Member and Club Features From Around the Globe

Podcast / Stories / Video

D1 Studs Sniff Out Epic Overseas Locations to Play Baseball

Patrick Cromwell and Andrew Cosgrove are a rare breed of BBJO member. Both of these talented former division one players from top programs decided to forgo the MLB dream and use their talents to play baseball in some of the most desirable places to live overseas. But...

Whether Opening for Green Day or Pitching at Dodgers Stadium, Scott Radinsky Brings It

Whether opening for Green Day or pitching at Dodgers Stadium, there is one thing for certain about Scott Radinsky........ he always brings it. In this episode, the former MLB pitcher and coach —who doubled as a punk rock singer for his band Pulley during the MLB...

CSU Bakersfield Stud Arm’s Mental Approach and 95mph FB Has Him in High Demand Overseas

Seattle-born, Ethan Skuija, has always been a dominant pitcher. He dominated as a kid growing up in Canada, in junior college in California, and in division one baseball playing for CSU Bakersfield. None of this changed since he decided to take his career overseas...

This Player Signed in Japan with No Prior Professional Experience

Lenny Pietersz is a native of Curaçao who has always dreamed of playing professional baseball. He recently achieved that goal, but he had to invest in himself by flying to Japan to play in the Japan Winter League in November of 2022. After two junior college baseball...

Get Signed in Japan via the Japan Winter League

If you’re interested in playing baseball in Japan, the Japan Winter League is the perfect place to start. In this episode, Dave and Jimmy interview league president Issei Washizaki—via translator Hiro Sakanshi—and find out everything about the Japan Winter League that...

This Pitcher’s Path to the Minors Was Through Semi-Pro Leagues in Canada, Australia and Germany

Former Appalachian State standout, Kaleb Bowman, found himself undrafted upon graduation and made the decision to travel the world and play baseball. This journey landed him in Canada that very same summer after graduating, playing in a five-team semi-professional...

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...

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...

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...

Working in the offseason for summers in Europe playing baseball; This UCLA Bruin continues at 34

UCLA Bruin alumnus Eddie Murray (far right above) teaches in the offseason in order to play baseball in Europe during the summer. Eddie wrapped up his college career in 2009 but it wasn't until 2014 that he discover that baseball in Europe was a thing. He got his...

Haven’t played in three years? No problem, come hit leadoff, win a championship and coach our National Team

Photo Credit: jchristophestudio.fr In this episode, Baseball Jobs Overseas founder David Burns and co-host Jimmy Jensen interview Jacob Biller, a BBJO member who played his first season overseas in France in 2021 where he won a championship and even managed to get on...

The Only Active Openly Gay Pro Baseball Player Tells his Story; Bryan Ruby Part 3

In my previous two podcast interviews with Bryan Ruby, he was not openly gay. Since our last interview, Bryan has come out and is now the only known active, openly gay professional baseball player in the world. His coming out was not just within his friend and family...

Playing Winter Ball in Guatemala to the Upstart Mavericks League

In this second interview with our globetrottin', country-music-singin', pro baseball player, Bryan Ruby, we talk about his experience playing winter ball in Guatemala in the fall/early winter of 2020 during the midst of a second COVID-19 wave and the Mavericks League...

Sick Set-Up in the Czech Republic for this Two-Way Guy

Ryan "RJ" Johnson is a player in high demand overseas for a number of reasons and is currently living in the Czech Republic year-round as an import for a club that is on the rise. The former American Association pitcher has re-invented himself as a high-level two-way...

UNCG Softball Twins Pause D1 Coaching Careers For Overseas Softball

Lindsay and Nicole Thomas took their twin pitcher-catcher act overseas in 2017, one year after graduating from UNC Greensboro where they were both standout players. A year into NCAA D1 coaching careers, both girls made the decision to put their coaching careers on...

This D3 Player’s All-in Approach to Playing Overseas Ball is Working

Pennsylvania-born Bryan Ruby is a baseball player and country music songwriter who has traveled the world playing baseball while continuing with his career in music. Bryan's passion for country music was behind his decision to pass up a D1 baseball scholarship in...

Using the overseas route to create your own baseball brand & business with Mobile Coach Owen Reid

After a lustrous career as an international import player and coach, Owen Reid decided to go to work for himself as an International Baseball Consultant and Mobile baseball coach. Now settled and based in Singapore, Owen has now traveled to five different continents...

Working Your Way Into The Australian Baseball League

This episode of the IBC Podcast provides content relevant to any player at any stage in their career who is considering Australia as a winter option, whether a college grad, released professional or current professional. The Australian Baseball League has made huge...

Interview with 7 year MLB pitcher and Baseball Jobs Overseas member, Josh Collmenter

Former MLB pitcher Josh Collmenter became an official member of the Baseball Jobs Overseas website on February 19, 2018, after he elected for free agency four months earlier following a 2017 season which started well with the Atlanta Braves but eventually saw him...

Baseball Globetrotters (2023): Hidden gem in small town Czech

BBJO Globetrotters teammates, Ryan "RJ" Johnson, Jeff Costello, and Russ Strilchuk show us their set-up and the beautiful city of Trebic, Czech Republic. https://youtu.be/7TU32bRwe-E?si=ntu6HCR-pQL2sFr1 Not ready to hang them up?  Seeking a new career path?Annually...

Baseball Globetrotters: Lifestyle Playing Seaside France

Three BBJO members and a fourth import take us inside one of the fastest-growing baseball clubs in France and a future French first-division contender. The footage takes place in 2018, their inaugural first season at France's top level. https://youtu.be/wfU24gDtg7INot...

Baseball Globetrotters – Battle for 1st in the West, Baseball League Austria (Part 2)

The Attnang Athletics (11-7) host the Dornbirn Indians (11-4) in their final two games of a home and away series to end the shortened 2020 season. The teams are battling for 1st in the Baseball League Austria West Division and Attnang has to sweep in order to have a...

Baseball Globetrotters – Ryan Hooper (UC Davis) in Switzerland

Former UC Davis infielder, Ryan Hooper, took his career overseas first to Australia for the winter after he graduated and then to Europe to play in Switzerland the following summer. In Switzerland, he played alongside fellow Baseball Jobs Overseas member, Harry...

Baseball Globetrotters – Patrick Cromwell (Clemson) & Evyn Yamaguchi (Mayville) play in Germany

Patrick and Evyn were two of three BBJO imports who signed on to play with the Wesseling Vermins in the 2019 German Bundesliga season. It was the first season that the Vermins played in the first division and although suffering some pretty tough losses, Patrick, Evyn...

Globetrotters – Season 5, Episode 3 “Beach Bums”

In his first stint overseas, former UC Davis team captain Ryan Hooper gives us a real look into living on the Gold Coast of Australia while playing winter ball. In the second half of this episode, we revisit with a familiar Globetrotters face in New Zealand, this time...

Globetrotters Season 5, Episode 2: “Surprise Motha#@%&$”

The pitcher-catcher softball duo from Kansas is back for their second Globetrotters episode and their second straight season playing winter ball in Christchurch, New Zealand. The BBJO pair started their overseas career off in the Czech Republic before focusing on two...

At a crossroads in his career, this Clemson Tiger chose winter ball Down Under

Clemson grad Patrick Cromwell takes us inside his experience playing baseball in Perth, Australia. https://youtu.be/proGhEI_GCoNot ready to hang them up?  Seeking a new career path?Annually our members sign over 300 contracts overseas. There are a variety of levels...

Globetrotters – Season 4, Episode 5 “Baseball eh? Okie Dokie”

Jimmy Jensen is back on Globetrotters along with teammate and fellow BBJO member Pete Gehle, both with the Saint John Alpines of the highly competitive league in New Brunswick, Canada. Baseball Jobs Overseas founder David Burns goes a networking trip to Okotoks,...

Globetrotters – Season 4, Episode 4 “Green & Yeller”

Three BBJO members and a fourth import take use inside one of the fastest growing baseball clubs in Europe and a future French first division contender. The footage takes place in 2018, their inaugural first season at France's top level. We then head over to Austria...

Globetrotters – Season 4, Episode 3 “Baseball in the Alps”

Four BBJO members bring us inside their lifestyle of living and playing baseball and softball in the Swiss Alps for the Lucerne Eagles. https://youtu.be/PU7Z8wCrXqg  

Globetrotters – Season 3, Episode 1 “The Global Game”

In this episode we visit three IBC members playing in South Africa, Jaz Shergill along with couple Chelsea Cohen and Tyler Krobetzky, all of whom are with the same club. Chelsea is playing in her 7th season overseas and met Tyler while playing in Adelaide, Australia....

Globetrotters – Season 2, Episode 11 “Doppler Effect”

After winning the Baseball League Austria Championship with the Attnang Athletics in 2016, Steven Johnson and Ryan Rupp both re-signed with the Athletics with one goal in mind.....repeat. This episode highlights their 2017 playoff journey both on and off the field....

Globetrotters – Season 2, Episode 10 “Take a breath”

The epitome of a baseball globetrotter, Jimmy Jensen wraps up his 5th straight season overseas (year-round), this time with the Stuttgart Reds of the German Bundesliga. In this episode Jimmy shares his 2017 summer experience of baseball and travel while also...

BBJO’s Global Impact, A Numbers Game

The BBJO staff loves our jobs because we know that we’ve made a huge impact on the global development of this game, and have helped countless people experience the absolutely unforgettable all around the world.  As we’re still looking for partners and sponsors to join...

Czech Baseball Continues with WBC Momentum at Prague Baseball Week

Cover photo credit: Lenka Brožová By David Burns July 21st, 2024 When I got the message from the organizers of Prague Baseball Week that our Globetrotters were not invited back to the tournament for 2024, I was not happy, to say the least. However, when hearing their...

Czech Star Martin Mužík Relives His 2023 World Baseball Classic Moments

We catch up with Martin Mužík at Prague Baseball Week 2024 a little more than a year after his team impressed at the World Baseball Classic with a historic win over China highlighted by a 9th-inning 3-run home run by Mužík. Photo Credit: PC Lenka Brožová

From Cricket to Crushing Baseballs Overseas: Chris Beyers’ Story

By Carter Cromwell Though Chris Beyers’ baseball career is trending upward now – he stars in the German 1st Bundesliga, performed for the South African national team in the World Baseball Classic, and is set to play this fall in the inaugural season of Baseball United...

Member Spotlight: Breland Almadova

This month's Member Spotlight is beaming down on an MiLB Rawlings Gold Glove winner, 3x professional league champion, and 2-year Party Animal with the Savannah Bananas, who has now arrived in the Czech Republic for his first season overseas.  We present the Stylin'...

Member Interview: Agustín de Argentina

We got ahold of Agustín Tissera, an Argentina native and national team member, to talk about the Liga Argentina de Béisbol and his career to-date.  Agustín plays for his hometown Córdoba and has traversed Europe as an international veteran. You’ve played in the LAB...

Making Your Dream Happen: The Daniel Catalan Story

By Carter Cromwell There was a point at which Daniel Catalan was considering life after baseball.  Now it’s more like baseball is his life. A native of Los Angeles, Catalan played at a couple of junior colleges and at Holy Names College in Oakland, Calif.  Upon...

Players’ Investment in Themselves Pays Off: The Japan Winter League 2023 Summary

When Issei Washizaki decided nearly three years ago to start the Japan Winter League (JWL), his hope was that it would become a vehicle “for players to find their direction.” Judging from the early results, he’s accomplished that goal. And, in the process, pointed...

Member Spotlight: Mustachioed Malconian’s Journey to Japan

Last season, Matt Malconian started his overseas career in Germany with the Füssen Royal Bavarians, a slight change of scenery from his San Diego desk job.  Matt had entered the corporate world after a club baseball career at San Diego State where he was the...

This Vagabond Couple Met While Playing Baseball and Softball Overseas

They say traveling around the world is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It is also said that finding your soulmate is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For Chelsea Cohen and Tyler Krobetzky, they were lucky enough to have those rare experiences match in a small period...

This French Pitcher Quickly Went from an Unknown Community College Pitcher to MLB Draft Pick

Mathias LaCombe is the embodiment of the old phrase “how quickly things can change”.   At the beginning of this spring, he was a virtually unknown relief pitcher at a community college in a rural region of eastern Arizona who had trouble consistently throwing...

The Lennard Pietersz Story: From the Small Island of Curaçao to Japan via Austria

If the particulars of Lennard Pietersz’ journey thus far were set to a medley of songs, an appropriate title track would be “The Long and Winding Road”.   The native of Curacao, a former Dutch colony in the Caribbean now a “constituent country” of the Kingdom of the...

Jaz Shergill Discovered his True Calling While Playing in Africa

Baseball.  Uganda. For the vast majority of people, those words would not seem to belong in the same sentence.  Yet, they do.  There is baseball in Uganda – more than one might think – and that’s thanks to people such as Jaz Shergill and others.   Shergill is a native...

How This Cali Softball Player Became the Austrian National Team Coach

Gabriella Gonzalez represents a classic case of how quickly things can change.  In a mere 11-day period back in 2016, her life’s path veered from typical to atypical.   Gonzalez grew up in northern California and was a softball player and sometimes coach while...

There is Baseball Fever in the Czech Republic after World Baseball Classic

By participating for the first time in the recently completed World Baseball Classic, the Czech Republic’s national team checked off multiple items on its to-do list. “Before the tournament, we had three goals – increase the number of baseball fans in the Czech...

33 Year-Old Pitcher From Boise, Idaho Shuts Down South Korea at the WBC

Photo credit: Baseball CzechJeff Barto pitched against the South Korean National Team at the Tokyo Dome as a representative of the Czech National Team this past Saturday in World Baseball Classic pool play. He threw 5.2 innings in relief, surrendering only 2 hits and...

BBJO’s Sarah Edwards is the Newest Hitting Development Coach with the Phillies

There was a time not long ago that Sarah Edwards thought she might live in Italy the rest of her life.  But it turned out that this was not the time. Instead, the rest of her life began March 1 in Clearwater, Florida, spring training home of Major League Baseball’s...

The Hoops this American Coach Jumped Through to Realize a Baseball Dream Will Inspire You

By David Burns December 1, 2022 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...

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...

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...

This ballpark in northern Germany has atmosphere

Home to the Bonn Capitals of the German Bundesliga North, Rheinaue Stadium has an American-like ballpark atmosphere that is a rare find in Europe. In 2001, the stadium was renovated and expanded for the European Championships at the cost of 1.05 million Deutsche Mark...

A’s Ballpark; Attnang-Puchheim, Austria

The Attnang Athletics was the first club in Austria to build a modern ballpark (2009) with the capability of hosting international baseball events. Since then, many others have followed suit such as the Wr. Neustadt Diving Ducks and Dornbirn Indians. The hosts of the...

Bulls Ballpark; Hard Austria

Film Date: June 13, 2021 Home Team: Hard Bulls League: Austrian Bundesliga Recent Baseball Jobs Overseas imports to the club: Clayton Carson, Yodai Nakamura, Marcus Fukuhara, Jose Ruiz, Zeke Howie https://youtu.be/uiutwwXq9YM

Tempo Praha Ballpark; Prague, Czech Republic

This Drone footage is of the Opening Ceremony at Prague Baseball Week 2021 featuring the International Stars and the Czech National Team. The International Stars featured 23 members from Baseball Jobs Overseas who were playing around Europe that made their way for the...

Eagles Ballpark; Prague, Czech Republic

The Eagles Praha (Prague Eagles) are a steadfast top 4 team in the Czech Extraliga and are owners of one of the best baseball and softball complexes in all of Europe, thus called upon to host numerous baseball and fastpitch tournaments for all ages. Many of our...

Hellenstein Energie Ballpark; Heidenheim, Germany

Film Date: June 11, 2021 Home Team: Heidenheim Heideköpfe Visiting Team: Stuttgart Red League: Germany Bundesliga Former/Current Baseball Jobs Overseas imports: Gary Owens, Logan Grigsby, RJ Hively, Aaron Dunsmore, Mitch Nilsson, Terrell Joyce, Fernando Escarra...

Indians Ballpark; Dornbirn, Austria

  The Dornbirn Indians had their name put on the international baseball map for all the wrong reasons when this photo went viral way back in the early 2000's. Basically, at the time and for many years prior, their baseball field doubled as a parking lot for...

Armin-Wolf-Arena in Regensburg, Germany

Home to the Regensburg Regionaere of the German Bundesliga South, the Armin-Wolf-Arena is one of the top baseball stadiums in Europe and is home to a baseball academy with on-site boarding facilities called Sportinternat Regensburg. Photo credit: Walter Keller Video...

European Baseball Road Trip: Curaçao Neptunus

Team photo above by: Robert Bos The Honkbal Hoofdklasse is the highest level of baseball in the Netherlands and is one of two professional leagues in Europe. On the second part of this European baseball trip to the Netherlands (see video below), I stop in to visit the...

European Baseball Road Trip: Hoofddorp Pioniers

By Baseball Jobs Overseas Founder David Burns I hit the road once again to visit BBJO members along with their clubs, documenting my trip on video, and this time it was a trip to the Netherlands. My first stop was in Hoofddorp to visit the Hoofddorp Pioniers and the...

European Baseball Documentary: Attnang Athletics

In 1991 the Attnang Athletics were founded when a local Croatian immigrant who had spent his youth playing baseball in South America and Australia recruited a group of local teens from the small town of approximately 8,000 to form the first baseball team in Attnang....

The world’s best baseball, softball, open air festival, right in the center of Europe

If you can find your way to Austria from June 7th through June 10th, 2019, mark that weekend off as “busy” and prepare yourself for the most epic weekend of baseball, softball and party. Finkstonball is the longest standing invitational baseball tournament in Europe...

Finkstonball XXII – Europe’s baseball & softball music festival

If you can find your way to Attnang-Puchheim, Austria from June 7th-10th 2019, mark that weekend off in your calendar as “busy” and prepare yourself for the most epic weekend of baseball, softball and party. Finkstonball is the longest standing invitational baseball...

European Baseball Road Trip, Part 3: Bologna & Milan

In 2016, Baseball Jobs Overseas founder David Burns, along with two BBJO members playing in Austria at the time, take a road trip down to Bologna and Milan to visit with two teams in the Italian Baseball League. One team, Fortitudo Bologna, is a perennial league...

European Baseball Documentary: T&A San Marino

Every year the baseball club I play for in Austria, the Attnang Athletics, holds a four day spring training near Grado, Italy. The past couple of years I decided to stay after spring training and do an Italian baseball tour. For the first tour, imports Jimmy Jensen...

European Baseball Documentary: Barcelona, Sant Boi, Viladecans

During a recent visit to Barcelona, I was able to catch two Spanish Division de Honor games and interview some players and coaches for this first of many European baseball video documentaries. The clubs I visited were the CB Barcelona, CB Viladecans (20 min from...