Jakub Janda talked with former Major League pitcher Pat Ahearne, who is playing in Europe since a few couple of years.
Patrick Ahearne
- Born on December 10, 1969 in San Francisco
- Right-handed pitcher
- won College World Series with Pepperdine University
- Selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 7th round of 1992 amateur draft
- Debuted and made four appearences for the Tigers in the MLB in 1995
- 16 seasons of Minor and Independent League ball with an ERA of 4.02
- Pitched also in Australia, Venezuela, Taiwan and Europe
Jakub Janda: Patrick, could you briefly describe your baseball career till 2010?
Patrick Ahearne: I played baseball in university in the U.S. and our team was National Champions winning the College World Series. I was then drafted by the Detroit Tigers and made my Major League Debut after about 3 years in the minors. After playing for Detroit, I moved around to other AA and AAA leagues and played winter baseball 3 years in Australia and 7 years in Venezuela. My pro career in the U.S. went for 16 seasons and my last season was played in the Taiwan League. After that, I got involved with baseball in Europe first going to Italy with a U.S. travel team to play the Italian and Spanish National teams in exhibition friendly games and then to the European Cup with Tornado Balashika in 2008. In 2009, I played in the Euro Cup with Draci of the Czech Extraliga and helped coach the Czech National Team during the 2009 World Cup of Baseball. This season, I returned to Draci to pitch in the Euro Cup in Brno and in the Extraliga Playoffs.
JJ: What do you consider your career highlight?
PA: My career highlight would be as the winning pitcher of the College World Series Championship game with Pepperdine University.
JJ: Do you have something on the baseball field what you would do differently if given the opportunity to change that?
PA: I don’t have anything that I can say specifically I would have done differently on the field given the chance. I do wish I had a longer opportunity to pitch in the Major Leagues.
JJ: What literally persuaded you to join the Czech Extraleague?
PA: I was persuaded to go to Czech Extraliga after the owner and manager of Draci came to the baseball academy where I worked in Los Angeles and asked me to play for them.
JJ: What were you first impressions after first few weeks?
PA: My first impressions of Czech Baseball were that they have a willingness to improve and that it would be a challenge given the time restrictions players had for games and practice.
JJ: How would you comment the Czech mentality, on and off the field?
PA: I have heard about the “Czech Mentality” but I couldn’t define it exactly for you. If it is something the people have I am sure it was developed over a long time so I would not try to work against it. I would say there are instances where the “Czech Mentality” will serve the Czech people well, but I would hope to never see it as an excuse in on or off the field to not play hard, not give your best effort and not try to improve.
JJ: Give us your insight on the team you played for.
PA: Draci is a team that has now won the Czech Extraliga for 16 straight seasons so they know what it feels like to have success in this country and come to expect a championship every year. In European competitions they are in the middle of the pack compared to other teams I’ve seen.
JJ: What changes would you recommend to the Czech baseball association or the whole Czech baseball community?
PA: The biggest recommendation I would make is simply to have more playing time and more practice time. It takes a lot of hours to learn the skills of baseball and the more time you put in, the more you will improve. It may not be a practical suggestion given that players must work other jobs to support themselves, sometimes cold weather is a factor and always players desire to work and improve is a factor.
JJ: Have you seen any games of Czech national team? What were your thoughts?
PA: I have seen games of the National Team during the World Cup. The team’s showing in the tournament was as can be expected because they were going against other teams from strong baseball countries with competitive professional leagues. As mentioned before, playing time is key to improving your baseball and when players who don’t get as much game or practice time go against long time professionals who are paid to play baseball and have highly developed skills, the difference in play is clear. I am impressed with the athletic ability of Czech players and if they were able to have as much playing time as some other countries’ teams, there would be better results for them.
JJ: Could you give us some bullet points and thoughts on comparison among leagues you played in?
PA: I have played in just about every league in baseball.
In the lower minor leagues there is a lot of raw talent and this is where players learn the game and learn how to handle the long professional season.
In the Major Leagues it is the highest level of the game and it is the ultimate goal for all the players in the U.S. there you see the strongest and most skilled players in the game.
Australian Winter League is comparable to High A or Double A in the states. I was there years ago and I know the baseball has improved a lot since then. I am glad to see that the Australian League is beginning to grow again.
Baseball in Venezuela is fantastic. The fans are so passionate about everything and it makes every game exciting and gives energy to your performance as a player. It’s my favorite place I have played.
The Taiwan League was a great experience. It is a good and competitive league with beautiful stadiums and devoted fans. It is comparable to AA or AAA baseball depending on the day. It is the only place I have played where there is a 30 minute intermission after the visitor team bats in the 4th inning.
Baseball in Europe has been a good experience for me. What I found interesting is seeing the personality of different countries reflected in how they play their baseball.
JJ: What are your future plans? Do you already have your 2011 scheduled up?
PA: My short term baseball plans for next year are to be determined. Draci has expressed interest in my return in 2011 and that will be sorted out in the upcoming months. Long term, I would like to become a professional pitching coach in a Major League organization.
There you go. Thanks, Jakub.
Thank you for your time.
Jakub Janda
Jakubjanda(at)hotmail.cz
Photo: (c) AVG Draci Brno