While baseball is one of the biggest sports in the USA, ball sports only have a reputation as a fringe sport in this country. And now that American football is socially acceptable in Germany, baseball now wants to follow suit. The Mönchengladbach baseball team Blackcaps also has some plans for the future of this sport in the Vitusstadt.
In the past, the Blackcaps have been an “elevator team.” They fluctuated constantly between the district league, the lowest league, and the state league above. Sometimes there were two teams, sometimes just one. Due to the lack of teams, it was out of the question to recruit young people from our own junior pool. Acquiring new players presented those responsible with a number of problems, which they were unable to solve. Now Patrick Grabowski, senior player-coach, has new plans for shaping the future of the baseball department of the American Sports Mönchengladbach club, which he shared with our editorial team.
After voluntary relegation from the state league to the district league and promotion again, the Blackcaps finally want to play a key role here too. In any case, the goal in the medium term is the NRW League (Oberliga). After two of twelve games to be played, the Blackcaps are at the top of the table together with the Bonn Capitals 3 after wins against the Jülich Dukes (13:3) and the Hochdahl Neandertaler (20:10). It should be noted about the two victories that the so-called Mercy Rule came into play here, i.e. the game is over if a team leads by ten or more runs two or one inning before the scheduled end of the game.
This means that actions follow words. But Grabowski limits the emerging euphoria a little: “If we really achieve the goal of promotion this season, we will most likely not claim the higher right to play. In the league, every game day becomes a doubleheader (two games in a row), and we wouldn’t be able to do that at the moment in terms of personnel.”
That’s why, if it works, major league baseball should be shown here in 2026. “Then again the city would be in demand here, because in the higher leagues there are certain requirements regarding the venue. In the long term, the goal of the Bundesliga will even be mentioned. “But we can play in the 2nd Bundesliga if the young talent comes from our own ranks. And with the new youth teams we have laid the foundation for the future,” said Grabowski promisingly.
The U15, which was founded for the first time, currently only has six players who regularly take part in training. That’s why the club took the step of forming a syndicate with the Düsseldorf Senators, who only have eight players. Under the guidance of trained trainers, the children learn the game from scratch. And even though the first game was lost, the talent of all players was evident.
There is only a shortage of players in the older U18 class. On the other hand, a lot is happening with the U10. “We sometimes give lessons in schools like the American football players from the Wolfpack. We also always look forward to the city festivals in Mönchengladbach and Rheydt, where we will also be present with a batting cage. “There are usually two or three people who are interested and then stick around,” says Grabowski, explaining the difficult search for players.
The ambitious plan for the acquisition: “A triangle will later be formed with the cities of Düsseldorf, Cologne and Mönchengladbach. Our city still has so much potential, we have to use it today,” says Grabowski.
2024-05-15 14:53:20
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