Interview with Lukas Steinlein from the Munich-Haar Disciples « 1. Baseball Bundesliga

Lukas Steinlein from the Munich-Haar Disciples doesn’t just wear the No. 1 on his jersey: Born in Fürth, he has been playing in the 1st Baseball Bundesliga since 2009 – continuously in the service of the Disciples. With 28 saves, the 31-year-old RHP is one of the most successful closers in Bundesliga history.

But even in the club’s internal ranking, the name ‘Steinlein’ is not unknown. Lukas holds the records for these important pitching stats with 31 wins, 487.1 innings and 403 strikeouts.

Reason enough for baseball-bundesliga.de editor Marcel Eßers to conduct an interview with Lukas Steinlein.

baseball-bundesliga.de: Can you please briefly describe the course of your baseball career?

Lukas Steinlein: I’m originally from Fürth. In the street where I lived, there is a vacant lot at the front where young people of the same age (10 to 15 years) from the region often stayed. A family who came from baseball moved in on the opposite property. We then started playing baseball with tennis balls in the open space. At some point we joined the Fürth Pirates. That was around 2000 or 2001. At that point, the men’s team was playing in the 2nd or even 1st Bundesliga, as far as I can remember. My rise with the Pirates was relatively quick. At some point I played in the Bayern selection. After the youth and junior teams, I switched to the 2nd men and was already playing in the regional league at the age of 15. With the relegation of the 1st men in 2006, the club fell apart a bit. In addition to financial problems, many national and top men’s players have left the Pirates. Together with my coach Chris Dresel – who was also a Bundesliga coach – I moved to the 2nd Bundesliga in Ingolstadt and played there for two years (2007 and 2008). Then I went with Chris to the Disciples in the 1st Bundesliga. I’ve been playing in Haar continuously since 2009.

My career in the national team started in 2006 with the U15 national team. We won the B pool in Lithuania back then and since then the U15 team has been playing in the A pool. Immediately after that, I continued in the junior team. In 2009 we achieved 5th place at the European Championships in Bonn.

After graduating from high school, I joined the Bundeswehr’s baseball sports promotion group – together with Jan Jakob and Pascal Raab. I spent a year there, trained at the base in Regensburg and played in Haar. In October 2011 my time in the Bundeswehr ended. In January 2012 I went to South Africa and ended up with a good team there. The contact came about through my old youth national coach Georg Bull. There I lived with a host family, which became – more or less – my second family. After 3 months in Cape Town I came back to Germany for the start of the Bundesliga season. In 2013 I went to South Africa again for 3 months. Then my studies began, which made a longer stay in South Africa no longer possible. In 2014 and 2015 I only traveled to Cape Town for about 6 to 8 weeks. In 2015 we won the South African Championship. The following year I completed a semester abroad in Cape Town and won the championship in South Africa that season as well.

My career in the men’s national team began at the same time. In 2014/15 I was ‘sporadically’ invited to the All Star Game. In March of the following year I flew directly from South Africa to the WBC qualifier in Mexico. My first European Men’s Championships in Holland followed in September. In 2017 and 2018 we took part in many smaller tournaments with the national team, including Haarlem Baseball Week and Super-6 (both in Holland). In 2019 I took part in the 2-week preparation for the European Championships in Japan. The European Championships followed in Bonn in the same year and in Turin, Italy in 2021.

baseball-bundesliga.de: Let’s take a look at the past Bundesliga season: You finished the regular season in third place with a win/loss ratio of 19:6 (among other things, a split against the reigning German champions at the time – the Heidenheim Heideköpfe). In the play-offs you lost in the first round to the later finalists – the Untouchables Paderborn – in the best-of-5 series by just 3:2. How satisfied are you personally or are you as a team with the season? What were your goals at the beginning of the season and were they met?

Lukas Steinlein: Third place in the regular season with this win-loss record is absolutely satisfying for our young team. I don’t think it would have been possible this year. From the point of view of the association, the goal was achieved.

The Disciples changed the club structure some time ago: instead of buying new import players from abroad every year (hoping that they will perform), we now keep our current import players longer-term. Since 2016/2017 we have had some imports who live permanently in Munich and also have a normal job here.

In addition, we are increasingly relying on young players. Together with our new coach (in office since 2020), the team is in a small ‘rebuild’. Since then we’ve gotten a little better every year. This year is absolutely satisfying, but unfortunately the ending is very frustrating. Personally, I think we could have achieved more. We won twice against Paderborn and narrowly lost three times. It’s very frustrating when you know that Paderborn are beatable.

baseball-bundesliga.de: Among baseball connoisseurs, the South has always been rated more highly than the North. This year we had the first pure northern final in the Bundesliga since 2005 (then the Solingen Alligators against the Untouchables Paderborn). In the last 10 years (2013-2022), the German champion came from the south seven times and only three times from the north. How do you rate this assessment that the South is stronger? And how do you rate the North/South ratio in the completed 2022 season?

Lukas Steinlein: From my point of view, the south is stronger in width. In the south there is more competition every weekend. This season there were six teams that fought for the playoffs until the end. In any case, it was always possible for the two last-placed teams – Tübingen and Ulm – to take a win away from the top teams. We always hoped they could win against Heidenheim. There were few easy weekends in the south. My perception of the north is that there are often very clear results there. Because of this, I think the South is a bit broader. But the top teams from the north would of course also be up there in the south. Bonn, for example, is an absolute top team with many national players. The Capitals are German champions 2022 and have also been in the final for the past five years.

baseball-bundesliga.de: You’ve been playing in the 1st Bundesliga since 2009. In that time, you’ve racked up some impressive stats: 31 wins (Disciples Club record), 487.1 innings (Disciples Club record), 403 strikeout (Disciples Club record). With 28 saves you are one of the most successful closers in Bundesliga history. How proud are you of these values?

Lukas Steinlein: I am very proud of these stats. That was a lot of work that I put in alongside school, studies and a job. But of course that is also a success for the team. If I were on a team that loses a lot, I wouldn’t be able to collect wins and saves either. But I’m also proud that my coach trusts me and that I can be the guy who makes the save on the mound. I was very lucky in that regard too. Together with Chris Dresel I went from Fürth via Ingolstadt to Haar. Actually, I was shortstop – also in the national team. But somehow I’ve been used as a closer since I was 13 years old. I was always standing on the mound at the end of the game and it’s continued that way over the years. There were also a few years when I was a starter. But in terms of mentality, I’m the type of person who would rather give everything in a shorter amount of time than be on the mound for a longer period of time.

baseball-bundesliga.de: You wear number #1 on your jersey. What is the reason for choosing this number?

Lukas Steinlein: It doesn’t really have any important background. I used to always wear the #8. At the 2009 European Junior Championships, Kevin Kotovski and I both wanted #8. At that time we had to specify a second desired number. So I decided on #1 and finally got it. Since then I’ve been wearing the #1 and I love doing it.

baseball-bundesliga.de: Has the Bundesliga off-season already begun for you? What are your plans for the coming months?

Lukas Steinlein: For me, the season ended at the beginning of August. In the first 1 to 2 weeks I didn’t do anything – just sat frustrated on the coach. I am very fortunate to have a very good personal trainer here. I then discussed the further plan with him. The situation is unfamiliar to me because I have a longer off-season for the first time in 10 years. Normally there was still preparation with the national team, then the European Championship, then a short break and then it was November. Now I’m going on vacation and then I’ll slowly start again. At the beginning you throw loosely, so that the movement stays in place. I also continue to go to the gym to stay in shape. Things get really serious from November, when team training starts again.

baseball-bundesliga.de: You are currently 31 years old. What are your plans for the future? Will you be back in the Disciples Bundesliga team for the upcoming 2023 season?

Lukas Steinlein: Many are already asking me when I will end my career and what my future plans are. I hadn’t given this much thought until now. Eddy Stommel from the Bonn Capitals recently retired. I think I’m the last one from the 2006 youth national team who is still actively playing in the 1st Bundesliga. That gives me something to think about. Currently I can combine baseball very well with my job and I still enjoy it a lot. Thanks to my fitness trainer, I’ve been getting better and better physically for the last three years. I would hate to end my career prematurely, then regret it and then come back. If at some point the time comes when I don’t feel like it anymore, then I will stop. But it’s not that far yet. Therefore, the current plan is to continue to improve and play in the 1st Baseball Bundesliga next year.