Berlin. Youth baseball teams come to the Märkischesviertel on the Easter weekend. They want to clear up a big misconception about their gaming equipment.
The three boys Kilian (14), Gideon (13) and Shuma (13) say that they sometimes get strange looks when they with their baseball bats get on the S-Bahn. Their hats may then be pulled low over their faces. So they drive from the middle-class south of Berlin past the Botanical Garden towards the Märkischesviertel. The large settlement in the north of Berlin is considered a focal point, previously more so, currently a little less. And in Germany, the baseball bat is still perceived as more of a weapon than a piece of sports equipment. Similar to how the baseball cap is widespread headgear, but the connection to the sport is rarely made.
This is the route to the Flamingo grounds and the “Clash in the Capital” tournament © Dirk Krampitz | Dirk Krampitz
This greatly annoys baseball coach Tony Leon Guerrero. “Baseball bats are designed to hit a baseball,” he clarifies. Anything else is simply “wrong” and, in the worst case, will ensure that his sport gets “a bad reputation”. Of course he wants to do everything about it – above all he wants to make his sport better known in Germany. And so he organizes the Easter weekend the largest baseball tournament in Berlin – namely in the Märkischesviertel.
A team of top players from Berlin and Brandenburg
Because Guerrero has been training youth and juniors at the Berlin Flamingos since 2022. The club is based behind the Wendehammer on Königshorster Straße. But he doesn’t just train the flamingos. He also has the Berlin-Brandenburg cross-club Team BPI Bulls founded, with the best players from different teams. “I wanted to bring together the talented players who can’t afford to attend camps so that they can travel to other countries during holidays and long weekends, compete there and maybe get noticed at a showcase and get into their country’s national team can be appointed,” explains Guerrero. He knows how business works in the USA, where baseball is much more popular and is run in a more professionalized manner with more money. He has played in various countries and worked as a coach. Baseball will be part of the Olympics again from 2028.
Baseball coach Tony Leon Guerrero initiated the tournament. © BPI Travel Team | BPI Travel Team
Kilian, Gideon and Shuma play in the tournament. Shuma and his parents just moved to Berlin six months ago from near the Japanese city of Osaka. In Japan, baseball is the national sport, he previously played in the club there. You found the flamingos on the internet. Shuma is a quiet boy, he sits almost stoically during the conversation. Of course, after six months in Berlin, he speaks better Japanese than German. “But that’s the good thing about sport, it brings people together and communication works when playing,” says his teammate Gideon. He plays in the German U15 national baseball team and became U12 European champion in 2023.
Before the season starts for the Berlin teams, the three meet up with their teammates as the BPI Bulls five strong challengers, who accepted the invitation to Berlin. The Lyngby Jokers (Denmark), Prague Eagles (Czech Republic), Hengelo Giants (Netherlands), Warsaw Centaury (Poland) and the Taunus Baseball Academy team are taking part. The winner takes home the “Clash at the Capital” trophy.
Viewers don’t have to have a clue – baseball controllers explain
After a long winter of indoor training, the young athletes have the chance to play properly again on the Easter weekend. “The teams grow together on the pitch, the coaches can identify strengths and weaknesses and then continue to work on them,” says Tony Guerrero. “It’s a lot of fun to finally play baseball again with friendly teams after the long break and also to offer the fans something,” he says, referring to the tournament. By the way: You don’t have to be a baseball expert: there are people in the audience so-called baseball pilots, who explain and answer every question, no matter how simple, that every six-year-old in America knows, who, like Coach Tony, was already standing at the fence of the sports field. He “just grew up with it,” says Guerrero, raving about the smell of popcorn and hot dogs on the Field of Dreams. In Berlin there will also be popcorn and hot dogs on both days of the tournament.
The BPI Bulls on the Berlin Flamingos square in the Märkischesviertel. © BPI Travel Team | BPI Travel Team
The hope is to inspire spectators and perhaps even new players, even though it may seem scary to beginners that someone is holding a ball with up to up to 100 kilometers per hour and someone else then hits it away with as much force as possible with a bat. “But the fear of the ball goes away over time. You don’t hurt yourself. Or at least not difficult,” says Kilian. Back then, his father practiced with him by throwing soft balls at him, he says with a laugh.
Saturday, March 30th and Sunday, March 31st, from 9 a.m. in the Flamingos Ballpark, Königshorster Str. 11, admission is free.
You can read more news from Reinickendorf here.
2024-03-30 04:58:57
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