Going Going Back Back to Hungary Hungary

It's been a long time since I sent a baseball update, partly due to trying to perform 3 jobs this years: pitching in Germany, coaching in Hungary, and scouting all over Europe. Also on the pitching end there wasn't much good news to report as it was generally an awful season in Hamburg. I pitched well at times, but as this blog details, after 4 successful professional seasons, I hit a wall, physically and mentally. When I was released from my contract in Hamburg at the beginning of June, my team, HSV Stealers, was floundering on the brink of playoffs and eventually collapsed down the stretch. Meanwhile, I had taken up residency in Budapest Hungary to coach the Hungarian National Team the rest of the summer as we prepared for the European Championship Qualifier in Barcelona Spain. I resigned myself to the fact that my playing career could be finished.

After the tournament in Barcelona (where our squad was competitive against Spain, Finland, Ireland, and Switzerland but finished 4th out of 5), I returned to the States for my best mate, Adam Crabb's wedding in San Francisco and got ready for the last few classes of my law school career. Surprisingly I received two offers to pitch during this time: 1. to go to Armarillo Texas immediately to pitch in the minor league American Association and 2. to return to Europe at the end of the month for the Inter-League Playoffs, to play for the Hungarian based Janossmorja Rascals, one of the best teams in the regional super league.

Today I will fly to Vienna from Detroit after completing my first week of law school and pitch this weekend for the Rascals against the best teams from Croatia, Hungary, and Slovakia. You can follow the action on my blog as always, on my facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Justin-Prinstein/159331680763120) or European Baseball's best website - www.mister-baseball.com and game results will be on www.baseballfan.hu (if you can navigate in Hungarian).

At times I feel like quite the baseball mercenary, but the team I will play for, along with some other Americans, and former teammates living in Europe (Ty Eriksen and Sam Boone) is made up of about 7 players I coached on the Hungarian National Team, and as they compete against the best teams from other countries in the region, I felt a sense of pride in Hungarian baseball that I worked so hard this year to improve as a coach, and can hopefully help raise the level of play and awareness in the next two weeks. I also am grateful for the opportunity to finish the season (and maybe my career) on a positive note, and to pitch in some meaningful playoff games.

I appreciate the UDM Law School and my professors letting me continue my professional career in this manner. Thanks to my sponsors Vinci Gloves (www.vincipro.com) and 3n2 (www.3n2sports.com) for outfitting me with great equipment for the season. Finally, I am thankful for the continued well wishes and support from all my family, friends, and colleagues on this email throughout my 5 years of professional baseball around the globe.

Back to Europe Round 5, Part 2 - Never Say No

So. The day after our European Qualifier ended in Barcelona - I raced to the airport to catch a flight back to Hamburg (to pick up my suitcase) and so I could fly out to Detroit, as originally booked way back in May, so I could eventually get over to San Francisco to attend the wedding of my best friend, Adam "Lobster Jackson" Crabb. It wasn't easy.

The Hungarian national team left Sunday morning, very early, about an hour or two after I stumbled back to the hotel with a gal to share a pint size bed less than a meter from my "road roommate"... Slept about 2 hours, packed efficiently and whisked off to the airport via taxi/train/shuttle. Upon arrival I was informed that the HU Federation, who I had watched book my ticket the day before via a third party website, actually had not paid for the ticket, so luckily I was at the airport a bit early and $500+ later I was on my way to Hamburg via one stop over in Brussels.

My flight arrived at 9PM, was picked up by my former Hamburg teammates, Daniel and Alex Harms, slept maybe an hour on the couch, then off to the airport again all my luggage in tow, arrived at 4AM for my 6AM flight to Amsterdam. A few hours later and some additional security, I was on my way to the U.S., didn't sleep more than about 2 hours, of course during the meals. Did meet my two favorite detroit hip-hoppers, Black Milk and Guilty Simpson, who played one show in Amsterdam and then flew back to Detroit almost as soon as they arrived.

Stayed in Detroit for one night, then another 8 AM flight to San Francisco for Crabby's wedding.
During these 5 precious days, finally back stateside, I suddenly had two incredible offers for someone who had an 8 E.R.A. in the German Bundesliga. I got an offer to go down to Armarillo Texas in the American Association and pitch for them for the rest of the season or fly back to Europe to play for the 2nd best team in Hungary, the Jannosmorja Rascals during the interleague finals (made up of the top teams from Slovakia, Croatia, and Hungary) as well as the Hungarian Cup playoffs. It begins Aug 26 with the interleague finals in Zagreb Croatia, a place I have never visited in all my time in Europe. But because I'm starting law school again (for my final year) in Detroit, I'm only going to play three weekends, from Aug 26 to Sept 11. This will cover most of their playoffs and I'm really looking forward to a totally new baseball experience, to be able to pitch again, especially when I thought this season was a lost cause. It gives me a chance to pitch meaningful games, do some batting as well, play alongside many guys I coached for the Euro Championships with the Hungarian national team, and of course see some good friends and neighbors back in Hungary.

This is the life of an international baseball vagabond. Never say no to a great offer because don't know when it could be your last chance. Always keep a bag/suitcase close by and halfway packed. When someone uses the words - "Croatia" and "Baseball" in the same sentence... say "yes."

Best of European Baseball

It’s no secret, I like to make lists. Sometimes when I’m on the toilet I make a list of my favorite girls from my travels. At night I will make a list about things to do or to get the next day or week. After my release from Hamburg, and reflecting on my 5 years of European Baseball, I decided to make a comprehensive list of my European baseball experiences on a recent train ride to from Hamburg to Munich: (I'll try to keep the offensiveness to a minimal)

1. Best Place to Play Home Games: Almere 2009

2. Worst Place to Play Home Games: Hoboken Pioneers 2007

3. Best Field: Kinheim Haarlem in 2010

4. Best Mound to pitch from: Amsterdam Pirates 2010

5. Worst Field: TIE – 2007 Kibbutz Gezer in Israel, 2008 Jeka in Breda Netherlands, and 2011 Dohren Germany

6. Best Crowd: Tie – 2007 Israel Baseball League All Star Game and 2009 Promotion Series between Almere and RCH (see above)

7. Most Difficult Opponent: DOOR Neptunus 2010

8. Favorite Opponent to Pitch against: ADO 2010 and Amsterdam Pirates 2010

9. Best team I played on: Almere 2009

10. Worst team I played on: Hamburg 2011

11. Favorite Teammates:

2007: Sam Faeder/Ty Eriksen – Netanya Tigers

2007: Alain Lambeau – Hoboken Pioneers

2008: Remy Jamanika – Tex Town Tigers

2009: Joey Berkenbosh – Almere

2010: Mitch Graham – Almere

2011: Max Warren – HSV Stealers

12. Worst Teammate:

2007: CF – Netanya Tigers

2007: C/1B – Hoboken Pioneers

2008: 1B – Tex Town Tigers

2009: back up 3B – Almere

2010: relief pitcher from RCH/infielder from RCH – Almere

2011: starting pitcher - HSV

13. Best Player on my team:

2007: Hector De Los Santos / SS – Netanya Tigers

2008: Ono Barske / 3B & Mikkel Oosterveld / SS – Tex Town Tigers

2009: Rhiency Imperator / SS – Almere

2010: Mitch Graham / SS – Almere

2011: Brehan Murphy / 3B – HSV Stealers

14. Worst Players on my team:

2007: Rhyijo/Eichenstein – Netanaya

2008: Thierry – Tex Town

2009: Jerry – Almere

2010: Daan – Almere

2011: Mirko – HSV

15. Best Opposing Player:

2007: Jason Rees – Bet Shamesh Blue Sox

2008: Linoy Croes – Alcmaria & Rhiency Imperator – Robur

2009: Cameron Wheeler and Derek Tarapecki – UVV

2010: Bryan Engelhardt – Kinheim

2011: Chris Beck - Solingen

16. Best Coach: Stanely Kock, Tex Town Tigers – 2008

17. Worst Coach: Marco, Almere 2010/Jens, HSV 2011

18. Best Management: Bart Zijderveld, Almere 2009

19. Worst Management: Erwin, Hoboken 2007

20. Best Uniforms: Almere 2010

21. Worst Uniforms: Hoboken 2007

22. Best house to live in: TTT 2008

23. Worst house to live in: Almere 2009 – upstairs in student house / HSV 2011 – GM’s basement

24. Best City to live in: Tel Aviv – 2007

25. Worst City to live in: Hamburg suburbs - 2011

26. Best Overall Experience: Almere 2009

27. Worst Overall Experience: Hamburg 2011

Struggles Continue in Dortmund

Before departing to Vienna/Budapest/Janossmorja last week I had a late night meeting with the HSV management and we both agreed things weren't really working out as originally intended or planned. From transportation around Hamburg, to the lack of daily meals promised in my contract, to the umpiring deficiencies and rubber balls that my smallish hands couldn't grip properly - I knew that my season with HSV was very much on the line for our double-header in Dortmund the 5th place team sitting one game behind us for the last playoff spot in the Northern Bundesliga, on Saturday.

After we barely squeaked out a 2 run victory in Game 1 behind some Dortmund miscues and strong pitching performance from our former German national team left-handed Pitcher Rene, I was facing Matt Kemp, arguably the top pitcher in the league the past three years. With an E.R.A. of under 1 run per game, I knew that if I gave up more than 2 runs I would probably lose. We proceeded to begin Game 2 by loading the bases against Dortmund's foreign ace but were stymied from scoring, and so I took the mound. I plunked the first batter on the first pitch, mostly on purpose as I wanted to send a message to not crowd the plate as they began to in the previous game, getting comfortable as our lefty pitcher used a moderate fastball and tons of off-speed away from right handed hitters to induce some bad swings that helped lead us to victory. In the 1st, Dortmund scored 4 on a few walks, infield single, then a pop-up to 1b line hit the chalk-line and went under the gate down the line for a ground rule double. I could feel my season slowly unraveling, but of course, I didn't give up. We had a 30 min sun delay as it began to set beyond the CF fence, and I used this time to sit out the dugout behind the RF line and reflect on my season and baseball career at large. I knew I was fortunate for being able to play for a living over the past 4 years, and with my season and possibly career winding down, I was determined to go out firing. I came back out doing the same, as before firing - hitting my targets, but as I have been accustomed to in this German baseball league, the umps were brutal again, blowing calls on the bases, and most importantly to me, not judging my pitches correctly. I have always played in higher leagues than my talent would suggest and therefore became accusomted to relying on deception, strategy, movement on my pitches, and pin-point location to induce ground balls and miss barrels of the hitter's bats. My pitches tend to cross the plate, whether it be a change-up or 2-seam fastball, and then disappear out of the strike zone. This style has provided me with a successful template since I was 16 years old, and to counter this approach I would then throw sliders that start out of the zone and end up in the strike one. However, this type of approach is wholly contingent on batters swinging or umpires calling strikes. If this is not happening, as it hasn't been, trouble will ensue. I walked the first guy in the 2nd inning, but felt that my pitches hit my intended target as my catcher wouldn't even move his glove from where he was set-up, in most leagues this examplifies a strike. I gather by now that it's quite different in this German Bundesliga. An infield single, grounder between SS and 3B, got a double play ball but the runner was called safe at 2B. Then a fly ball to shallow RF dropped on the exchange for a SAC FLY, followed by another infield single made the score 6-0. The next inning, I changed nothing other than my pace, and got 2 strikeouts on 6 pitches, before getting a groundout on 3 pitches, getting their lead-off batter to swing at an 0-2 slider out of zone, I felt like I was back at it again. Our offense continued to struggle against Kemp, and the next inning, after striking out the first batter again, I swear I struck out the next batter was the #3 hitter in the lineup i threw him 3 sliders all the same, started inside and ended corner-in, one was called a strike, two were balls, didn't make any sense. The same pitch 3 times. I almost flipped out on the umpire, maybe I should have since no one else was making a fuss about it, but I remained composed. The batter ended up walking, and then their Australian import hitter comes up i had him 0-2, threw him a high 2-seam on the hands, he fisted to SS, but he got the ball towards 3B and didn't have a play. next guy was a lefty, had him 1-2 he sticks his bat out on a ball and hits to SS that bloops right beyond his glove, i mean this was all day. Unlucky. So I give up like 8 runs or something in 4 innings but i hit my spots, i made my pitches, i had good movement, i made them look silly at some points, finally in the 5th inning on pitch 1,000 one of their guys hit a ground rule double to the wall, it was their first hit out of 9 that didn't touch the infield. I really dont know how to judge that performance, other than im probably done here.Both Kemp and I gave up 5 hits after the first two innings, however we scored zero runs and they scored 6. Maybe it's just a few games of bad luck, these things happen over the course of a season, however, when youre season consists of 28 games, there's not much time for error, and 3 bad games feels like half a season because it really is. Always a European baseball adventure, and always staying true to the Vagabond lifestyle - I'm out of Hamburg.

Losing

Haven't written in a few weeks, mainly because any attempt to recall the past few games makes me depressed. I haven't had a stretch like this since I started playing baseball (parents feel free to correct me) in which I gave up more than 10 runs in 2 starts in a row. First against the undefeated and first place Paderborn Untouchables and then last week against Solingen Aligators.

The weird thing about these two games is that I felt great both days. I felt like I made my pitches to the locations that I wanted, the pitches I wanted, with the proper movement. I really didn't have any answers for why it went so wrong - maybe it was 2nd game of the doubleheader and the other teams hitters were locked in, or that my hand was slipping on the seams of the rubber balls we are using in the games periodically. Pitching both games at home, in the 2nd game, on our very soft and not very good mound may be screwing up my landing point/stride and altering my mechanics, but still, as a professional you need to find a way to make an adjustment. I can blame the umpires everytime, but the other teams have to deal with their inconsistent and miniscule strike zones too. All I know is that I have to change something - try a black glove, shave my head, try to stay positive, and hopefully my mojo comes back for our games in Dortmund tomorrow.

Intro Songs

Every year since my high school days, starting with portable cd players, tape cassessets in the car, and in the past 10 years advancing to big clunky ipods to the iphone 4, I always enjoy certain music before the game in my headphones.

As far back as I can remember, I used certain songs to pump me up before baseball games. In High School it was a mix of classic rock and rap. Coolio – It’s all the Way Live ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERRsGLsTyso ) when I was just beginning high school, 2Pac’s Hit ‘em Up ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIjDAU05JgU&feature=fvst ), NaS – One Mic ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C9cx9_wW9I ), Jay-Z’s Come and Get Me ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCVnjBJZ3To ), and Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs – Notorious Thugs ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p5TrW3BbQQ ) were staples of mine throughout high school. In my Junior and Senior years I listened to a rare live version of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uPKcMkH0vw&ob=av3e ) before summer league games with the Michigan Rams, and before my fantastic senior year at North Farmington it was Tom Petty’s Running Down a Dream ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1D3a5eDJIs ). When I started college we were allowed to pick “walk-out” songs that would be played by the P.A. when I would come into the game.
I remember my sophomore year I did a mix of Jay-Z’s P.S.A. as an intro ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAbxCTABfis ), which went into Dirt Off Your Shoulder ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz_-VaTHpc8&ob=av2e ), fresh from the recently released Black Album.

My junior year I used a rare classic rock song from the group Traffic called Empty Pages (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfHt4kY8Io8&feature=related ) that had an awesome organ rift that reminded me of childhood games at Wrigley Field.

At GW in my senior year I couldn’t decide between T.I. – What you Know about that ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZJW-rkVKFE ) and Talib Kweli – Feel the Rush ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gydBx-rGBdo ), so I settled with the theme from Kill Bill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsF45oe6d5o&feature=related ).

At Hoboken in 2007, I started getting into Metallica before the game as well as new style of house/techno that I started to enjoy after arriving in Europe, highlighted by Eric Prydz vs. Pink Floyd – Proper Education (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IttkDYE33aU ). When I traveled down to Israel for the rest of the 2007 season, recently released Stronger by Kanye West ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsO6ZnUZI0g&ob=av2e ) and Black Maybe by Common ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW_NFwOTjXc ) were my pre-game songs.

In 2008 at Tex Town once again they played walk-out songs and I used a Moby song called Graciosa from one of my favorite movies – Any Given Sunday ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbBxSNqwgOU ). I still think is the best one I ever had.

In 2009 at Almere I was all set with MSTRKRFT remixes – 1,000 Cigarettes ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1STkAaWzKI ) and Click Click ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDgzptvqwuM ), and Kaskade’s Sorry (Dirty South Remix) ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrQiFxSitwI ) until one of my first games the announcer played a random song with an amazing intro beat before one of my April relief appearances. I pitched real well and requested that this song be played before I came into the game. It ended up being a really strange song – called Do It Like a Truck by Geo Da Silva ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX1wGLZIIWY&feature=related ), but it worked, and I went undefeated and we won the Dutch First Division championship and promotion series that year.

When I came back to pitch in Almere in 2010, I had assembled some awesome songs the during the year in Australia – Stanton Warriors ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgK15PVa57U&feature=related ), Pitbull – Shut it Down ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QECUFmEPbU0 ), Cassian – Friday Night ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v7To-BNnQQ ), Yusek – Extraball ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzrOMSzS09s&ob=av2n ), and Gareth Donaghue – Rise of Ulyesses ( which i can't find anywhere on youtube) before deciding on Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition Evil Nine Remix ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et3khYwUYjM ).

This year as I was coming to Hamburg I really couldn’t decide between – The Bloody Beetroots – Awesome ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L-aXsoYT0M&playnext=1&list=PLAD904C2DD0A75CCC ), Lupe Fiasco’s I’m Beamin’ ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge4BEdyZ8bM ), Fenech-Soler Lies (Alex Metric Remix) ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93pDRd4Ik_c ) but when Elzhi came out with a new mixtape at the end of April – I finally decided upon “Genesis” as my intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93pDRd4Ik_c

One quick shout out to Black Milk who is from Detroit and I've always wanted to use this - ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mFcTUZnmBA )

well, there's always next year :)

Winning > Losing

I like winning, you know, because it's much better than losing.

I began the year losing, not entirely due to my pitching, but my somewhat meager performances didn't help hold offenses down to zero runs when we also couldn't find ways to score the second game. Maybe it was due to my lack of conventional spring training (only on the mound and facing hitters for the first time outside when I arrived against Dortmund - except I didn't give up a hit in the first 4 innings that game). Maybe it was the fact I had to take a bunch of law school exams and write some papers within my first few weeks here - which didn't give me much free time for extra training or solely focusing on baseball, let alone piece of mind. Or maybe it was traveling with the coaching responsibilities in Hungary (probably not because of this because I was still training for baseball and thinking baseball) but there was a girl issue sort of involved, as they always are. Anyways, since my return from Holland (where I was scouting), getting a haircut, lowering my pants, getting some great physiotherapy from Emile Kool in Almere, and finishing exams - I have reeled off two straight wins and our team has won 4 in a row. Beginning two weeks ago, I pitched my first complete game of the year against the floundering Berlin Sluggers (a day after my last law school final exam in Con Law) Again, we didn't score much, and in fact, after throwing a wild pitch with a runner on 3rd and giving up a solo home run on the next pitch to Berlin's American catcher, we were already behind 2-0. This was in the 4th inning and I knew that I had to make some adjustment. I felt out of whack with my motion and my 4-seam fastball was getting hit and my 2-seamer *old reliable, wasn't being located very well. In between innings, one of our other Americans, Pitcher-Outfielder and former teammate, that of Harvard lore, Max Warren, gave me a quick tip - go back to the 2-seam and just aim it down the pipe, the movement will take care of itself. From the 5th inning on, it just worked. Got into a groove, and everything else was kind of a blur. Apparently we came back to take a 3-2 lead somehow (it's good that I don't remember because it means I was starting to "zone out"), but in the top of the 8th with two outs and a runner on 1st and 3rd, our Funky French Firstbaseman got a ball that was tough to handle, as I do, I run over to cover 1B, only to find his throw was behind me so I make some extremely contorted non-athletic looking but very athletic play to catch the ball while my foot/ankle/shin (basically everything below my knee) dragged on the base. The Umpire in the middle of the diamond, and out of position, called the batter safe at first, even though the throw and my touch of the base clearly beat him. I don't think he saw my leg laying on the base and when I came off the ground to show him I had control of the ball (as we are taught to do in the states) he ruled that I was on the bag but I didn't have control. (If I didn't have control, why would I show you I did?) As I've learned over the years, European umpires are routinely terrible, and calls are routinely never overturned, so there's no use arguing too much, just let them know that they really got it wrong, and hopefully the next close play will go your way. The run scored tying the game, and we didn't score in the bottom frame, so I came back out for the 9th, went 1-2-3 and finally in the bottom of the last inning, we loaded up the bases, and our pinch hitter Philip hit a sac fly to win it. NOTE: We need to perfect the craft of walk-off victory celebrations instead of just a high-five line... maybe because it was the 7th hour of playing baseball, but come on guys you need to jump up and down a bit to celebrate.

Coming off the Berlin victories was another sedative week with law school officially over, it was back to training hard, and figuring out how to make good use of my time when you only play games once a week. Of course I have the scouting job, that will eventually take me all over Europe by the end of the summer, and the coaching gig for the Hungarian national team as well, but May is shaping up to be a lot of time spent in outskirts of Hamburg - just me, the internet, and my thoughts. There were two nights that I stayed up to 6am, in order to watch the Wings vs. Sharks game 6 and 7 of the hockey playoffs, starting respectively at 2am and 3am... and I can honestly say it had no affect on my next start, Sunday in Pulheim.

After mashing the Pulheim Gophers (I keep thinking of Bill Murray in Caddyshack), those of the camalflouge uniforms, in Game 1, by the score of 15-2. I was mentally prepared for a tighter ball game since all of our Game 2's against the opposing team's foreign pitchers, like myself, seem to limit our offense no matter what we do in Game 1 (and maybe we are also extremely tired from running around the bases so much in Game 1. In the first 3 innings we put a tally up on every inning to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Two notes on this historical start to the game:

1) It was the first time I was pitching with a lead to begin the game 2) it equalled the most runs I received in any game while I pitched, all year. I stuck with the end of the Berlin game pitching strategy and only gave up a long hard fly ball to Pulheim, and the Bundesliga leading hitter two years in a row, from New Zeeland - Daniel Lamb-Hunt. By the 6th inning, we had encountered three rain delays, only one walk (to Lamb-Hunt), 3 more runs - to make it 6-0, and thus far I had yet to give up a hit. I started the inning by walking the #2 and #3 hitters on full-counts. Felt like I was being squeezed a bit, maybe the umps were trying to make it a bit of a game for the home-team, but I wasn't about to complain, these were probably the best umpires I had in all my time in Europe, I recall thinking that. Up came Lamb-Hunt, and to the mound came our manager Jens, I guess not realizing despite the 3 total walks, there had still been zero hits. After the brief mound visit, which I'm sure was good intentioned, I became sort of un-focused, which sounds strange but it's true. I made a good pitch on the hands to Lamb-Hunt that he fisted into foul territory just out of the reach of our 3B and LF. Naturally, Jakub our catcher wanted some off-speed so we went change-up low and away for a ball, and another change-up that he didn't bite on. With 2 balls and 1 strike, I didn't want to pitch around him with runners on like I did last time, so I challenged him a fastball that he laced into left-center field for the first hit of the day and the first run. I induced a grounder to third and a strikeout, and got two outs when their other import, an American who plays with the Greek national team with Max, hit a dribbler in between SS and 3B to give them 2 more runs. I struck out the next batter and left the game with a 6-3 lead, and the final score after our young and talented German pitcher, Daniel Harms, got the 3 inning save. After the 5 1/2 hour ride back, in which my expensive Vibe II Moda headphones ceased to function, and I somehow lost my iphone case, I felt like I was doing the GW roadtrip adventures all over again (or the no games more than an hour away in Holland made me soft). Now this week is about getting ready for Paderborn, the first place and undefeated team, where we'll be missing Max (back in the U.S. for a presentation for Harvard on his year-long expedition to Africa) and Sam (back in the U.S. for his best friend's wedding).

Photo Note: A motor scooter raking the field in between games (only in Pulheim)

Here are the mister-baseball recaps of the past two weeks of games + standings:

May '1117

Recaps North: Untouchables come back twice against Alligators

News - German Baseball LeaguesNo Comments

Berlin Sluggers – Bonn Capitals 0-11 (7), 0-11 (8)

One week after dispatching the Dohren Wild Farmers, the Bonn Capitals also had no problems with their next task in the northern division of the German Baseball-Bundesliga, celebrating a pair of 11-0 shutouts over the Berlin Sluggers on Saturday. In game one Tim Henkenjohann threw a complete game one-hitter, striking out eleven in seven innings. No ball left the infield and only an infield single by Jakub Buttgereit denied the no-no. In the second game Bonn scored six runs in the seven and four in the eighth to blow an otherwise close game wide open. Bryce Schoening picked up the win. Bradley Roper-Hubbart hit a two-run homerun for the Caps.

Dohren Wild Farmers – Dortmund Wanderers 2-18 (7), 1-0 (10)

The Dohren Wild Farmers and the Dortmund Wanderers settled for a split in their twin bill on Saturday. In game one Elliot Biddle homered twice and drove in six to lead Dortmund to an 18-2 rout. Aljosha Heller and Kevin Möller also went deep for the Wanderers. Trevor Howell went 5-for-5 with a double and four runs. In the second game Garrett Rogers struck out 17 in a ten-inning complete game shutout to lead the Wild Farmers to a 1-0 win. His impressive work on the mound was not all, as he also hit the game-winning solo homerun in the bottom of the tenth off Matt Kemp, who had relieved Dennis Stechmann in the sixth.

Untouchables Paderborn – Solingen Alligators 10-5, 7-6

The Untouchables Paderborn defended their perfect record in the Baseball-Bundesliga coming back in both wins over the Solingen Alligators on Sunday. In game one the U’s erased a 0-5 deficit with five-run rallies in the fifth and the seventh en route to a 10-5 win. They also overcame a two-run homerun and the 500th hit of Dominik Wulf, as well as a four-hit performance by Chris Beck in his return to the Baseball-Bundesliga. In the second match Paderborn scored six runs between the sixth and eighth to turn around a 1-5 deficit into a 7-6 win. 300 people witnessed the duel between the two top teams in the northern division, which was interrupted by rain delays. Eugen Heilmann was used in relief and picked up the win in both ends of the doubleheader.

Pulheim Gophers – HSV Stealers 2-15 (7), 3-6

The HSV Stealers improved to 8-4 for the season with their second sweep in a week, winning both games in Pulheim. In game one Brehan Murphy (2), Jerome Rousseau, Jakub Vojakand Sam Boone hit homeruns to lead the Stealers to a 15-2 rout in seven innings. Murphy drove in seven runs. Veteran Frank Stattler was the starting pitcher in place of an injury Max Warren. In the second game Hamburg built up a fast 6-0 lead through the middle of the sixth en route to a 6-3 win over the Gophers. Justin Prinstein pitched six innings for his second win of the season. Bryan Roberts took the mound for the Gophers, having recovered from an injury.

Standings North

#	Team	W	L	R+	R-	.pct	GB	Streak
1	Paderborn Untouchables	11	0	118	27	1.000	0	W11
2	Bonn Capitals	10	3	149	62	.769	2	W9
3	Solingen Alligators	8	4	91	75	.666	3.5	L2
4	HSV Stealers	8	4	102	94	.666	3.5	W4
5	Pulheim Gophers	5	9	87	117	.357	7.5	L9
6	Dortmund Wanderers	4	8	75	79	.333	7.5	L1
7	Dohren Wild Farmers	2	10	40	117	.166	9.5	W1
8	Berlin Sluggers	1	11	43	134	.083	10.5	L11

Last Week:

Northern Division:

HSV Stealers – Berlin Sluggers 16-10, 4-3

After four splits to start the 2011 season, the HSV Stealers celebrated their first sweep against the promoted Berlin Sluggers. In game one Hamburg scored five runs in the second and eight between the fourth and seventh en route to a 16-10 victory. Berlin cut the deficit to three runs in the top of the eighth, but couldn’t do more in the slugfest to prevent a loss.Daniel Harms received the win, Iwan Galkin the loss. In the second match the Stealers needed a run by Mirko Oliczewsky in the bottom of the ninth to prevail 4-3. Pinch hitterPhilipp van Soosten lifted a flyball into center field to drive in the winning run. Justin Prinstein went the distance for his first win of the season. Ales Keprta took the loss.

Bonn Capitals – Dohren Wild Farmers 16-0 (7), 18-0 (7)

The Bonn Capitals dispatched the Dohren Wild Farmers on Sunday. Losing 0-16 and 0-18 Dohren was completely overmatched in both ends of the twin bill. In game one Tim Henkenjohann got his first win of the season. Bonn had provided him with a fast 7-0 lead after two frames and blew things wide open with six runs in the sixth. Florian Nehringrounded the bases for a three-run inside the park homerun. In the second match the Capitals greeted Wild Farmers’ starter Garrett Rogers with twelve runs in the opening period. Bradley Roper-Hubbert homered and tripled to drive in five. Max Schmitz and Bryce Schoeningheld Dohren scoreless.

Dortmund Wanderers – Untouchables Paderborn 3-13 (8), 1-5

The Untouchables Paderborn continue to dominate the northern division, improving their perfect record to start the season to 9-0. In game one at the Dortmund Wanderers seven runs in the second decided the outcome early in a 13-3 rout in eight innings. Eugen Heilmannreceived the win, Dennis Stechmann the loss. In the second match Brian Fields out-dueledMatt Kemp to lead Paderborn to a 5-1 win over Dortmund. Elliot Biddle went deep for the Wanderers. Daniel Groer had five hits in six at-bats.

Solingen Alligators – Pulheim Gophers 11-5, 7-3

The Solingen Alligators extended their winning streak to six games against the Pulheim Gophers, solidifying second place one week before their matchup with the undefeated Untouchables Paderborn. In game one Solingen dominated besides a five-run eighth by Pulheim. However at this point, the Alligators already were up 8-0 en route to an 11-5 victory.Andre Hughes struck out seven in seven two-hit innings for the win. Daniel Lamb-Hunt had a three-run double for Pulheim. In the second match the Gophers actually led 3-2 midway through the fifth, but three Solingen runs in the bottom of the same frame put the home team back in front. Phil Ortez hit a homerun, the first this season. Moritz Buttgereit followed with a two-run single.

Standings North

#	Team	W	L	R+	R-	.pct	GB	Streak
1	Paderborn Untouchables	11	0	118	27	1.000	0	W11
2	Bonn Capitals	10	3	149	62	.769	2	W9
3	Solingen Alligators	8	4	91	75	.666	3.5	L2
4	HSV Stealers	8	4	102	94	.666	3.5	W4
5	Pulheim Gophers	5	9	87	117	.357	7.5	L9
6	Dortmund Wanderers	4	8	75	79	.333	7.5	L1
7	Dohren Wild Farmers	2	10	40	117	.166	9.5	W1
8	Berlin Sluggers	1	11	43	134	.083	10.5	L11