The international Baseball and Softball Tournament Finkstonball XIX (www.finkstonball.com) starts this Friday in Attnang-Puchheim, Austria. Once again the Athletics Attnang-Puchheim hosts the legendary Baseball tournament, while Softball is celebrating its premiere. Throughout the history of the event, over 2000 players and 80 teams from 20 different countries have participated. Eight baseball teams and five softball teams will compete for the trophy in 2016. The final is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Participants:
- Baseball: Attnang Athletics Baseball – Austrian National Team Baseball – Darmstadt Whippets – Budapest Reds/Sleepwalkers – International Stars – Swiss Dominican All-Stars – Sissach Frogs – Zagreb Baseball Club
- Softball: Attnang Athletics Softball – Giessen Busters – Budapest Reds/Sleepwalkers Softball – Swiss National Team – Austrian National Team Softball
This is a poor excuse for respectable baseball. Year upon year, my players have talked about how they, and everyone they knew there, played so drunk they could barely stand up. I guess the Austrians consider this to be quality competition. Maybe the only way the Austrians can compete is to get their opponents smashed before they play. Sad.
Fred, where in this article did you read that this tournament has any intention to be a quality competition? Did you talk with the organisators about their concept? And what is wrong about playing and drinking outside the regular serious league play? And why are you judging this tournament? Were you ever forced to participate?
Mark,
In respectable baseball — a concept which appears alien to the game in Austria, as your reply demonstrates — one presents a tournament to provide the players a competitive challenge.
What’s wrong with drinking while playing? First, the proposition shows no respect for the game — let alone, oneself as a baseball player. Second, the baseball is a rather hard sphere and one can be injured in a game where drunken participants have poor control of their throwing skills.
I am judging finkstonbal because it is an insult to the game. If you have a need to get drunk before going on the field, play slow-pitch softball.
Hi Fred,
if I learned something in Baseball, then that the persons who drop the “respect the game”-bomb are always the persons who don’t respect others and other opinions at all. My personal guess is (I did not study psychology) that it gives them a great feeling to “know” that they are doing everything correct and therefor are on the right side of baseball. Even better for those persons is that they think that this gives them the right to look down on others. And, even better, it encourages them to remind those failed persons that they are idiots and are not as great as themselves. All in all, the “respect the game”-bomb is most of the time just a stylistic device to express their own greatness and to hide that they are poor persons.
Fred, now look at the facts about you. With each post in the last years, you were expressing that Europe does not have a clue about Baseball, does not play Baseball right, does not respect Baseball etc. You gave the impression that you know everything better. You did not use any diplomatic terms. You are constantly insulting persons, federations, clubs etc.
For what? To improve European Baseball? To get applause because we should be thankful that you are enlighten us? To elect you to our leader? To show that you are the keeper of the game?
Why are you spending so much time on this website about European Baseball? Don’t you have any better things to do in life?
fred as a former coach in europe who has participated at finkstonball i find your comments very iresponsable for someone who has never been there. Yes there is beer being drunk when teams are not playing but i have never seen any alcohol being drunk during games. Eacg game i was ever involved with the teams where sober and playing at a high level. You have no idea how hard the people of the attnang athletics work to put on a fun tourney that is still pretty competitive. Maybe you should experience it first before the comments come out.