Buchbinder Cup Champs

After our victory against Heidenheim we went back to the dorm to clean up and relax for a bit. We headed back to the field around 7pm for dinner and beer at the Gausthaus and spent the rest of Saturday evening watching Hamburg vs. Regensburg.

Our team was pouring with good spirit on this beautiful eveining, and so were the beers. We managed to sneak a couple of our own brews into the stadium so we did not have to pay €3 per beer at the park, and as I got to know my fellow American aditions from Manheim and watch baseball I was buzzing off the experience in Bavaria both literally and methaphorically. As my soberness decreased with the sunlight I watched the game between Regensburg and Hamburg get out of hand. Regensburg is a very talented team and they play with a lot of confidence. From an outsiders observation; and one from a savy American, I felt some of their swagger was a little indecent to the game. Do not get me wrong, I am all for good confidence and a puffed out chest, but I kept thinking to myself that these guys thought they were unbeatable. They were. After their Hamburg blowout they were 15-0.

We soon went to the Gausthaus after the conclusion of the game and the place was packed with soccer enthusiasm as FC Bayern-Munchen was playing. I grabbed a Weisen beer and sat near a tv with Danny, Sara, Augie, and our shortstop Jendrick Speer. We talked about Regensburg and what we needed to do in order to end their streak.

At the conclusion of the night our two vans were packed with both the Hamburg team and our own. One van was going to downtown Regensburg, the other back to the dorms. I felt really lucky to jump in the van going back to our dorms. I was "too tired," to say the least. I got back to the dorms and passed out.

The next morning was more of the same as the day before. Slamming dorms, footsteps, mixed in with the ocasional moan, yawn, and muffled voices. It was mandatory to be at breakfast at 9a.m. and before I went out of my room I did my best to look presentable again. It was not happening. I didn't really care though and as I hazely walked into the breakfast area I noticed that I was not alone in my less than stellar well being. Breakfast was a complete zoo. Guys walked in with nasty grins, wabbly steps, and lazy eyes from the previous night. I thought that it was going to be a very long day as we were playing the best team in the country that night. "Great, everyone is feeling terrible and we play Regensburg tonight." Apperantly some of the guys got in just a little earlier that morning and were out all night. Again, I was happy I got in the right van and attempted to sleep it off. As hazy as I was I did not have any sort of headache, and as I explained this to one of my German teammates they explained that because of the German purity laws when it comes to brewing beer, there are no ingredients that will give you a headache. As far fetched as it sounded I didn't really care and I bought it.

Luckily we did not play until 7p.m. that night and we all had time to go get more sleep before we left for lunch at the field. Once we met again at 1p.m. and got yet another meal at the Gausthaus we were free to go explore a little bit of Regensburg before we had to be back at 5p.m.

I headed to the townsquare also known as Altstadt (old town) with Danny, Sara, and a few other teammates, including our pitching addition from America, Corey. It was nice sharing stories with Corey, and he opened up to me about his experiences along with the pressure being an American pither has in Germany. Corey was slatted to start our third game vs. Hamburg on Monday and after our conversation I was really looking forward to catching him and working with him. Our Regensburg tour was great! We explored as much as we could in the few hours we had and it was an absolutley beautiful day. We ran into our starting shortstop Jendrick Speer who was with hissignificant other alongside his two children and his former coaches wife.
The Regensburg coach is a legend in Paderborn and father figure to many of my teammates who have been playing with the Untouchables since the late 90's. Martin Helmig guided the Paderborn Untouchables to 6 German Baseball Championships in 1999, and 2001-2005. Pretty amazing. He was now the man responsible for the unpresidented 15-0 Legionare who we played later that evening.

Upon our arrival back at the field we got ready in the visiting clubhouse and by this time we were feeling much better.

Our game started at 7pm under a beautiful sky with late evening sunshine and warm temperatures.

The stands were filling up as well and I couldn't help but think to myself "This is why we came to Germany."

That feeling left after about 15 minutes into the game however as things got out of hand for us really quickly. We were the home team and from the start of the game Danny was having control issues. I wouldn't blame it on pressure, nervousness, or even a lack of focus because Danny is much better than all of that. However after a few walks, a few hits, a few big missed strikes from the umpire, as well as a few runs scored in the top of the first we were feeling the pressure. On top of that was the fact that they were running all over us, and especially me. I was forcing the ball, and unfortunately my throws were going all over the place! (This later garnered me a new kangaroo court fine name, "One Hopper.")

The worst part of the inning was when Regensburg's eight hitter came up to the plate and literally put his back foot directly behind the plate, completely out of the batters box. This was and has always been unacceptable in baseball. By doing this, the batter is telling the pitcher that the plate belongs to the hitter and that there is not respect, nor fear of getting hit. This pissed me off completley! I have been playing competitive baseball for over 15 years, and not once has this happened when I am behind the dish. I stopped for a second before I called a pitch, looked at Danny who seemed to be as bewildered as I was, and I stood up.

"What are you doing man? Are your trying to get killed?!?!" Mr. Umpire, would you please tell him to get in the batters box? he is going to get hurt," I said.
The umpire umpire looked at me and said "He can do that if he wants, but if he makes contact or gets hit, it is an automatic out for not being in the batters box." I thought to myself, "sweet," as I quickly crouched again and called for an inside fastball, almost setting up directly behind the hitter.

However, the look and frustration Danny had did not go over easy. As any pitcher in this situation would do, Danny got pissed at the disrespect of the hitter and the frustration of the entire inning. Being an outstanding baseball player, both as a hitter and pitcher, he knew the direct disrespect intended his way by taking away the plate. Looking back on the situation I should have made a mound visit to tell him to either hit the batter or have him make contact, the umpire told me it would have been a free-bee out. Instead, I called a fastball in, and Danny humped up about 20% more of his normal fastball and sent a pitch wizzing right behind the hitters head at about 90mph +.
"Holy shizza dude!! What is he doing?!?" the hitter asked me.
"Are you serious kid? Get your ass in the box or else you are going to get killed!" Why are you putting your foot behind the plate man?"
"My coach told me too get on the plate, I am just doning what I am asked," he replied.
At this point the runner on first moved up another bag, then stole third on the next pitch. Once again, I forced a bad throw to third as our third baseman jumped up for the throw. A good throw would have had him easily. We finally got out of the inning, but it was not without drama. During the whole "crowded plate at-bat," the Regensburg coach came of the bench after Danny had sailed one past the hitters ear and asked him if he was throwing at him intentionally. Danny did not really react and basically told him that after three walks and a few wild pitches, that it was impossible for him to hit someone on purpose. I thought it was a good response because Danny was protecting everyone in our lineup by telling him it was unintentional.

As the bottom half of the first started, Regensburg was throwing their most recent addition from the USA. Their starter was a tall right handed guy from the South Side of Chicago, who had barley played baseball, yet had spent his life playing basketball through college and now professionally in Europe. Things got a little serious once again when the first pitch he threw was a fastball that hit our leadoff hitter, Jendrick Speer, in the head. He was o.k., but as he trotted down to first and I approached the plate the pitcher had a grin on his face as if he had done it on purpose, or was amused by the irony of hitting one of our guys. This was not o.k. in my mind. I paused, looked at him before I got in the batters box and then asked the catcher, "What is he smiling about? That is not something he should be smiling about, what is the deal, is he trying to get one of you hurt now?" The catcher looked at me, very concerned and said, "I have no idea man, he is a basketball player and might not understand the game."

Things settled down as the first few innings went by. We were down 5-0 after two innings and Regensburg was feeling extremely confident, just as they had all year. We were having a hard time at the plate though and the only two hits we managed in the first five innings were from me. On top of that, Danny had been drilled twice himself while batting, though we understood that it was not intentional. By the sixth inning the Regensburg starter was having control issues, and with a stacked bullpen, they brought in a new pitcher. We finally got on the board when Gavin Ng, Paderborn's American from the past few years got a 2 RBI single, bringing the game closer with a 5-2 score.

We finally shut down their offense as Danny was cruising with a great changeup and overwhelming slider after the first few innings. I also picked myself up and helped by finally throwing out three base runners from the 2nd inning to the 7th and effectively shut down the running game.

The next inning proved to be one of the biggest innings I had ever been a part of. I led off the 7th with a single to right field, my third hit of the day, and Danny worked a great at-bat seeing five or six pitches and staying alive until the pitcher made one big mistake. On a 2-2 count he left a slider up in the strike zone and Danny hit the ball about 480 feet to left. it was a towering shot! I was on first base and couldn't help but laugh and smile when I thought of the irony, and the fact that the left fielder didn't even move, as he turned and watched the ball soar well past the left field fence. This really pumped us up as we were now only 1 run down with no outs.

The rally continued as hitter after hitter got on base, worked counts, and got timely hits. I came up once again with 2 outs and the bases loaded, with another opportunity to get a big hit. At this point we had taken the lead by a score of 6-5. I worked myself into a 3-1 count and just missed a fastball on which I over-swung and fouled off. I continued to foul pitches off until I got a fastball over the middle of the plate and hit a hard ground ball up the middle. The shortstop did a good job knocking the ball down on the back cut of the infield, but the runner from third had scored, and the runner from second was the speediest in our lineup and scored easily as I raced to first for a hit. 8-5! We still had a good opportunity to score another run as Danny came to the plate for the second time. On a 1-1 count Danny turned a fastball around and hit yet another Home run! 2 Homers in one inning with 5 RBI's. ( I later fined him in Kangaroo court for showing me up, as I "only had two singles and two RBI's," in the same inning.) We led by a score of 11-5 and scored 9 runs in the seventh inning, leaving the Legionnaire with a puzzled look on their Mustached faces.

The Regensburg team had been growing mustaches since the beginning of the season with the thought that they would not shave until they lost. I had told their center fielder before the game that I hoped they all brought their razors for after the game. It was nice to see them with a fresh shave the next day!

Regensburg could not get their mojo back and as Danny cruised on the mound through the top half of the 8th and 9th, we won the game by a score of 11-5, shocking the hometown team in their own tournament, in front of their crowd. It felt great to beat a quality team, and with the win we were guaranteed the Buchbinder Championship because Hamburg had already lost two games. Red was happy about having the €1,500 prize money but wanted us to win the next day, which we did by a score of 2-1, beating a very good left hander from Gauting who was playing for Hamburg during the tournament. He had also pitched in the Blue Jays organization. Our American addition from Manheim did a great job as well and although he struggled with command at times, he got himself out of some big situations.

All in all it was a great weekend filled with great competition, awesome food and beer. I loved Regensburg, the baseball facility, and the people who appreciated baseball so far from our home land of America.
Since we had another week until our next game, Red gave us two days off in a row which allowed Danny, Sara, and me to head south about 45 miles to Munich to do some sightseeing before we went back north to Paderborn.

Needless to say, we were really looking forward to being in München and trying all the famous Bavarian Beer and food in the days to come.

(Here is a little Footage from Regensburg, enjoy)

Buchbinder Cup Day 1

The sound of doors slamming and flip flops shuffling up and down the hall combined with the daylight peering through the shutters was good enough for a wake up call at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday. We were supposed to be gathering down the hall for some sort of breakfast that was being prepared for us. I rolled out of bed, washed my face, tried to look somewhat respectable and headed out my door. I walked about 30 feet before a large gathering room came upon me where some of my teammates were congregating. I walked in and sat down to a table filled with Germany's best breakfast layout. Instant coffee, bread, nutella, butter, jam, salami, leiberkerst (a type of German bologna) and mortadella meat all presented themselves. As I began filling my plate with food, I realized that I had never actually had salami or any other type of lunch meat for breakfast. I also realized that I was still full from the tremendous dinner we had had the previous night. I still enjoyed the meal and especially my coffee. Since I have traveled around so much this year I have become very accustomed to drinking very dark coffee with nothing added; a feat I NEVER thought would be possible, however, I would not have it any other way now.

We left the dorms about two hours later to consume yet another meal at the Regensburg Gausthaus near the field. A delicious spaghetti bolognese plate with salad and bread was served to us at 11:00 a.m. Needless to say I was still full from dinner the night before, as well as breakfast. Yet I could not help but eat as much as I could because it was delicious. After about 2/3rds of the way through I was struggling with my gluttony. We did not play until 2p.m. and batting practice was not for another hour or so, but I felt like I would not be able to move the rest of the day. I sat in my chair at the large dinning table and watched as the rest of the guys either gave up on trying to finish their food, or gladly excuse themselves from the table and leave. I didn't give up that easy and I wanted to finish. However, it was not going to happen and I was the last person to throw in the towel.

As I approached the field for the first time in daylight I was pleasantly surprised at what a professional feel the grounds had to it. We walked through the right field side gate and around the plate to the third base dugout to find a big-league sized bench, complete with a tunnel to the brand new shower rooms and bathroom area. It was very impressive. On a side note, this part of the facility was completed for the World Cup last season and was still gleaming alongside that "new car smell."

As we started BP, first in the cages and then to the field, I noticed that the ball was jumping off our bats and carrying much further than we were used to in the north. Our field in Paderborn may as well be death valley because the wind blows in, and there is a force that just simply knocks balls straight down. In my batting round alone I made the adjustment to pull the ball hard, and I hit two or three out of the yard, an accomplishment I had not yet done in Germany, even in BP. I was not alone though. We all mentioned how much the ball carried, and we were excited to have a chance to hit in the game.

Once batting practice ended word had spread through our group of players that Heidenheim was starting their best pitcher, and a former Major Leaguer. I had heard tales of Heidenheim having a former big league pitcher or two, but I had never heard a name or even garnered conformation that it was true. The thought of facing someone who had pitched at that level lead me to think one thing, I want to get a hit off the big leaguer.

As I looked down the other foul line from where I was warming up I noticed a tall southpaw warming up. "That's the guy," our American addition said. I watched intrigued for a few minutes and I must say that seeing a big left handed pitcher who had major league experience put a little spark under me, as well as a little intimidation. I was not expecting to show up and face a former big leaguer who happened to be left handed. I quickly erased any negative thoughts that I had about not being able to compete against him and told myself to gear up and get ready for good competition.

Heidenheim was the reigning German Champions from 2009, and according to our players were loaded with guys up and down the order who could really hit. Some played professionally, some were German national team players, and some were good foreigners. From the way everybody talked up this team I thought to myself, "Geez, they have a former big leaguer on the mound and apparently their lineup is stacked, I wonder if our team thinks we can win?Especially after losing two last week."

After all the advice and different approaches I was told to take in calling the game, or facing certain hitters, I told the team right before we took the field, "Who gives a shit about anyone on that team, if we play together, pick eachother up and put runs on the board we are going to come out on top, let's play great D for Augie today and the rest will take care of itself. Last week is history, let's start fresh today and have fun."

I should have taken a little of my own advice, which is sometimes the case. As I took the field I was nervous for some reason. I got caught up in all the hype that ensued with this team and even the trip itself and I was extremely uncomfortable behind the plate for the first time all season. The ground was very strange, a mixture of clay and red dirt made an almost putty like surface, and it made my feet feel very weird. I felt like I had not foundation. As the game started the leadoff hitter walked and within a few pitches to the 2 hitter he was off to the races. As I gathered myself on the pitch and set my feet to throw I still felt I had no base. Regardless, I should have gunned the runner and I threw a ball that tailed off away from our second baseman and was charged with an error. "Ah man, that throw sucked," I said to myself. After moving the runner to third on a groundball and a sac fly, Heidenheim took an early 1-0 lead. However, that was all they were going to get the rest of the day. Augie had four pitches working for him all day and needless to say I had a GREAT time calling the game. It was so much fun. He stranded runners every inning and never shook a pitch I called. What a great performance. Augie is simply unheard of. He goes out every week after working hard labor from dawn till dusk, 6 days a week, and throws a gem. He competes like nobody I have ever met.

We scored on a few timely hits throughout the day and our defense was superb! Our American addition, Dennis Kelly hit a Homerun in later innings making it a 3-1 lead. I added an RBI with a push bunt (Red called for it) with runner on 1st and 3rd. The great thing about Germany is that if you move runners up on a bunt, or even on a RBI, they count the bunt as a sacrifice, which is not normally the case in the States. Although I did not get a hit off the former Big Leaguer, I was happy with my approach.

My third at-bat against him changed my season. Up until this tournament I had not felt exactly comfortable at the plate. I have had some great at-bats, but the timing and stroke itself was missing something. On a 1-1 count the lefty threw me a fastball up and in that I crushed! The ball was hit right down the line and as I watched it go foul by a matter of inches I thought to myself, "that was the best contact and swing I have had in four years!" Although I struck out on the next pitch swinging at a perfectly located fastball down and away I came back to the dugout thinking about the hard contact from the foul ball. I later told Danny that I thought I had a quality at-bat on the stirkeout and he laughed at me. "Dude, you struck out, how could you say it was a quality at-bat!?!" I explained to him that the foul ball changed my season because I felt the "good swing" come back. He laughed again and said, "I see where you are coming from, you crushed that ball." Plus, I added the fact that he struck me out on a great pitch because he didn't want to come back inside. I got a hit in my last at-bat off a different lefty and finished the day 1-3. We won the first game of the tournament and it was a big relief for us all.

Our post game discussion was interesting as well. Red told us he did not want to see any of us back at the dorms before midnight. FC Bayern-Munich was playing a very important soccer game that night and he wanted us to all go drink beer and cheer for Bayern-Munich after we watched the Hamburg vs. Regensburg game. Only in Germany!

I later found out that Heidenheim Heideköpfe starter was none other that former Carson High School standout Dusty Bergman. I had grown up watching him play against my older brother Steve, who is the same age. They both graduated from rival high schools in 1995. My brother and I both attended Reno High School, and the baseball rivalry between Reno High School and Carson High School runs very deep. It is funny to think that in this baseball tournament 5,000 miles away from Northern Nevada that two former rivals (although I was seven years behind) faced off at the tail end of our playing days. Although, I must say that his carrer was much more lavish than mine. He had pitched two innings in the big leagues for the Anaheim Angels in 2004 and spent over three years at the Triple A level, including stints with the Giants, Angels, and Yankees.

Bavarian Road Trip.

The toughest of weeks was behind us. We lost two big games to Pulheim at home. At the time it seemed terrible because Pulheim was a lower league team with a bad record and we were in first.

However, Baseball is baseball, and the important thing to do is move on and realize that anybody can beat anybody! Epspecially in Germany.

The fact is that each team is allowed 3 foreign (non European) players. Those players like Danny and myself have an exorbinant amount of pressure from coaches, management, and fellow teammates to be "the show," or the best players around. The other players are typically local athletes that fell in love with and play the game with as much enthusiasm as a good high school or college player. Our teammates are outstanding, and many of them would have been superstar ball-players if they had faced the constant competition Danny and I had seen growing up, through college and beyond. We faced a pitcher from America last Sunday that pitched at LMU ( a confrence rival of Portland ) and the Kansas City Royals organization. He threw tremendous. The difference between the US and here however, is the acceptence of losing a baseball game when another pitcher straight beats you. The biggest problem in losing two games in one day is the fact that you have to wait an entire week to play again.

After and array of what seemed to me as unaceptable losing behavior, our team regrouped, refocused, and began to look forward to a true 3 game road trip, just like our college days at Portland. The best part of the week was that we took a short practice on Tuesday, took Wednesday off, and by Thursday we felt better. Danny had his girlfriend, Sara, come in to visit, and she will be here until the 2nd of June. Everyone was really excited for the three game tournament in Regensburg, which is roughly 45 miles from Munich in Southern Germany, or the better known Provence of Bavaria. I was really looking forward to playing against the southern leagues best teams, Regensburg and Heidenheim (Heidenheim was the reigning German champions from 2009). Regensburg was undoubtdly the favorite in this tournament because they were not only the hosts, but the only undefeated team in Germany with a perfect 14-0 record going into the tournament.

We did not play until Saturday, but the idea of playing three days in a row was extremly exciting. Another exciting aspect of the tournament was that each of the four teams was allowed to play as many foriegn players as they wanted. Of the four teams, each team represented foriegn-non German players that either played organized professional baseball, college, and even major league level baseball. We picked up two American players from the Manheim Tornados. Dennis Kelly is a middle infielder who was leading the southern league in hitting this season and is tremendous defensively. His teammate and fellow American Cory Stevens is a right handed pitcher with electric stuff. Needless to say we were very happy to add the depth and it was shaping up to be a competitive weekend!

Also, around mid-week one of Paderborns former American players from the past two years, Gavin Nga, appeared at one of our practices. He is a native Hawaiian who played his college ball at The University of San Diego, which was a rival school to Portland, especially this season considering the Pilots and Torreros played an important 3 game series to decide the eventual WCC Champions.

Regardless of our affiliation, Danny and I respectfully engaged and talked with him about being a foreigner in Germany and our experiences thus far. He came back to Germany to look for work and be near his girlfriend, who is from Paderborn.

The drive south to Bavaria was long but fun. We got a chance to see a long stretch of Germany which was lush green, beautiful with rolling hills, Mustard fields, windmills, and the occasional European Castle. Not to mention the architecture of the homes and town centers we passed were incomparable to anywhere else I had been. It was delightful.

Upon our 10 p.m. arrival in Regensburg we went to the facility that the Regensburg Legionare call home and I must say that I was impressed, even in the dark. This area was the sight of the 2009 Baseball World Cup which featured Germany, China, Venezuela, and the United States. For the event, they added about 9,000 seats and it was the first time Germany had been graced with a beautiful baseball facility. (Pictured)

Needless to say, I was excited to play at a facility like this in front of good crowds, although I knew that 9,000 seats were missing from the photo above, and we most likely wouldn't fill the house unless we were playing the Legionare, which wasn't until Sunday night. Once we parked the vans beyond the right field fence we were treated to a delicious pasta and hamburger meal at the facilities mess hall and Guasthaus. We sat down as a team, enjoyed our food with traditional Bavarian Weisen Beers and went over the itinerary for the rest of the weekend.

We were staying at a local dormitory about two miles away and once we got there we quickly took over the fourth floor, got settled in and were told to be at breakfast at 8 a.m. just down the hall. It was the first time I had slept in a twin sized bed since college, but I was happy to have my own room with some privacy. As we visited each others rooms and told stories over a few beers I couldn't help but feel like I was back in college anxiously awaiting the next three days and mentally preparing myself for some good old fashioned Hardball.

Once things settled down I listened to some music and waited up for a bit. Danny and Sara were traveling with our teammate Heiko because our youth team had a game in Dortmund. I was fortunate enough to travel with the team vans because they had to stop in Manheim to pick up the other American guys we added for the weekend and it was a long trip. Upon their arrival I introduced myself, said hello to Danny and Sara and soon went to bed. I was excited about the weekend!

21 all over again

The big series sweep was behind us as we were at home all week in preparation for our first home games in three weeks. Between traveling places to coach the youth teams, and playing on the road we find ourselves moving quickly, and many times we don't stop to breath. Especially since we do not spend the night anywhere and we constantly find ourselves in the vans traveling 2-3 hours to different destinations.

The weather continued to stay unseasonably cold and the rain came with it from time to time. Apparently this has been one of the coldest springs Northern Europe has seen in the past century. Highs were in the mid 40's all week and it really made me miss springtime on the west coast.

I watched the San Francisco Giants play on Wednesday through MLB.com and it was so beautiful in the Bay Area. I felt warm watching the Giants play at home in the California sunshine at AT&T Park and for a moment I was vicariously back in California. As my California dreaming continued I soon talked to Erin via Skype and the weather was amazing in Portland, which at this time of year is not only necessary, but well deserved. That also put me back in Portland, and made me think about the anticipation of moving bak this October. I couldn't help but miss both places, my girl, my family, my friends, and my favorite baseball team. Needless to say I felt homesick for the first time. On top of all I want to feel spring so bad, and although I got a taste of it when Erin visited a few weeks ago, it was very short lived. The weather feels like it would in the Northwest United States during late February and early March. Cold, damp, overcast, and very unpredictable. A five day warm spell like we saw is definitely not unheard of in the Northwest in February, just like it is not unheard of in Northern Europe in April. All we can do it wait for the cold spell to end.

Monday was a good recovery day because I had caught 21 innings the day before and was really stiff and sore. I felt beat up, especially my bruised wrist and throwing arm. I rested all day although I went for a two mile run to help myself deal with any pain I felt I had. I have always found that it helps to exercise when I am sore anywhere. I figured if I could run the day after a catchaton then it really wasn't too bad.

With the weather being the way it has been, Danny and I have been trying to stay creative with our free time. We work on our German with the Rosetta Stone program, we read, I write the blog, and we watch movies. Last week was a perfect setup to our week ahead. On Monday we watched the movie "Beerfest," which is a movie about group of crazy American's who want to beat the Germans at beer drinking competitions during Octoberfest. This made for some highly entertaining stuff considering a cast of American's played the evil German's, speaking in ridiculous accents that were for the lack of a better term "dead on." I enjoyed every second of it because of the metaphors and snobbiness towards American's that we seem to encounter every week.

So, after watching the silly movie where the American's beat the German's at their own drinking competition it set our week up for the BIG UPSET that would later occur, and the sampling we would do with the different types of European beer.

The truth of the matter is that I enjoy beer as much as the guys in this movie, although a bit more responsible. I give myself that much credit at least. Each week, I try my best to travel about 200 meters from our house to the Loche Depot (A German beer store) and I pick out a different beer or two to try.

One of the best parts about being in Germany is the different beer we get to try. The German's have all sorts of laws and standards that make any kind of beer made in this country a delight because of the quality. Nothing but hops, barley, and water. The first time I walked into this store I was overwhelmed with joy. Keep in mind I have been in a warehouse at my former job in San Francisco that houses over 300 beers. I sold, traded, promoted, and even lived beer for a year in San Francisco because it was my job and I had a passion for it. I quickly began to lose my passion for it because I was around it all the time and didn't appreciate the industry. I wanted nothing to do with the American beer trade after about a year.

When I began coaching I stayed away from it for the most part. I wanted to appreciate it again one day because in all of reality I loved beer and the art behind making a good beer. This was the reason I did such a good job selling it. But like I said, I couldn't handle the inevitable treadmill of the workweek that surrounded it, and although I was able to sample most of the stuff I sold, it was no longer my ideal job out of college. I wanted back in baseball, and I got what I asked for.

So, seeing that I am in the greatest part of the world to find, sample, and enjoy beer, I take my opportunity to do it responsibly and walk/bike to the store every week. I walk through the store admiring the fact that every bottle that contains the hundreds of different brands and styles has at some point been recycled and used over and over again. In Germany, recycling is mandatory because the deposit from the bottles is around 10-30 cents. Not to mention the best part about recycling bottles is the fact that it keeps beer cost down. Including the bottle deposit of 8 cents, we roughly pay between 50-90 cents per .5 liters (1 pint) at any store. Where in the US can you find a pint of GOOD bottled beer (aside from PBR) that costs less than a dollar?

I am in Germany to play baseball, enjoy some traveling, and of course taste the culture both through food and drink. It just so happens that Beer and Bratwurst are in the title of this story, so I find it appropriate to write about.

Later the next day Danny and I were on our way to coach our youth game when we passed by the castle about a mile from our place. There were different tents, portable stations, and seats all around set up like a festival. Inquisitive about what the event, we wandered in after our game and found that it was a "Beerfest." Excited about the sampling opportunity, we planned on braving the cold and visiting the next evening.

With no coaching on Saturday and the only responsibility of the day was umpiring a 10 year old double header in the morning, we found ourselves conveniently walking through the Beerfest later that evening. Well aware of having two games the next day we responsibly chose wisely amongst the dozens of vendors selling the celebrated beers of the German and European market. As we walked through the 100 or so meters of Hop and Barley Heaven I noticed that they were serving Beer in glassware, and not plastic. Each vendor served their style of beer in their traditional way, with traditional glassware, and if you wanted to keep the glass, well, you had to pay a deposit on them anyways, so I did not mind keeping the ones I liked. At the end of the night, I had collected a few different glasses and decided that we had tried on of the greatest Beers on earth.

Danny had expressed the Belgium Ale we tried as a “Bluemoon on steroids!” The Trippel is a wheat style Ale traditionally made by Monks, and in the Belgium Style can be extremely sweet with a very high alcohol volume. The one we tried was around 12% and very delicious. I agreed that it was one of the tastiest beers around and much different from the same imports we drink in the states that usually have a metallic tasting preservative added in order to assure freshness.

As good as the beer was that night, we had two games against one of the less successful teams in the conference the next day and we needed to go home and sleep. I wish we could have tried more beer, but we did the right thing by leaving early.

The next day was bad, and not due to a hangover or too many beers the night before. We had a really hard time producing any runs against two good pitchers. The German starter for Pulheim was effective with three good pitches and we could not adjust or get anything going. I hit a really hard line drive right at second in my first at-bat and it pretty much defined our entire day. Everything we hit hard was right at someone. We lost the first game by a score of 3-2. Game two was more of the same as we failed to support Danny’s outstanding performance. We lost 2-1 in 12 innings. Danny pitched all 12 innings and in the top of the 12^th gave up a hit to an American with a runner on first and third. Before the hit they were at 1^st and 2^nd base. I let a bad pitch get by me to make the count 3-0 and the runners moved up. I looked over to the dugout thinking alongside our manager that we should put the runner on base to create a force out anywhere in the infield. That and the next hitter had been struggling all day. As I extended my arm outward indicating we wanted Danny to walk the hitter intentionally, he shook me off. “What?” I had never been encountered with this type of situation. Danny was too prideful to walk their best hitter intentionally although it was the smartest and safest thing to do. Conveying his confidence and pride I got back into my squat position called a fastball and said to myself “It’s on us now!” Danny humped a fastball right down the middle and the hitter swung and missed. The next pitch he threw was a changeup for strike two. At this point I was extremely happy because we had an excellent chance to get this hitter out.

I called a slider down and away hoping the hitter would chase the pitch and swing into an out. Plus, if we walked him nothing would be hurt. Danny threw a great pitch down and away and the batter hit a line drive up the middle. Base hit, run scores. “Oh man!” We are going to hear about this for weeks. In the end, I tired to figure out why I sat down on the 3-0 count. We should have walked him. We should have played it safe and put the runner on. I could not figure out for the life of me why I sat down. I found out after the game ended and I let the lose sink in. Danny said it perfectly, and I completely agreed with him.

Danny said “I am not over here to walk their best hitter in the biggest situation of the game, I want the challenge. If I am going to lose, it is because I went right after their best guys. I can live with that.”

I couldn’t agree more. I felt the same way, and being on the same page as Danny means that I knew exactly what he was thinking. The only reason I was questioning myself is because we lost. Twice. Danny’s decision was the defining moment of a bad day, but one we certainly can live with and learn from. I had a lot of people pissed off at me because I sat down and did not make. Nobody really said anything to Danny because he is the most important player on our team and in a sense, he did not loose the game. We didn’t score any runs. I pointed that out when I was approached with the same question over and over.

Danny threw a tremendous game. I have never caught a guy who can throw 12 innings and 200 pitches in one day. Pretty amazing stuff. And like the weekend before, I caught 21 innings in one day. I was exhausted by the end of the day.

We learned a couple of different things during the week. One was that European beer is indeed some of the best in the world. The second was that our team needs to respect every opponent and prepare each week as though we were facing the best team in the league. After the loses sunk in, we got over them, got on with our lives, and realized that baseball is baseball. On any given day, the best team can lose to the worst because of one factor, pitching. The Pulheim pitchers were great on this day. The American who threw in the second game was the best pitcher I had seen by far. He had a devastating curve ball that broke hard and late, and he spotted his fastball and changeup wherever he wanted. We couldn’t score.

Life is still good and we are still in 2^nd place. This coming weekend we have a tournament in Bavaria. The Regensberg Legionare are hosting a tournament at their amazing stadium and it should be fun to play in front of a good crowd with the best teams from the southern league. (The better league according to everyone in Germany) We’ll just have to see about that!

Let's play Blackjack....... Part Two

With a 12 inning marathon under our belts from game one, and a big win, we headed into game two with Danny on the bump. It was really nice to sit down for a half an hour and get some food and rest, although I was cautious not to get to relaxed. We needed to win game two in oder to occupy first place in the standings with Solingen, who after Saturdays loss to the Dohren from UC Davis was now 10-2.

I had a very nice push bunt hit in the first inning. With nobody on base and the first baseman playing deep in the infield I told myself it would be an easy hit. With a lefty on the mound he would fall off to the third base side giving me an extra step or two towards first base. With the first baseman so far back it makes it hard for anyone to pick up the ball and beat me to the bag, even if I am slow catcher. So, as the pitch came I squared to bunt and laid the pitched ball right down the first base line and the race began. The first basemen came running in for it, the pitcher went running after it, and as the first basemen picked it up, I was two steps ahead of the pitcher who was racing me to first at this point. Safe, with a hit. Just like my dad used to tell me all the time. "It's a line drive in the score book and the newspaper." I scored that inning with two outs and we grabbed and early lead, just as we had done in game 1.

As the game went on Danny was pitching really well into the 4th inning, when he hit a wall and lost his energy. To be honest, I was fighting the same thing. It is so easy to get fatigued after playing 12 innings at third and then being asked to pitch game two, or catching both ends of a double header. 15 innings of baseball in one day is a lot, but we still had at least 6 more. He gave up one hit and four walks in a row made it 4-2. We got out of the inning and grabbed some coffee and candy bars. The perfect solution.

We got through the rest of the next few innings without any problems. Danny actually hit his stride and progressively got better later in the game. It was his game and he gathered his energy and took control after his walkathon in the 4th. As a teammate, I was really impressed with his focus, and getting back to square one. It is really easy to fall apart after walking four in a row, yet he got better.

The funniest part of the situation was hearing the fans "trying to" give him a hard time. I laugh when I hear the things that come out of their mouth. Nobody, and I mean nobody knows how to heckle. Imagine grown German men trying to give a hard time to a guy who throws 90+ with statements such as "Yeah, vhy don't you go back to ze mound und throw a zittle harder on ze next pitch, maybe you culd sthrow anuder ball, yeah!?" (In a German accent of course) I laughed because nobody could think of anything better to say and we have both heard so much worse.

The rest of the day was a total crap-shoot. I had to remind myself before every single pitch to stay focused and call a good game. At this point I wasn't even thinking about hitting. I was hurting from getting drilled twice while I was batting, as well as getting nailed by pitches off my wrist and inner thigh. I was beat up pretty good.

In my second to last at-bat in the 6th inning I came to the plate and asked the Bonn catcher how he was doing. "I am hanging in there, this is a really long day though, how are you?"

I replied "Fine, although I am literally wearing it all over today. I have been nailed more times today than I can ever remember." He laughed and said "Yea, I noticed, I can see your wrist."

The conversation led me to a 1 ball, 2 strike count (1-2) with their American lefty still on the mound, and as I have done my entire life with 2 strikes, I move closer on the plate and a few inches up to the pitcher in order take his breaking ball and chageup away. The only pitch I give up is the inside fastball because it becomes harder to get the barrel out front and hit solidly. The lefty came set and threw a pitch up and in on my hands. I turned to avoid getting hit in the arm, but it was too late. I got drilled with a fastball on my right elbow, my throwing arm, and I have no protection like so many guys do. "God dammit," I said out loud and smiled a little bit because of the irony in getting hit, yet again. My elbow swelled a little and as the feeling returned, I realized I needed to stop complaining because I was fine. My energy, my approach, and my focus was fine. I just needed to suck it up an play hard. Plus, getting beat up a little makes you feel more alive, and we only play once a week at this point so it was not a big deal. I have time to recover, but I feel like a Monday morning Quarterback.

The 9th inning got interesting as we still had a 2 run lead. Danny got the first hitter out, walked a guy, and gave up a hit, then got another out. This put runners on the corners with 2 outs and the tying run on 1st. Danny worked into a 3-0 count, and we were trying to keep the tying run out of scoring position. With 2 BIG fastballs for strikes we got back to a full count. (3-2) This was a big pitch coming up and all I could think to myself was, 'this is the guy we want.' I stalled for a second and threw down three fingers indicating a slider. Danny took and extra second and without as much as a nod or a shake he started his windup. I had no doubt what he was going to do. The pitch was perfect, right down the middle and the hitter watched it right into my glove. I held it, waited in anticipation as I heard the umpire say "Dri!" (three in German) GAME OVER! Danny threw 160 pitches and earned every out he got. We won 4-2 and got a huge sweep over the first place team on the road. We now occupied first with Solingen, whom we split with last week.

The Untouchables, Danny, and myself had a terrific day on the field. Danny was rewarded player of the week for his efforts on the mound, and at the plate with his game winning homer in the 1st game. What a week.

As for me, I had done something that I had never done before. I caught 21 innings in one day. Being from good old Nevada and appreciating the victory I thought to myself....... "BLACKJACK!"

Lets Play Blackjack..... Part One

The week before heading to Bonn was dreadfully wet and cold for mid-May. It rained most days and we found ourselves occupying the time by reading, writing, and working out indoors.

Sunday we had a double header against the Bonn Capitals in Bonn, just south of Dusseldorf. Going into Sunday, Bonn was in first with a 9-1 record and two good starters. Bonn's game one starter, Tim Henkenjohan, is the number 1 pitcher for the German national team. We had been hearing rumors all week about how he throws in the mid-90's at times and usually sits around 91-92 mph. He started against the U.S. team last year in the World Cup (which was here in Germany). He had also pitched for the Minnesota Twins organization as well. My roomates had a recording of the U.S. game from last years World Cup, so I had seen him throw. That game featured a few of our players from Paderborn (playing for Germany), as well as a few future big leaguers for the U.S. I must say, the tv added some weight to his fastball. He threw three effective pitches with a decent fastball that didn't seem as hard to me as everyone had promoted, however it always looks a lot harder from the on-deck circle than the batters box. I would estimate his fastball was in the upper 80's at the beginning of the game and it got harder as the game went on. With a week of hitting everyday, and a rainy week with no outdoor practice we were very happy and ready to play some competiton on the field. Plus, being only 1 game out of first we knew that if we won two games we would be back on top in the league. Needless to say we came out swinging well! We scored 6 earned runs early in the game and seemed to be headed to an easy victory.

Up 6-0 in the 4th Auge shook me off for the second time all year in a 3-1 count. It was weird. I called a fastball, shake-off. I called a change-up, again, shake-off. Not knowing what he wanted at this point I put down a slider. He came set and went to the plate with his delivery. I was not mad that we weren't on the same page until I saw the pitch. With perfect timing and a BIG swing, their American left fielder hit the ball a mile to left. Neither one of us watched the ball because we knew as the pitch was coming to the plate what was going to happen. Home run. I smirked at first, then I yelled half joking, "Hey Auge! That's what you get for shaking me off," all while the ball was still soaring through the air past the left field fence.

What I didn't realize until 4 more runs were given up was that Bonn was stealing our signs from their dugout, or stealing them from the pitcher and relaying them to the hitter. As it turns out Auge was tipping his pitches from the grip in his glove, which their players on the bench could easily see and verbally relay to hitters as he went into his windup.

There are only a few sins to me in baseball. Striking out looking with runners in scoring position and less than two out, not hustling, and stealing signs. Danny came over from third during a mound meeting with Auge and me and told us he could hear their dugout giving verbal signs to the hitters for all of his pitches. Fastball was "drive it," and Off-speed was "sit on it." They had every pitch.

As he came up to us during the mound meeting, which happens so often in baseball, the field umpire came up to us immediately and said "Let's move it along boys, you cannot do this."

"Hey! We are fine, nobody is in a hurry here, we are talking about our situation, so leave us alone and go away." I repplied.

Danny helped me out by telling us when he walked away, "No worries, if that is the way it is I will take care of it."

So will I, I though to myself. I was pissed. Not only could I not figure out how, but secondly it took me back to countless games in college were we lost because of the same thing. Since I was catching I could not help but think that the third base coach could see my signs. "No way, Auge can barley see my signs most of the time, how could that be!?!"

With a new game plan in mind, Danny and I got to the bottom of it a few different ways. Danny told Auge that he needed to vary his hand motion in the glove before his delivery to mix it up. A lot of times pitchers get into rhythms that can be clues to opposing teams. Those clues lead to theivery much of the time. Whether it is a a baserunner getting the right timing of a pitcher and getting a really good steal jump, or a pitcher shifting his hand a certain way as he grips a certain pitch, tendencies will hurt any team.

We took care of the first part in finding out what the problem was. The second part was pretty simple. Danny went back to third base and told the third base coach that someone was going to get hurt if he heard another person say anything remotly close to tipping a pitch from their dugout. The coach looked at Danny surprised, and all of a sudden he couldn't speak English and acted as if he had no clue what Danny said.

This made Danny pretty mad, so he repeated, LOUDLY, to the Bonn dugout on the third base side.

"Hey! Quit tipping your hitters! Otherwise someone is going to get hurt." They got the message and it didn't happen anymore. The best part was that their 3 hitter was up and did not hear what Danny said. After the first pitch his eyes rotated to the dugout without his head moving as if he was surprised and didn't want to react with bad body language that someone had screwed him up. I saw his eyes percing whoever it was that was supposed to be telling him what pitch was coming so I stood up and said, "Hey, unless you want someone to get killed in the second game when our hard throwing American is pitching then I suggest that you tell the rat in the dugout to stop telling you what is coming, plus he isn't going to be right anymore. We figured it out." He looked at me, smiled a little and said ok. That was the end if that, and it was a good thing.

In the Bundesliga, word spreads faster than High School gossip. Even though Bonn has never seen how hard Danny can throw, I gurantee they have heard about! And they sure as hell didn't want to feel it. When the big Auslander tells you to stop stealing signs or pitches, just like the game blackjack, you have a choice.

You can either say "hit me!," or stay put.

We gave up two more runs and the lead when the rarest of things happened. Our shortstop and team leader Jendrick Speer threw a ball away at first. He later admitted that his arm was hanging and that he took Advil for the pain. Apparently, some people have hard time finding a release point after they take anti-inflamatories. Jeni is not one to make an excuse, and Danny Told me he has the same problem with Advil. I think it is really weird because I am the opposite, I need Advil to feel good while I am throwing! Down by one in the 9th inning we manufactured a run with two outs after our roomate Michele hit an RBI single to left.

The game went extra innings and it wasn't until the top of the 12th before anyone scored.

I led off the inning with a strikeout looking, which to me was way out, as it had not been called a strike all day. "Vu es das?!!" I asked politly. "You haven't called that a strike all day, why change it now." Danny quickly yelled at me from the on deck circle and said "Hey, we need you, we can't afford to get you tossed." I listened and walked away irate. Half the team came up to me and said "Nik, you cannot talk to umpires, they will throw you out, even if you say one word. They are really sensative." I quickly reminded them that A: I was right and he knew it, and B: The umpire and I have been working together at the plate for 12 innings and he screwed me. I let him know it too.

As all of thus is happening I hear a loud Crack and see a soaring ball to left off of Dannys bat. Gone! Homerun and a 1 run lead! "Yay Vohy Danny!!!" I was pumped and quickly gave him a prompt congrats for picking me up after I struck out.

With a one run lead in the 12th inning amazingly our starter Auge came back out to throw yet another inning. He went 1,2,3, in the 12th and the game was over! He threw a total of 180 pitches. Yes, 180 pitches!

For those that do not understand how hard that is, go throw a tennis ball against the garage door 10 times as hard as you can. Unless you have great mechanics and you are in great shape I bet your arm will hurt really bad the next few days. Now imagine doing that 170 more times in one day. Like I said, amazing!

I finished game one 2-4 with a walk, HBP and 3 runs. I also took a really bad shot off the side of my wrist blocking a curveball. It was funny because it swelled pretty good and looked like a plumb under my skin. Soft, blue, and rip. Gotta love catching! Danny had 2 hits as well, one of them a REALLY important homer in the 12th inning.

Thank god game one was over. The Bonn catcher was and American and we laughed at each other and said "Wow, we are in for a long day back here!"

Fight for First

Last Sunday we traveled to Solingen to play the first place and undefeated Alligators. They were a perfect 8-0 in league and have two of the best starters in the country as their German starter is a strong left-handed pitcher who also pitches for their National team. The entire week was filled with anticipation and what seemed to be nervousness from the rest of our teammates. We are also really injury bitten right now as three of our top hitters are out for a few weeks. Nonetheless, we understood that we also have two very good starters, and we had faced part of their lineup (minus their pitching) in the first game of the season when we beat them in a non-conference matchup the first day we arrived in Germany.

The first game was back and forth as we secured a one run lead in the 8th inning. Then I made one big mistake. Our starting pitcher, Auge (pronounced Aulga) was throwing well, but beginning to fatigue as his fastball was starting to vary speeds and stay up in the hitting zone. With the 9 hitter up, nobody on base, and me trying to be to technical, I called for a change-up to help him adjust down in the zone and throw the pitch out front to find his release point once again. I thought that would help him with his next pitch, but as it turns out, the 9 hole-hitters in Germany love the changeup because it goes right into their bat speed. WACK! The smallest guy on the field hit a hard fly ball to left and it left the yard. Tie game! Auge did not adjust down in the zone, instead, he left it up in the hitting zone like his fastball, and the slower speed of the changeup went right into the 9 hitters bat speed. I didn't feel too bad because I was leading off the top of the ninth and I knew that with the top of our order coming up we could get it back. However, I hit a hard grounder to second on a 1-0 slider and failed to get on. We did not score in the 9th, shut them down again, and went extras. "Great!" I thought to myself. It is hard knowing you have to catch a double header (at least 18 innings) and the first game goes extra innings which makes it a long tiresome day! I am definitely ok with it, I would rather play than not, but it wears you down.

Imagine squatting over 1,000 times a day, blocking over two dozen pitches, getting hit by fouls, bats, and runners, making sure every pitch is the right pitch to call, concerning yourself with fielding positions, opposing lineups and conversing with German umpires who speak little English (as I speak little German). I had an umpire tell me I was "getting in the way of his view" when I received a pitch right down the middle that was NOT called a strike. Like I said, every inning is a new game and you can get tired both physically and mentally while catching!

We failed to score again in the 1oth, and since Auge had already thrown about 140 pitches in 9 innings he was done. Auge was really upset about being taken out and swore he had more in the gas-tank. I honestly believed him because he seemed better as the day went on (minus the homer) and this guy is full of tenacity and competitiveness. We brought in our best German reliever and leading off the inning for Solingen was the American Auslander who had played with the Phillies Organization. He was a recent addition to the Alligators after they had released their previous American due to poor performance. We had talked very briefly during his at-bats but from what I gathered he was a good dude. He got ahead 1-0 and on the next pitch hit a slider that had just the right amount of backspin on the ball which sent it tailing into right-center. Our right-fielder took a terrible route and he was standing on second with a lead-off double. Their four hitter came up and just like he had been trying to do all day took a ferocious swing and pulled the ball down the 3rd base line. Run scored, game 1 over.

We didn't hang our heads as we knew we had game two with Danny on the mound. We were facing another left-handed pitcher from the States who had the most strikeouts in Germany, as well as the most walks. We knew it was going to be a good game.

The game was a total pitchers duel as both Americans went scoreless inning after scoreless inning. We finally broke a 0-0 tie in the 7th when our 7 hitter got a two out hit with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Two runs seemed to be enough as Danny continued to cruise on the mound and finished the game by not allowing any runs. 9 innings pitched, complete game and 0 runs. We won game two, 2-0. Pretty good day! Although we both hit the ball hard we did not help much offensively the second game. I lined out 3 times on the day and only managed 1 hit in 8 at-bats, while Danny had 3 hits on the day and pitched terrific!

The highlight of my day was in the 8th inning. With 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd base, Solingen had their cleanup hitter at the plate. The same hitter who had beat us in game one. After a first pitch strike our manager started yelling at me by my team nickname "Llyod" (From Dumb and Dumber. Apparently we look alike.) He also yelled at our first basemen by his nickname. He was looking for us to back pick the runner at first to avoid facing the 4 hitter with runners on base. At first I thought he wanted me to call a pick off from the pitcher to 1st which is really hard and the timing has to be perfect. I gave the pickoff sign to Danny followed by a fastball sign. I thought he would pick to first, but instead he went to the plate and threw me a pitch. As soon as he threw it I realized I could throw the baserunner out at first because he had taken such a big lead. The ball was up and away to the right handed hitter. It was a perfect pitch for the situation. I set my feet and threw to first where the baserunner was totally caught off guard. He had no reason to take a big lead, and nowhere to go considering there was a runner on second base already. He was so stunned he froze on his way back to first and attempted to get to second where a runner was already occupying the base. After one throw from our first basemen and a tag from our shortstop we were out of the inning scott free. Danny was pumped and I had a big grin on my face as I gave Red a big fist pump for calling the pick.

The best part was I didn't realize until after the game that I had picked off the American shortstop. He came up to me shook my hand and said, "Thanks a lot man, really? Back pick? I never saw that coming" He was smiling, but I could tell he was still pissed. I responded with a "Baseball is still Baseball, even in the Bundesliga." (Nickname for any first league professional team in German sports, including baseball) We had a good talk after the game and shared similar stories about our playing experiences so far.

With a split against Solingen we had a good ride home. Our manager was very happy with Danny's performance on the mound and we had a week to prepare for another good team, the Bonn Capitals, which after our split with Solingen put them in first place with a record of 9-1. Bonn also has one of the top rated pitchers in all of Europe and the true number 1 starter for their National team. Although we had 7 more days until we competed again, I was looking forward to the week ahead.