was at least one MiLB washout involved) mostly kept each other in check, but the level of defense displayed was egregious.
Both centerfielders at one point were almost struck in the skull by a harmless pop fly.
Although the lighting was pretty bad.
The Mainz shortstop made about four terrible errors, but was charged with only one.
There was what looked like a distance marker on the rightfield wall, but "27" makes no sense whatsoever even in the metric system.

It was a delightful spectacle that I watched all ten innings of.

There IS a highlight video, but with no commentary, no graphics, and no context (but some horrendous errors):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEO5r6zydJ8

What would this compare to in the US? Rookie league? Extended spring training? Saturday Beer League after the sixth inning a.k.a. the second refill at the barrel?

Déjà Bru · 08-31-2018, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westheim

It was a delightful spectacle that I watched all ten innings of.

Plus, there were no Mets around to drive you bonkers.

rudel.dietrich · 09-01-2018, 02:50 AM

That is pretty awesome!

From the highlight clip I would say that the level of play looks to be around NCAA Division II level.
The guy with the beard for Mainz crushed that one pitch though down the right field line. He looked like a man against boys out there.

Westheim · 09-01-2018, 04:46 AM

That A's guy that went plenty deep there is Austin Gallagher, who was on the Dodgers' farm for some years. He's the brother of Cam Gallagher, who has recently sipped a few cups of coffee with the Royals, according to Mainz' own website.

I claim if Max Kepler was still in Germany, he would probably hit .750 with 47 homers (in 40 games).

eriqjaffe · 09-04-2018, 10:36 AM

Regensburg also has some pretty slick alternate uniforms.

Westheim · 09-04-2018, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

Regensburg also has some pretty slick alternate uniforms.

He's relieved that the attendance is double digits, I am sure.

rudel.dietrich · 09-04-2018, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

Regensburg also has some pretty slick alternate uniforms.

I think that is pretty awesome.
I like it when sport does not take itself too seriously

Splitter24 · 09-04-2018, 07:21 PM

I had a chance to play in Germany and Italy out of college, but passed that up to play in South America instead. Germany would've been cool because I have family there (too bad Germany didn't host the Olympics in the 90's). The pay in Germany would've been virtually zero, but it would've come with a free apartment and the use of a car. But I opted for the better competition, marginally better pay and questionable political stability.

A teammate of mine on a semipro team left us to go play for Wuppertal in the Bundesliga in Germany. He was their ace pitcher. Filthy slide piece. I'm pretty sure he still holds Coastal Carolina's save record. I got the impression that it was an odd league with some quality players mixed in with some mediocre beer league calibre guys.

08-31-2018, 07:00 PM	#1
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,856	Baseball in a distant land Today I was mindlessly browsing Youtube for stuff to busy my brains when I came across a live broadcast by the Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg (sic!), a team in the top flight of German baseball (promotion and relegation league!), who were playing the Mainz Athletics as the regular season is drawing to a close. Interest piqued, I started to watch. And yes, there is baseball being played in Germany, but it's hard to recognize. There were some 300 viewers at any one point to the livestream; a lot more than in the ballpark. People without any sort of trust issues were parking their cars right behind the outfield fence. The broadcast was run by like three people and would routinely show the wrong camera angle. The home team inexplicably had a guy with a .176 OBP batting leadoff. Although maybe that was an error, because the chat moderator said how they were mostly doing the graphics from a selfmade Excel file. The broadcaster largely refrained from translating any baseball terminology, which surprised me, because I know well worse from even educated Germans - … except for the word "run(s)", which he insisted to translate as "Punkt(e)" (point(s)). Low-key hitting and pitching (there was at least one MiLB washout involved) mostly kept each other in check, but the level of defense displayed was egregious. Both centerfielders at one point were almost struck in the skull by a harmless pop fly. Although the lighting was pretty bad. The Mainz shortstop made about four terrible errors, but was charged with only one. There was what looked like a distance marker on the rightfield wall, but "27" makes no sense whatsoever even in the metric system. It was a delightful spectacle that I watched all ten innings of. There IS a highlight video, but with no commentary, no graphics, and no context (but some horrendous errors): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEO5r6zydJ8 What would this compare to in the US? Rookie league? Extended spring training? Saturday Beer League after the sixth inning a.k.a. the second refill at the barrel? __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

09-01-2018, 04:46 AM	#4
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,856	That A's guy that went plenty deep there is Austin Gallagher, who was on the Dodgers' farm for some years. He's the brother of Cam Gallagher, who has recently sipped a few cups of coffee with the Royals, according to Mainz' own website. I claim if Max Kepler was still in Germany, he would probably hit .750 with 47 homers (in 40 games). __________________ Portland Raccoons, 92 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.

09-04-2018, 10:36 AM	#5
eriqjaffe Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under The Christmas Fish Posts: 7,694	Regensburg also has some pretty slick alternate uniforms. __________________

09-04-2018, 07:21 PM	#8
Splitter24 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Willsboro, NY Posts: 2,895	I had a chance to play in Germany and Italy out of college, but passed that up to play in South America instead. Germany would've been cool because I have family there (too bad Germany didn't host the Olympics in the 90's). The pay in Germany would've been virtually zero, but it would've come with a free apartment and the use of a car. But I opted for the better competition, marginally better pay and questionable political stability. A teammate of mine on a semipro team left us to go play for Wuppertal in the Bundesliga in Germany. He was their ace pitcher. Filthy slide piece. I'm pretty sure he still holds Coastal Carolina's save record. I got the impression that it was an odd league with some quality players mixed in with some mediocre beer league calibre guys. __________________ Currently Reading: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen "Well, the game is afoot. I’ll take anal bum cover for 7,000." - "Sean Connery" SNL Celebrity Jeopardy R.I.P. Tommy Holmes 1917-2008

09-01-2018, 02:50 AM	#3
rudel.dietrich Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Zürich, Switzerland Posts: 8,608	That is pretty awesome! From the highlight clip I would say that the level of play looks to be around NCAA Division II level. The guy with the beard for Mainz crushed that one pitch though down the right field line. He looked like a man against boys out there.