Episode 4 of the Baseball Europe Podcast begins with a confession: baseball might actually be bad for you. At least, that’s what Paul’s doctor said after a routine blood test. His training regimen—one Sunday game and a couple of beers—apparently doesn’t qualify as “exercise.” But no matter. While his fitness goals collapse, the European Championships are heating up, and Paul and Matthias have a new obsession: the Czech League.
This episode is a mix of self-mockery, international gossip, and a surprisingly detailed look at one of Europe’s most intriguing baseball success stories.
The banter kicks off with Paul realizing that his “baseball-is-my-gym-membership” philosophy might not hold up to medical scrutiny. Matthias, ever the pragmatist, points out that catching squats count as cardio—about 50 per game, if you’re lucky. Paul vows to start running. Matthias offers to ride alongside on a bicycle shouting “Sport hurts! Go hard or go home!”
It’s classic Baseball Europe Podcast: part confession, part comedy, entirely relatable to anyone who’s limped out of a double-header thinking, that probably counts as leg day.
By now the Mainz Athletics’ season is finished. Rain has flooded fields across Germany, and their final game is washed away. But European baseball doesn’t sleep. The European Championships are underway, split across the Netherlands and Italy, with sixteen national teams vying for continental glory.
Germany looks strong early, topping its group alongside Spain and the Czech Republic. Britain surprises a few people, while Sweden—home to Mainz teammate Peter—struggles. The hosts run through results, rain delays, and the heartbreak of Germany’s quarter-final loss to Italy 1-0: a nine-inning pitcher’s duel so tense that Matthias admits, “I don’t like them.” He prefers his games wild and messy, like that infamous 27-3 blowout from Episode 2.
In the end, as predicted, the Netherlands reclaim the title, Italy finish second, and the Czechs quietly slip into third—a finish that sets up this week’s deep dive.
Here’s the twist: while most people associate European baseball with the Netherlands or Italy, the Czech Republic has built a baseball ecosystem that’s frighteningly efficient.
Baseball arrived there in the late 1970s, back when the country was still Czechoslovakia and Soviet rule wasn’t exactly encouraging American pastimes. Yet somehow, through sheer curiosity and stubbornness, the Czechs started their own league. After the country split in 1993, the Czech Baseball Extraliga became the top tier—a name that sounds like an energy drink but delivers real quality ball.
Today, the Extraliga features eight teams, five of them clustered around Prague and Brno, making road trips blissfully short compared to the German marathon drives. The season stretches over 35 games plus playoffs, culminating in the Czech Series, a best-of-seven showdown that crowns the national champion.
The Draci Brno (Dragons Brno) are the Regensburg Legionäre of the Czech world—26 titles and counting. Their main rival, the Arrows Ostrava, isn’t far behind. When these two clash, it’s the Central European version of Yankees vs Red Sox—minus the $10 beers and 40,000-seat stadiums.
One of the big headlines this season is that the Draci Brno plan to pay their players—a first in European baseball transparency. They’ve set aside about $80,000 for salaries. Not per player—across the entire roster. Still, it’s a statement.
For a league built on volunteer coaches and part-time athletes, that budget means a few players might finally earn enough to justify those endless practices and bruised shins. Matthias sees it as progress; Paul worries it could make the league lopsided. Either way, it’s historic. European baseball is slowly inching toward professionalism.
And this isn’t just about money—it’s about legitimacy. Paying players gives the sport a sense of structure that attracts fans, sponsors, and young talent. Baseball might never rival football here, but it can certainly hold its own pint of pilsner.
Like most European leagues, the Extraliga limits imports: only four foreign players per roster and a maximum of two on the field at once. It’s a rule echoed in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands—part protectionism, part necessity.
The Czechs understand that homegrown talent keeps the league sustainable. They’ve built robust youth programs feeding directly into senior teams. Under-18 and Under-12 Czech squads regularly reach the finals of European tournaments, often facing their German and British counterparts.
It’s working. Many of the players who beat Germany in the Euro Championships this year learned their fundamentals on dusty Czech fields behind schools and warehouses. The coaching is good, the infrastructure surprisingly modern, and the enthusiasm infectious.
Czech baseball’s Cold-War origins are almost poetic. Imagine young players sneaking western rulebooks across borders, building fields by hand, and convincing skeptical locals that this American curiosity was worth a try.
By the 1980s, Czechoslovakia had club teams playing exhibition games against visiting U.S. servicemen. After 1989, the floodgates opened: new gear, new knowledge, new ambition. Within a decade, the Czech national team was regularly qualifying for European Championships. Fast-forward to today—they’re ranked among Europe’s elite and even held their own in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
All that, without a single retractable-roof stadium.
Paul and Matthias take a detour to talk about Germany’s own youth baseball boom. The Mainz Athletics’ under-12 team just won the national championship; the under-18s reached the final but ran out of pitchers. It’s a perfect segue to the Czech development system—another example of how Europe’s baseball future is bright.
The Czechs invest heavily in youth academies, community leagues, and school programs. It’s not glamorous, but it’s working. You don’t get consistent national-team success without a decade of groundwork.
And unlike some sports, baseball’s learning curve rewards patience—something Europe has in spades.
If German baseball smells like bratwurst, Czech baseball smells like grilled klobása and cold Pilsner. Games feel more like neighborhood festivals than athletic events. Families bring picnic blankets; fans heckle in Czech, English, and occasionally broken German. There’s laughter, live music, and, if you’re lucky, a spontaneous polka after the game.
It’s baseball, but through a European lens—less corporate, more communal. Matthias describes it perfectly: “You see the same faces every week, and they’re not there for the standings. They’re there because it’s Sunday, and baseball’s on.”
The Czech Republic’s rise is good news for everyone who loves the game in Europe. It proves that baseball doesn’t need Major-League-Baseball money to thrive. What it needs is passion, structure, and a few stubborn dreamers who keep showing up with their gloves.
Episode 4 captures that spirit. It’s two guys geeking out about a country most people don’t associate with baseball, discovering that behind every small stadium and every volunteer-run stream lies a story of dedication and joy.
By the time the hosts sign off—with Paul promising to eat healthier and Matthias reminding him that sport still hurts—you’re left smiling, a little wiser, and maybe even tempted to look up the Czech Series highlights on YouTube.
🎧 Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Follow @BaseballEuropePodcast on Instagram and X for behind-the-scenes clips, player interviews, and European baseball banter.