The new head coach of the German Baseball-Bundesliga club Solingen Alligators Andy Fleischacker was so kind to answer a few questions for Mister-Baseball.com.
MRBB: How much do you already know about your new team? Did you already spoke with Alligators players? Is Enorbel Marquez-Ramirez staying with the club?
Andy Fleischacker: I have emailed with quite a few of the Alligators players and am getting to know them more and more every day. I will be arriving on January 14, so everything I need to know I will learn then. And Enorbel will be back to anchor the Alligators pitching staff this season. He had some talk with other teams but is coming back.
MRBB: Andre Hughes has left the club. How much does this hurt the pitching staff, especially in the playoffs? Who is also leaving the club?
AF: Yes, Andre has left us and anytime you have to replace a dominant left-handed pitcher like him it is next to impossible. But I have a lot of confidence in Jens Cornelsen; it’s his job to lose. I don’t expect Jens to be Andre just go out and be Jens. It’s a big loss for the club but a great chance for Andre and we all think he kicks butt in Holland.
MRBB: With the Challengers last season, you also went onto the mound for a few games. Will you do this again with Solingen?
AF: With the Challengers I did pitch some last year but only because we really needed an arm. I was a catcher-infielder throughout my career but could throw strikes so I got up on the mound. I’m 38 and my playing days are behind me so with the Alligators I won’t play and let all those young studs have some fun.
MRBB: Any luck with player signings so far? When can we expect to hear from new players?
AF: So far this offseason the only signing has been me. But we are negotiating with Chris Beck to come back and hopefully will have his big bat and leadership back at short. We are still looking for a second American who can play the outfield but also can catch to give young Julian [Steinberg] a break now and then. So we will have things final in a couple weeks I hope.
MRBB: What do you expect from the 2009 season?
AF: My expectations for 2009. Well it’s tough to top the regular season record of last year so that’s not my goal. I want to have our team be prepared to play every game like we are playing Paderborn or any of the great ball clubs from the south. Just play at a consistent high level and not go up and down based on who we play. Be the best fundamental team out there and never get out-hustled by another club. If we do these things playing championship baseball is a reality and hopefully going to Europe competition in 2010.
MRBB: What do you think about the two-division system in the Baseball-Bundesliga?
AF: The two-division system I think is good because it’s less travel for teams over the course of the regular season. But we all know that the south has been top to bottom stronger than the north and the team who comes in 5th in the south may have been in the top 4 in the north, so for them I imagine it’s not so good. And it would be nice to play those great teams down in Mannheim, Regensburg, and Heidenheim. Sorry if I left anyone out. But don’t get me wrong competing with top clubs like Paderborn and Cologne, and of course Mattias Winterrath always has boys ready to play, is a blast as well.
MRBB: Since when you came to Europe a few years ago, how much has Baseball improved?
AF: I can’t tell you how much baseball has improved since I first started coming to Europe in 1990. Back than it was play in Italy or Holland and that was it. But with the growth of the German league, French league, Czech league and Spanish league as well as in Sweden. And throw in certain teams in Austria, Switzerland, and the Ukraine and you have some serious baseball to go with the big two. One country I would like to see improve though is England and there domestic league. They have made great strides with the national team under Steve Rapaglia but you never see them at domestic European cups and there domestic league is weak. And you would think England would have one of the better leagues. Another huge improvement is the quality of fields. When I coached in Cologne in 1997 we had a good field and so did Bonn but we played a lot of games on soccer fields and now you see legit A-ball quality stadiums all over Europe and that is great.
MRBB: When you compare coaching at a college or a high school in the United States and with a team in Europe, what is the biggest difference?
AF: It’s so hard to compare coaching college baseball to coaching in Europe. For Kids at the college level it’s their job. They have two things to do go to school and then baseball. So the time commitment is so much more in the US. Unfortunately everyone in Europe for the most part has to work so there is not as much time for baseball. But on the plus side for Europe. I have never worked with players who put in so much effort at practice and wanted to learn and where willing to try new things to become better ball players. The European baseball player work ethic is head and shoulders above the US kids and most of the euro players are not prima donnas and no it is not like you run into a lot these days here in the states.
MRBB: If you had the opportunity, what would you change in European Baseball?
AF: Wow great questions, if I could change anything in Europe baseball what would it be. Well, I would love to see an MLB series come over like they do in the Far East. Having it in Holland which is pretty central with great stadiums would be huge. I would also love to see something like the champions league in soccer. I know we have the European cups but the potential to play 8-10 more games and you could involve some more of the up and coming B-pool countries like say Belgium would be cool. Not sure about the whole pro league idea. I don’t know if Europe is ready for it yet and how it will hurt some of the domestic leagues I don’t think anybody knows. I would love to see more MLB teams set up some working agreements with some of the better clubs and I’m not talking about the Dutch or Italians. I mean give some players and coaches some exposure to pro ball during spring training from countries like Germany, France, Czech Republic, etc. These are the countries that are putting great efforts into baseball and exposure to pro ball especially for European coaches in the spring training atmosphere would be great. And hopefully get the European community back behind getting baseball back in the Olympics where it needs to be, and hosting the world cup is a great way to start. And finally just keep improving the quality of the facilities like clubs are doing. It’s a slow process but great steps are being made and people can’t be impatient and make poor decisions financially.
