Season 6!

I know I'm a little late with this year's annual baseball email but better late than never to update everyone with news from Budapest on this little baseball vagabond adventure I've been on for the past 6 years now. 

I arrived in Europe at the end of April, but unlike years past where my main purpose was to play professionally, I have taken on some new roles that are very different than before.

In March I was named Head Coach of the Hungarian Senior and Under-21 National teams and we officially started this year's program with another strong showing during my Head Coach debut at the annual Danube Cup against the National teams from neighboring Slovakia and Austria:

http://www.mister-baseball.com/hungary-danube-cup-head-coach-justin-prinstein/

This is a great opportunity for someone my age, to lead a national team, consisting of the best players in the country of Hungary in various international tournament throughout the Spring and Summer. We just completed our national team training camp yesterday and we are getting ready for a friendly match against a team from the U.S. next week, followed by the Prague International Cup tournament June 30 & July 1 as we continue to build for next year's European Championships Qualifier. 

Additionally, I am directing player development for the whole country, which involves traveling every week to various cities and towns throughout Hungary, helping individual clubs with their training programs and outreach activities to recruit new players to the sport. I'm helping develop the baseball fabric in a country that only recently started playing baseball with the end of Soviet rule in the early 1990s. There's a lot of room to make a large impact on how baseball players are developing to play the game correctly.

Meanwhile, I am also continuing to play professionally for the Janossomorja Rascals http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jánossomorja-Rascals/181412281900987, arguably the best team in the country of Hungary who also play in the regional premier league against other top club teams from neighboring countries of Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. http://www.mister-baseball.com/preview-15th-edition-inter-league/

So far I've helped the Rascals as a starting pitcher and designated hitter into 4th place in the Inter-League. Last weekend I hit my 2nd home-run of the season and pitched the last two innings against Obuda Warriors for the save that helped locked up the final spot in the Inter-League playoffs to be played in Croatia at the end of September: http://www.mister-baseball.com/results-interleague-slovakia-hungary-june-9/ .  As one of the leading hitters and pitchers in the league you can find my stats here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3792894/Sezona2012/Interliga2012/lgplyrs.htm

We also recently finished in 4th place (out of 12) against club teams and national teams from all over Europe at the Finkstonball Tournament in Attnang-Puchheim Austria a few weeks ago:

http://finkstonball.com/ . And for the second year in a row, 3n2 Baseball is sponsoring me and for all my baseball and softball playing friends I encourage you to check them out at www.3n2sports.com

Of course as many of you are aware, during the past few years I have been working towards a law degree at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. While playing and coaching in May I was finally able to graduate, and now even though I maintain my profession as a baseball player and coach, I also am officially a lawyer now. 

Many things have changed in the past 6 years - as I have played, coached and scouted around the globe from Belgium to Israel to Australia to the Netherlands and Germany, and now in Hungary. (I think I'm on pace to set some sort of record with playing in the most amount of countries - 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Justin_Prinstein

I remember starting out in Belgium back in 2007, the only way to communicate to friends and family back home was to post my adventures, pictures, and game recaps on my blog: www.justprin.blogspot.com. 

Only U.S. college students were on facebook, and there wasn't much international media attention to baseball in Europe. Now with almost everyone on facebook and with these other websites I have sent links to - it's much easier to take a few minutes and share in this adventure with me.

Check out my photo gallery on facebook: 

Austria Tourney:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101613489700554.2507527.5304929&type=3&l=3d844c5808

Photos from Hungary:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101591164345744.2503789.5304929&type=3&l=541043cfed

And you can "Like" my player page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Justin-Prinstein/159331680763120

Stay in touch and enjoy the summer (or Australian winter, for those down under)!

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 :)