Two Broken Mics and a Big Baseball Idea

The Baseball Europe Podcast — Born in Chaos, Fueled by Coffee. You’d think starting a podcast would be easy.
Two guys, two mics, one shared obsession with baseball — what could possibly go wrong?

Everything.

It took two hours of pure audio chaos, a mountain of cables, and the painful discovery that “plug and play” never actually means plug and play. But somehow, out of that mess, the Baseball Europe Podcast was born.

Paul (the loud Brit with pink cleats) and Matthias (the calm German engineer who actually reads manuals) realized something: there are podcasts for MLB, for Germany, even for the Czech Republic — but nothing for all of European baseball. So they made one.

🎙️ Meet the Hosts: A Brit, a German, and a Shared Love of the Game

Paul’s baseball story starts in Baltimore. He went to an Orioles game, fell in love with the sport, and came back to Europe determined to play. “I wanted to do something American,” he says. “Turns out that something involved a lot of bruises and striking out.”

Matthias’ journey started late in this young life. “I was 39, my back hurt, and I figured sport might help,” he laughs. He joined a local softball team, switched to baseball after two seasons, and never looked back.

Now they both play for the Mainz Athletics in Germany — not professionals, not even close, but absolutely addicted to the game.

🧢 Life in the Mainz Athletics Clubhouse

Founded in 1988, the Mainz Athletics are one of Germany’s oldest and most respected baseball clubs. They’ve never dropped out of the Bundesliga — Germany’s top league — and won the national championship as recently as 2017.

The club’s got everything: a proper stadium, three fields, a fan shop, a batting hall, and catering that makes you wish baseball had halftime. It’s a real baseball family — just one that happens to live in the land of bratwurst and Bundesliga football.

Paul and Matthias play on the club’s third team — the Verbandsliga, aka the “get sweaty, have fun, occasionally win” division. “It’s amateur baseball,” Paul says. “But we train hard, travel some weekends, and come home sore and happy.”

🌍 Baseball in Europe: Bigger Than You Think

While MLB dominates headlines, Europe’s baseball scene is quietly thriving. There are leagues in more than 15 countries — the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Spain, France, the UK, Belgium, Austria, Croatia, and more.

That’s around 130 top-tier clubs playing every weekend across the continent, from Rotterdam and Rome to Regensburg.

“The game’s growing,” says Matthias. “We see kids joining every year, more imports from the US, and better facilities everywhere. It’s small, but it’s serious.”

👶 Future Stars: Europe’s Young Guns

Even the youth teams are stepping up. Germany and Italy both sent squads to Japan for the Under-18 Baseball World Cup — Germany even beat Australia 5–4 in their opener.

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic’s under-12 team has been on a tear, winning the European Championship 18–1 over Italy. “That’s brutal,” says Paul. “Imagine making it to the final just to get flattened like that.”

Fun fact: a kid from Mainz hit the walk-off that won Germany the under-12 title a couple years ago. The pipeline’s real — and it’s strong.

🏆 Heidenheim vs. Bonn: The All-German Final

In the European Champions Cup (basically Europe’s club World Series), it was an all-German showdown this year: Heidenheim vs. Bonn. Normally, there’s a Czech or Dutch team in the mix, but this time Germany took the spotlight — and Heidenheim walked away with the trophy.

Paul laughs: “We played Heidenheim earlier this year. They destroyed us. Like, mercy-rule destroyed us. But hey, now we can say we lost to the European champions.”

🚗 The Grind of Amateur Baseball

European baseball is passion over paycheck. Most players have day jobs — engineers, students, teachers — and spend weekends driving across the country just to play.

“Our league’s got a rule,” says Matija. “You can’t fill your roster with Americans. Only a few non-EU players are allowed, and even then they can’t pitch more than three innings.”

Paul nods: “Which is why my British passport counts against us. I’m literally taking the spot of a guy who could throw 90 mph.”

That’s amateur baseball for you — road trips, injuries, broken toes, and pure love for the game.

🧃 What’s Next for the Podcast

The Baseball Europe Podcast is still in its rookie season, but the goal’s clear: tell stories from every corner of European baseball. The players, the coaches, the fans — the people keeping this beautiful, weird, under-the-radar sport alive.

“We’ll talk about the leagues, the games, and yeah, probably my next injury,” says Paul. “But mostly, it’s about the people who make baseball in Europe what it is — scrappy, passionate, and a little bit ridiculous.”

So if you’re a fan, a player, or just baseball-curious, come hang out with us. We’ll bring the stories, you bring the snacks.

⚾ The Baseball Europe Podcast

Hosted by Paul & Matthias — two guys who love the game and refuse to take it too seriously.