The International Baseball Community Blog
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Top Coaches in Europe 2022: Martin Šmidt
Czech baseball coach Martin Šmidt has it figured out. His belief is that as a head coach, building team culture and spirit is priority number one. It is his focus on exactly that that many believe is the catalyst behind both his U18 and U21 teams bringing home the...
This Georgetown Alum Works Mobile While Traveling the World and Playing Ball
After wrapping up his college career at Georgetown University with a successful senior campaign which saw him hit .344 and lead the Big East Conference in slugging percentage, Steve Anderson was hopeful of being drafted. When that didn’t come to fruition, he opted to...
The Hoops this American Coach Jumped Through to Realize a Baseball Dream Will Inspire You
After polling our newsletter and social media audience about the top coaches in Europe in 2022, a number of European and import coaches were nominated. Will Swindling’s story stood out to us as our first coach feature, not only because of his accomplishments as a...
From No Professional Experience to Four Seasons Overseas to the Brewers
Written by: Carter Cromwell November 23, 2022 “The manager would like to see you in his office” is a line usually guaranteed to make a ballplayer think “uh, oh” and envision a trek to the guillotine. But in Kaleb Bowman’s case, it meant he would be moving onward and...
A decade of traveling and baseball and still going
As an indy pro pitcher in the Frontier League and American Association, Tim Brown spent his winters pitching in Australian state leagues — and some time in the ABL— for five straight years. Pitching year-round for five straight years. He even threw a no-hitter in the...
Heart and Grit Behind Czech National Team Advancing to the World Baseball Classic for the First Time
By Carter Cromwell October 15, 2022 When the World Baseball Classic begins next March, the Czechs will most likely be an underdog, but that won’t faze them. After all, the Czech team wasn’t a favorite before the recent qualifying round, but it proved adept at...
A Pitcher from Texas and a First Baseman From NYC Combine to Win a Championship in Europe
Brett Holtz is an Ivy League first baseman who had his college baseball career ripped away from him by COVID-19 and Alec Lemmon had hung up the cleats and got the travel bug while backpacking in Australia before deciding to combine his new passion with his old...
Finding Your Post-Playing Career Path: The Gretchen Aucoin Story
By Carter Cromwell August 24th, 2022 When Gretchen Aucoin was hired as minor-league player development coach by the New York Mets in January – thereby becoming the Mets’ first female on-field coach – it might have seemed the culmination of a long-held goal steadily...
Locked Down in a Dreamland; The Logan Moreland International Softball Story
By Carter Cromwell April 5th, 2022 When Logan Moreland went to New Zealand in late 2019 to play softball, it was to be for just one season – get in, get out, go home. Pretty simple. Then Covid-19 happened, and things weren’t so clear-cut. Suddenly, the short-term...
Chasing Summer; The Gary Owens International Baseball Story
By Carter Cromwell April 25th, 2022 From very early on, Gary Owens had a vision – he knew he wanted to be a baseball player. But he couldn’t envision then how far the game could and would take him. At the time, his vision extended only to the boundaries of his...
Hakusoh Bat
Hakusoh Bat has been producing bats in Japan for over 70 years and recently expanded to North America and Europe under the label ‘Spark Slugger’. They produce high end, professional wood and composite bats with a wide selection of models using many different types of wood from Japan, North American and Taiwan.
Hakusoh Bat is now approved with the WBSC and across Europe as of 2020. 
PlyoShop.Com
Plyoshop is the first European-based online seller of plyo balls, leather weighted baseballs, and resistance bands. Our mission is to make elite sport products more accessible for athletes and coaches in Europe. With over 10 years of experience in worldwide E-commerce business, we’re pleased to partner with BBJO in elevating the level of baseball and softball in Europe. Use the discount code BBJO10 for a 10% discount off of any of our products. 
