(Photo Thomas Schönenborn)
It starts again. The new Bundesliga season starts next Friday with the southern encounter between the Heidenheim Heideköpfen and the Mannheim Tornados. A day later, the North officially opens the new baseball year.
Some things change – many things remain the same
There are thirteen teams in the league this year – six in the North, seven in the South. The Dortmund Wanderes, Tübingen Hawks and IT sure Falcons Ulm have left the upper house of the league. Hünstetten STORM is new to the 1st Bundesliga. The Hessians prevailed last year in an exciting play-off series over five games against the Baldham Boars and secured the sporting promotion to the German top class. It will be a very special season for STORM, because in addition to the debut in the 1st Bundesliga, the baseball and softball club from Hünstetten is also celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
In the regular season, the teams only meet their competitors from their own division – in the south as a first and second round, in the north as a first, second and first round. Starting this season, games will increasingly be scheduled as single games over 9 innings and will generally be played on Saturdays and Sundays or alternatively on Fridays and Saturdays. Double headers are only played over 2x 7 innings.
The regular season ends with final games on July 2nd in the South and July 16th in the North. From the play-offs, the divisions meet for the first time. Unchanged, the first four places of each season qualify for the main round and meet in the 1st play-off round in a best-of-5 series crossed (1st North – 4th South, 2nd South – 3rd North, etc.). The quarterfinals start on July 22nd, the semifinals on August 19th, the final for the German championship on September 2nd and ends with a 5th game on September 16th at the latest.
Adjusted mode in relegation battle
There are significantly more changes in the play-downs: In the north, the fifth and sixth-placed teams from the regular season meet in a best-of-7 series and duel for fifth place in the final standings, which secures the sporting relegation. The loser then has to compete in a best-of-3 relegation series against the best-placed and eligible team from the 2nd Bundesliga. The winner of this series qualifies for the 2024 season in the 1. Baseball Bundesliga.
In the south, the format is a bit more extensive: First, the fifth to seventh-placed teams in the regular season meet in a relegation round. All results from the first and second round are taken over. The two last-placed teams after the end of the relegation round qualify for the relegation and play there together with the best second division team willing to be promoted for a starting place in the 1st Bundesliga 2024. The second and third-placed teams from the relegation series rise to the 2nd baseball Bundesliga off.
If there are no teams in the south of the second baseball league that are willing to be promoted, the relegation will not be played and the seventh-placed player after the end of the play-downs in the first baseball league south will be relegated to the second league.
New ghost runner regulation from this season
The most important rule change for the course of the game is the new extra inning rule. If there is a tie after regulation time – 9 innings or 7 innings for doubleheader – then each extra inning will start with runners on 2nd and 1st base.
Official rules and regulations available from the DBV
The details about the course of the season and games described above are only a condensed summary and do not guarantee completeness. The binding regulations (Bundesspielordnung 2023) and the general timetable for 2023 can be accessed publicly at any time on the DBV website www.baseball-softball.de in the ‘Downloads’ area.
Editor: Marcel Eßers
