Does everyone know the two national sports in the USA? Of course, they are American football and baseball. Baseball is also traditionally played in Berlin-Zehlendorf, where the Americans were stationed for a long time and also left their mark on local sport. The “Berlin Wizards” are now very happy that the district has planned, built and inaugurated a completely new baseball field on March 30th. Exciting games at a professional level can now be scheduled here. (ADVERTISEMENT)

In baseball, two teams face each other. The defenders have the pitcher throw a hard ball to the batter of the opposing team. The batter tries to hit the ball so perfectly with his wooden bat that it flies through the air as far as possible within the field boundaries.

The defenders have positioned players on the field who try to catch the ball as directly as possible out of the air. The batter, meanwhile, becomes a runner who runs around the field to score points. There are four bases along the way where the runner can make a safe stop. A runner is “out” as soon as the defenders catch the batted ball directly. Or when the ball is thrown to a base before the runner gets there.

As soon as three attackers are “out”, the teams switch roles. The attackers now become the defenders – and vice versa.

In professional sports, a game consists of nine “innings,” which in turn are made up of two “half innings.” Whenever a team has been first defender and then attacker, an “inning” is over. A game can easily last three to five hours in this way.

Gregg Norgren (54) is coach of the “Berlin Wizards”. He knows: “Back in the day, over 30 years ago, when the Americans were still stationed in Berlin, there were 19 baseball fields in the city. That was once upon a time.”

That’s true. Many Zehlendorf residents still remember the pitch on Stewardstrasse, which recently had to make way for new buildings. Incidentally, Berlin’s Max Kepler also trained there, on Stewardstrasse. Since 2015, he has been the first and so far only German to successfully play baseball in the USA, namely in the Major League.

For a long time, the Berlin baseball players had to play on a gravel soccer field in Sachtlebenstrasse. Gregg Norgren: “It wasn’t really a playable surface for our sport, but we just adapted.”

Fortunately, these gravel days are over. On March 30, a completely new baseball field was inaugurated at Sachtlebenstrasse 36, paid for by the district – including an automatic irrigation system for the new lawn and six-meter-high metal ball-stopping fences so that spectators do not have to worry about balls flying around their ears.

It all started for the baseball and softball club “Berlin Wizards” in the summer of 1989. Back then, the first players met on the lawn behind Lankwitz town hall with baseball gloves, a baseball bat and a ball to play baseball. The “Wizards” were founded in 1989 under the BSC Preussen 1989, but have been an independent club since 2010. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

Yuima Oliver Kaneko is a pitcher and batter in the senior baseball team of the “Berlin Wizards”: “Our season runs from April to the beginning of October. As long as possible, we play outdoors on Sachtlebenstrasse. We only go indoors when the weather no longer allows us to train outside.”

There are seven teams in the club, including children, schoolchildren, teenagers, juniors and adults. Yuima Oliver Kaneko: “In the current 2024 season, we will be competing in the schoolchildren, youth development, youth, juniors as well as in the state and association leagues of the Baseball and Softball Association Berlin Brandenburg eV (BSVBB). We are also represented with a mixed softball team in the Mixed Softball League Berlin (MSL).”

Several baseball and softball clubs train on the new baseball field on Sachtlebenstrasse, the “Berlin Wizards” are just one of them.

Yuima Oliver Kaneko: “We are increasingly focusing on promoting young talent. In our school league team for 9 to 12 year olds, in the youth league teams for 13 to 15 year olds and in the junior league team for 16 to 18 year olds, boys and girls play in mixed teams. We can provide the equipment at the beginning, but later on you usually buy your own club clothing, protective equipment, bats and catcher’s gloves. Safety is always our top priority. Since baseball and softball are non-contact sports, we rarely have to deal with injuries.”

Training takes place on the baseball field on Sachtlebenstrasse every Wednesday and Friday. From 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. it is the turn of the schoolchildren and young people, and from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. it is the turn of the juniors and seniors.

Yuima Oliver Kaneko: “We now have over 100 club members. (Text/Photos: CS)

Info: Baseball and softball club Berlin Wizards eV, Baseballplatz, Sachtlebenstraße 36, 14165 Berlin-Zehlendorf, www.berlin-wizards.de

This article comes from “Zehlendorf Aktuell” issue 123 (6/2024).

2024-07-09 21:44:45
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