The German Baseball-Bundesliga club GAUTING INDIANS added two 24-year-old members of the British National Team to its roster, just a few days before the start of the new season. The left-handed pitcher Paul Waterman, who was born in Canada, already played in Germany last season, reaching the championship finals with the MANNHEIM TORNADOS. After joining at the midway point of the year, Waterman posted 4-0 record with an ERA of 1.91 in nine games (three starts) during the regular season, striking out 22 (14 walks) in 33 innings. In the playoffs he had a record of 3-2 and an ERA of 2.93 in 30 2/3 innings. The southpaw played in Australia during the winter and will share duties with Dominik Hartinger in game one each weekend.
Will Lintern is a catcher from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, attended Menlo College (NCAA Div. I) in California and played in Great Britain the past few years, winning championships with the BRIGHTON BUCCANEARS (2001, 2002) and LONDON METS (2007, 2008). He batted .350 (OBP .563/SLG .400) in 32 plate appearances last season. He replaces Chris Howard as GAUTING’s starting backstop, who left for the BUCHBINDER LEGIONAERE this winter. Lintern recently talked with Matt Smith of BaseballGB in their Q&A series.
The INDIANS could be poised to be the surprise team in this year’s Bundesliga campaign. Despite several departures they were able to strengthen the roster. Besides Waterman and Lintern, they have a new head coach in Trey Hendricks, a new game-two starter with Chris Clem (both USA) and a new shortstop with Brad Dutton (AUS). They also had a solid preseason with a spring training camp in Italy, a split in an exhibition doubleheader versus AVG DRACI BRNO and most recently two wins over BSC ROVIGO and TEMPO TITANS PRAGUE. They will open against the MAINZ ATHLETICS next Sunday.