Baseball in the Czech Republic

Written by Jacy Meyer
for Expats.cz

Probably the best place to start is the Czech Baseball Association (www.baseball.cz.) The top flight is the Extraliga, which consists of eight teams; two (Tempo Titans Praha and Krč Altron) of which are from Prague. The season runs roughly April to the beginning of September with playoffs following – usually ending in October. The team to beat seems to be AVG Draci Brno, who is on a 13 national title winning streak. The Českomoravská liga has 12 teams, and again two are from Prague: Kotlářka Praha and SaBaT Praha. There´s not a lot of information in English on the website, but the majority of it is dedicated to the World University Baseball Championship. The CBA organizes this every year, and they currently have 13 teams registered from far-flung locales like Venezuela, Japan, Canada and the US. The tournament runs July 17-27, but none of the games are being played in Prague. Venues include ballparks in Brno, Olomouc and Ostrava. Click here for a direct link to the tournament´s web pages: www.wubc.baseball.cz.

Prague Baseball Week is an international tournament held at the Krč Altron fields (www.krcaltron.cz.) Information is still sketchy however dates are June 24-28. Nine teams are registered, including three Czech ones and three from the US. Last year, an ESPN writer included this tournament in his “Ultimate Baseball Experiences” (we ranked 7th.) This was the only European destination on the list, and big surprise, he mentioned the beer.

The Prague International Baseball Cup is gearing up for its third annual tournament June 28-29, right on the heels of Prague Baseball Week. They are still looking for 2 more teams to play; currently three Czech teams and an Irish one are signed up. The tournament is played at the Tempo Titans Praha team´s fields; Zelenkova 530/3, Prague 4. The team is the organizer of PIBC and you can get more information on the tournament at www.titans.cz/pibc. For general information on the Titans, as well as a game schedule check www.titans.cz (Czech only.) The other big Prague team is Krč Altron (www.krcaltron.cz, Czech only.) They play at V zahradní čtvrti 24, Prague 4 and have probably the nicest fields. Both teams have softball squads as well as junior teams. 

It´s all well and good to WATCH baseball, but come on, put me in coach! For those fantasizing about a major league baseball career, be sure to visit the MLB tryout camp in Prague. Two reps from MLB will be on hand as well as two of their scouts. The date is May 6 – tryouts at 1pm are for Eastern European players, while at 4pm the scouts will only be checking out Czech players. The auditions will be held at the Krč Altron fields (www.krcaltron.cz.)

If you are looking for something a little more laid back, The Prague Post (www.praguepost.com) organizes a charity baseball tournament each fall called the Heavy Hitters. The game is played at the Krč fields, lots of corporate teams participate and the money raised benefits the paper´s educational efforts. Their sports section also covers the sport quite well; especially when it comes to the tournaments.

Wanna just hang out with your bat and glove with a bunch of other like-minded and similarly skilled people? Post an ad on Expats (www.expats.cz, shameless self-promotion!) It shouldn´t be too hard to round up enough people to make a go of it.

Let´s be honest – you want to watch baseball in a climate-controlled environment and have someone to bring you beer. These sports bars all reputedly show baseball games (or at least brag about the size of their screens) but it never hurts to call ahead and check: Sportbar Zlatá hvězda (Ve Smečkách 12, www.sportbar.cz,) The Pack (Ve Smečkách 21, www.thepack.cz) or Legends (Týn 1, www.legends.cz.)

Need to keep up on all the baseball breaking news? Visit www.mister-baseball.com. They have a Czech Republic section, all in English, as well as areas for the rest of the European League. Another European source is www.baseballeurope.com, home of the Confederation of European Baseball. If you are looking for tournaments in the Czech Republic as well as the rest of Europe, check www.baseball-tournaments.info.