Mister Baseball

by Andy Fleischacker, head coach of the Swiss National Team

The 2010 Swiss baseball season finished with a fantastic back and forth 5 game championship series between the Bern Cardinals and the Therwil Flyers. The Cards took the series and with it the 2010 championship. The 2011 season will see more of the same as these 2 traditional powers will again battle for the title.

Therwil Flyers

The 2010 regular season champs and second place European cup finishers will once again be 1 of the top teams in Switzerland. Playing coach JB Tucker will be back to lead a powerful offensive attack. Tucker will not be asked to carry the load alone as the Flyers have a balanced 1-9 lineup. Swiss veterans Reto Siegel, Dan Eichenberger, and Stefan Koller will be backed by up and coming hitters Taka Oshima and Adrian Kaufmann. The true strength of the flyers is there pitching depth. The pitching staff is a solid 6 deep. Game 1 will feature future star Lukas Croton and up and coming lefty Hide Oshima while game 2 will feature Aussie Chris Blackbee with catcher JB Tucker backing him up. National team veteran Steffan Koller will come out of the bullpen to provide ridicules depth to the starting rotation. Closing things out will be Adrian Kaufmann. The future looks bright for the Flyers and this team should be a force for years to come.

Bern Cardinals

The 2010 champions saw some changes in the offseason. After winning multiple championships and two European cup qualifiers, veteran player coach John Baum has been replaced as head coach by former major league pitcher Eduardo Villacis. Baum will stay on as an assistant coach and as a key offensive player for the cards. The Cardinals offense is arguably the most potent in all of Switzerland. Led by Americans Baum and catcher Seth Suplin as well as power hitting Latino first baseman Johnny Perigos and the fleet footed shortstop Sammy Paulino along with Swiss veterans Angelo Rodriguez and Raphael Hanzi this lineup is a 1-9 force that eats pitching up. The only weakness the cards may have is with the pitching depth. The cards have never been able to replace the departed national team pitchers Severin fries and Chris Beyeler but they do have an excellent game 1 starter in Tobias Imboden, the problem lies if Imboden gets knocked around or runs out of gas, the Swiss pitching is just not there. Game 2 is a totally different story; John Baum for years has been a shut down game 2 starter, but now with former major leaguer Villacis onboard, Baum will be coming out of the bullpen. With Villacis and Baum pitching game 2 it almost guarantees a split of every weekend. The Cards are a stronger team than last year and if they stay healthy back to back titles are within their grasp.

Zurich Challengers

The 2010 4th place finishers will going into a rebuilding mode. they will be starting to infuse some young players lead by talented shortstop Yannick Probst. The challengers will not be bringing in a coach or any foreign imports this season. The coaching will be coaching by committee with Chris Palatinus, Tobias Siegrist, Thomas Blank, and Bryan Shemley leading the team. On offense the challengers still have some vets who can swing the bat. National team catcher Tobias Siegrist will see the offense revolve around him. After taking some time off for work in Germany infielder Santis Zeller will return to the club he started with, his presence will help take some off the offensive load of Siegrist shoulders. Other top hitters will be Blank and Palatinus. The challengers will really struggle on the mound. Tobias Siegrist will be called upon to pitch game 1 and then get back behind the plate and catch game 2. Left-handed German Patrick Maier will handle most of the game 2 load but against the strong import pitchers he will face game 2 looks like a struggle for the challengers. The wild card on the pitching staff will be Thomas Burger. he is returning from injury and if he is healthy he has proven to have the ability to pitch some gems. The 2011 season looks to be a struggle for this proud franchise and a 4th place finish and a playoff berth would be fantastic

Embrach Mustangs

The surprise of the 2010 season the mustangs expect to be even better in 2011 and take another step forward. So the big question on every one’s mind is can the Mustangs do it again? This is a hard working blue collar team. The offense will be lead by Americans Josh Crouse and ex Indy ball import player Andrew Wong as well as talented center fielder Harry Wischnewski and catcher Oliver Walser. Pitching depth may be a problem as the only proven Swiss arm on the roster is veteran workhorse Roger Savoldelli. Savoldelli proves that you can get better with age but how many bullets does the gun have left in it. On any given weekend Savoldelli is known to throw between 9-14 innings and this will take its toll. In game 2 Americans Josh Crouse and Andrew Wong will provide solid innings but the mustangs lack the true lock down foreign import. The pieces are in place for the mustangs to make another playoff run but for this to happen at least 1 more Swiss pitcher needs to emerge and Crouse and Wong must come up big in game 2.

Part II will follow in a few days. The 2011 season in the Swiss Nationalliga A starts on April 2.

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