Simon Gühring celebrated his 1000th Bundesliga hit last Saturday (Photo: Kalle Linkert)
For a very special occasion, the Bundesliga editorial team has decided to award the title ‘Player of the Week’ to Simon Gühring on matchday 4: Last Saturday in the southern duel between the Heidenheim Heideköpfen and Mainz Athletics, Gühring hit his 1000th Bundesliga goal. Hit. In front of the home fans in the HellensteinEnergie Ballpark, the Stuttgart native recorded this special milestone of his long-standing Bundesliga career in the 6th inning.
One of the first Germans in the minor league
A year after the Heideköpfe’s promotion, Gühring made his debut in the 1st Baseball Bundesliga in 2001. At the beginning of his Bundesliga career, he was still on the field as a player with his current head coach Klaus Eckle.
The Stuttgart native received a professional contract from the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002 and was one of the first Germans in the minor league. Gühring played with the ACL Brewers Gold in the Arizona Complex League (rookie level) in 2002 and 2003. He played a total of 46 games for the Brewers organization.
In 2004, Gühring returned to Europe and played in the highest Dutch baseball league – the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. After a year at SV ADO Den Haag, he moved back to Heidenheim. The Swabian has been playing continuously for the Heideköpfe since 2005, with whom he has been a regular in the Bundesliga play-offs ever since. In 2007, Gühring received the award for ‘Best Batter South’ from the Bundesliga editorial team.
Chasing the title with Heidenheim
In 2009, the Heideköpfe reached the final series of the German championship for the first time in the club’s history and won their first championship title after five games with a 3-2 win against the Mannheim Tornados. Gühring perfected the season with two further awards for ‘Best Batter South’ and ‘Most Valuable Player South’.
In 2013, the Heideköpfe’s Bundesliga season ended in the semi-finals, but Gühring was still able to record a personal title on his baseball resume. He received the award for ‘Best Batter South’ from the Bundesliga editorial team (Link).
Two years later, the Heideköpfe rewarded themselves with their second championship. In 2015 they won the final against their southern rivals from Regensburg. In an extremely exciting series, the Heidenköpfe made up for a 2-0 deficit and wrote German baseball history in the decisive fifth game: In the 9th inning with two out and a 7:6 lead for the Legionnaires, Gühring hit the redeeming RBI single to equalize and gave his team the motivation they needed to ultimately win. The Bundesliga editorial team rewarded him for his excellent performance with the titles of ‘Finals MVP’ and ‘Most Valuable Player South’ (Link).
And every year the Bonn Capitals say hello
The Heidekopfs can well understand how Bill Murray aka Phil Connors feels in the film ‘Groundhog Day’. From 2017 to 2021 they were in the final of the German championship together with the Bonn Capitals every year. At the end, the Heideköpfe were able to celebrate and hold up the championship trophy four times (2017, 2019, 2020, 2021).
Last season, the Heideköpfe secured their seventh championship title against the Untouchables Paderborn.
Captain of the German national team
In 1999, the then 15-year-old Gühring made his debut for Germany at the European Junior Championships in Mainz.
The 2001 European Championships in Bonn was the Stuttgart native’s first tournament in the German men’s team. From then on, Gühring was an integral part of the senior national team and has not missed a single major tournament since then.
His last appearance in the national dress was at the WBC Qualifier in September 2022 in Regensburg. In 2023, Gühring officially ended his career in the national team after 24 years – including 20 years as captain.
2024-04-30 18:50:33
#Simon #Gühring #Heidenheim #Heideköpfe #1st #Baseball #Bundesliga
