Overseas Baseball Podcast

NAIA All-American and World Series Champion Zak Colby fills me in on his experience playing independent Japanese baseball and how others can go about doing the same. We dive into everything from the process for getting on with a club, how many independent clubs there are, the monster stadiums and decent size crowds, what pay can be expected, the insanely long pre-season, the list goes on. By the end of this interview one thing was clear, Japanese Independent baseball and their importing of foreign players is on the rise and this trends appears like it will continue.

In this second interview, Chris provides listeners and aspiring European baseball professionals with great info on: 1) History of going from non-drafted to playing in three of Europe’s top leagues. 2) Detail on the Dutch Major League. Weekly schedule, top clubs, opportunities. 3) The subtle differences between European baseball and baseball in the US. 4) Differences between the EU leagues he has played in. 5) Two great tips for newcomers to European baseball.

In this interview with Aaron Brandt he tells us how the International Baseball Community website helped him to take his career to Belgium in the summer of 2013 and then how that was immediately followed up with a winter stint in Melbourne, Australia for the winter of 2013-2014. Aaron landed a job with Belgium club the Namur Angels and then immediately moved on to the St. Kilda Saints of Melbourne, Australia. He goes into a lot of detail about both the leagues in Belgium and Australia (Melbourne) , the compensation, the schedule, the opportunities within, and the lifestyle. At the end of the interview Aaron provides some solid tips on what to do prior to signing on with a club overseas.

The International Baseball Community podcast Episode #23 features back-to-back interviews on Czech baseball. First I interview Draci Brno GM Arny Nesnal and then Lucie Cubikova, director of international affairs for Czech baseball. Between the two of them, listeners are able to get a clear idea of what Czech baseball has to offer. Mr. Nesnal fills IBC listeners in on what is going on in Brno and why they have won 18 of the last 19 championships. We also dive into the importing that has been going on over the years and what their imports usually bring to the table. Mr. Nesol also elaborates on the lifestyle of the Draci import and why they seem to always want to return for a second or third year. Ms. Cubikova provides a more broad view on Czech baseball and of the various clubs around the league and opportunities within for professional players and coaches. Lastly, I introduce a new intro that I am very excited about. One of my favourite bands and local Austrian talent, Wham Bam Bodyslam allowed me to use o

Ryan Flynn, CEO of baseball New Zealand put me in contact with Jacques Levy at New Caledonian baseball recently as they are in need of someone to come help them grow the game of baseball. This small Island that is just 1000 km's off the coast of Australia in the South Pacific, is seeking a young, energetic and motivated individual who is passionate about teaching the game of baseball and enthusiastic about helping develop the game overseas. Baseball in New Caledonia is very small, with members hovering only around 200 with, spread out amongst 5 clubs on the South end of the island. This experience will also involved side trips to Australia and New Zealand for competitions. For those interested, please submit your resume and a short cover letter explaining why you would be the perfect candidate for taking on the responsibility of creating a baseball buzz on this small island. This year long contract would begin in April 2014 so if you are interested you need to act quick.

In this episode I interview Baseball New Zealand CEO Ryan Flynn for the second time. Ryan takes us through his story of how he followed his passion to work in baseball from the unlikely country of Guam to his current position as CEO of Baseball New Zealand. Listen to Ryan explain how he used international baseball to build his resume and eventually uproot his family in the US to move to New Zealand for his new position as CEO. I also include a list of "do's" and "do not's" for first year international baseball players who are seeking longevity in the sport internationally.

In Episode number 20 I interview Drew Samuelson, the Australian Baseball Federation’s Player & Coach Development Coordinator as well as the Performance Manager of Southern Australian baseball. Drew takes us through his story of how he dropped his promising 9-5 career to follow his passion, a career in baseball. After some short stints within baseball in the Northwest, he worked his way in to the administration side of Australian baseball and hasn’t looked back. In addition to sharing his story, Drew provides some info on the development strategies in Australia which could be beneficial for listeners who have a hand in the development of foreign leagues. Lastly, I drill Drew about the opportunities around the various state leagues and where the hotbeds are for foreigners looking to play or coach in Australia.

This interview with Austin Weymouth goes into areas yet to be covered on the podcast including an alternative way to selecting your team, working your way into Dutch baseball from a much lower league within one year, visa requirements, a vivid idea of what life is like in Europe, playing for small town clubs, the list goes on. In this 45 minute, very informative conversation where we talk about just about everything you can think of with regards to the lifestyle of baseball in Europe. Austin even talks about tulips in the Netherlands!?!?

Baseball is the fastest growing sport in New Zealand as numbers have risen from 800 to 6000 in the past three years. Also, the level of play on the national level is rapidly increasing as New Zealand climbed in the world rankings in the past year from unranked to 28th. CEO of Baseball New Zealand, Ryan Flynn, informs us in this episodes of how this exponential growth has opened up opportunities for import baseball players and coaches to take their career to New Zealand. He provides insight into what they are looking for and how you can go about getting a chance to ride this baseball wave to a long term career in baseball on and off the field.

An Interview with Rainer Krankl, President of one of the more successful European baseball clubs Rainer Krankl has been with the Attnang Athletics since 1993 and took over the role as president in 2004. Immediately after Rainer took over as president the organization began to grow rapidly. The Athletics went from a mediocre organization with a backyard park with a couple of beer bench seats to one of Europe’s more successful baseball organizations.

In this episode Owen and I continue where we left off in Episode 6, discussing the opportunities for import players and coaches in Australia. About half way through we take the interview in a direction that is more beneficial to clubs that are looking to take their organization to the next level as Owen shares his experiences as a key person in operations for the professional baseball club the Perth Heat.

Dennis Kelly takes us through his experiences playing baseball in Sweden (Karlskoga Bats), France (Montpellier Barracudas), Australia (Sandringham Royals) and Germany (Mannheim Tornados). If you are lacking in motivation to play baseball overseas, listen to Dennis tell his story which took him from the beaches of Australia to the beaches off the coast of France all within one year. He provides insight on how he was able to see so much of the world while playing baseball and also provides advice on positioning yourself to be able to do the same. Dennis also let’s us in on the details of some of his contracts and the unique contracts that were offered from country to country. Lastly, Dennis does a very good job of comparing the level of ball within these countries.

Podcast episode #9 continues to focus on the various baseball hotbeds in Australia, this time with Brisbane, one of the largest baseball regions in the country. Jeff Tezak spent two years in Austria playing for the Vienna Metrostars and has since taken his game to Brisbane for the past couple of years to play with the Redcliffe Padres Jeff is a true utility player which puts him in high demand with many clubs in Europe and Australia that are a tight budget. Jeff fills us in on the opportunities Brisbane presents, the lifestyle, and of course, the baseball. In a future episode I will interview Brisbane native Scotty Mulhearn and dive more into what Brisbane presents as a place to live in comparison to other Australian baseball destinations. In this interview you will find that baseball in the Australian state leagues are quite a different experience than playing in Europe and the contracts offered also vary in comparison to Europe.

This episode switches things up a bit by focusing on what is probably the most valuable tip for baseball players looking to take their game overseas: use your coaching experience as your ticket or gain coaching experience if you don’t have any. Owen and I discuss the coaching opportunities that are present in Europe and Australia and some unique ways to break in as a coach or player-coach. We dive into some of the challenges you will most likely face as a coach in an environment where perhaps English isn’t the native language, baseball is relatively unknown or where local clubs lack structure in their program. I put Owen on the spot and ask him to give a specific drill he might use to motivate or retain the kids in such places. We discuss how to prepare yourself for a coaching career overseas and how to achieve longevity as a player-coach or coach.

As a compliment to a recent post titles “Top 5 Reasons EU Imports Go Home Early and How to Avoid Them“, I had a short but content rich discussion with Owen Reid on the same Skype session as our last interview about the trial and error of the relationship between professional baseball import players and clubs overseas. We discuss many of the same topics in the post and speculate as to why players are sometimes sent home prior to contract end other than the obvious reason of not making the playoffs. The issue of relationships gone sour in recent years was prevalent in EU baseball and needs to be discussed as I believe there are communication gaps between many European clubs and players and solutions to help smooth out this struggle.

In IBC podcast episode 14, I interview international baseball coach Trevor Rooper and player Scotty Mulhearn. Trevor has coached in Holland, Austria, Sweden , Brisbane (Australia) and now has signed on with a club in Sydney Australia for the 2013-2014 winter. In 2011, Trevor led the Attnang Athletics of Austria to an all time record of 24-4 and most recently coached Stockholm to the 2013 championship title. Trevor gives us detail on the opportunities for import players and coaches in Sweden and Australia and the compensation one can expect. He provides information on the leagues and the clubs within both the Swedish Elite League and the Greater Brisbane Baseball League. Scotty is a native of Brisbane, Australia and plays ball in the same Brisbane league that Trevor coached in. He has also played baseball in Japan, Sweden (Karlskoga) and most recently with the same club Rooper coached in Austria, the Attnang Athletics. Scotty has since signed on for a second season with the Athletics in 2014. Scotty goes i

I am super stoked about this interview with Perth Heat GM Lachlan Dale as we dive into taking a professional baseball career on and off the field to Australia and using it as a fast track to pro ball in the States. We discuss how many roster spots are typically filled within he Australian Baseball League by foreigners and how to go about getting a shot at one of those spots. We also discuss the opportunities for coaching in Australia.

The German Bundesliga Baseball 1 is regarded as the next highest level of European baseball below the big two, Italy and the Netherlands. Rob Herrmann spent 2013 playing for one of the frontrunners in recent years, the Paderborn Untouchables. Rob’s story is an inspirational one as he made his way through hard work and perseverance from D3 college ball to Indy ball, to Australia and finally to Germany (read about his story in a related article). Rob PaderbornRob is living proof that non-drafted players can make their way into top clubs in top European leagues and do some damage while there. Rob hit .333 and threw out more than half of attempted base stealers from his spot behind the dish. Rob has been invited back to play in 2014 after a season ending hand injury kept him on the sidelines during the playoffs. Rob goes into detail about the German Bundesliga, what it was like to play for Paderborn, the compensation, and the networking advantages when signing on with a top club within a given count

The focus of this interview and many future interviews is to extract more information about the lifestyle of the import player or coach living in various cities around Europe. I also try to get more inside info on what the league is like, the clubs within the league and which clubs are the most desirable to play for when considering level of play, location, facilities and of course pay. In this episode, I threw together two separate 10 minute interviews with U.S. players who spent the 2013 summer season in Switzerland and France with the Bern Cardinals and the Beaucaire Chevaliers.

Dana brings us 15 years of European baseball knowledge and sheds a lot of light for those of you looking to take your U.S. pro career to Europe. We talk Dutch, Italian, German and Czech baseball in depth. Dana provides some great tips on how to break in, where to break in, and what to expect. We also dive into the top organizations and baseball destinations in Europe.