Baseball Jobs Overseas Podcast

Two players from two different NCAA Division 1 backgrounds tell their stories of their summer in Germany playing for the same team. This is part 1 of a 2 part series due to an extraordinary twist that this experience has taken for one player. After suffering shoulder problems and receiving surgery, University of Michigan pitcher Matt Broder found himself on the sidelines after being passed up by a...

This episode is a goldmine for pro baseball players as it offers detail on a Japanese independent pro baseball showcase and an opportunity to win a free Mine Wood Baseball Bat. This episode introduces the first IBC podcast giveaway. Mine Wood Bats has stepped up to the plate for this giveaway by giving away one of their bats to a listener that answers six international baseball trivia questions co...

In addition to numerous opportunities to see the world while playing professional baseball, there are opportunities to see the world and lend a helping hand to the less fortunate baseball markets around the globe. Organizations like the Kosovo Baseball Initiative and Baseball Without Borders do just that, provide lesser known baseball markets with the opportunity to learn the game and use the equi...

Kevin Bosson spent the winter of 2013-2014 in Perth Australia with the South Perth Cubs living the dream and playing against the likes of IBC podcast episode 27 guest Jon Rodriguez and the Rockingham Rams. Right off the bat Kevin reaffirms what Jon said in episode 27, that the baseball in the Western Australian State League is quite high and more than one might expect. He also shares a comparison...

Clayton Carson had a strong desire to take his career overseas and after being overlooked, he decided to take his fate in his own hands and buy a ticket to Europe with no job prospects on the horizon. Given that the 2014 season in Europe was well under way (late May), one would think his chances were slim to get picked up somewhere, especially given the fact that he has had three back surgeries an...

The Pacific Coast Baseball League (PCBL) in New South Wales Australia is not the top level of baseball on the continent (in fact considered third division), however it presents plenty of opportunity for those who have yet to find a home for the winter. PCBL league president Luis Almenara shares in detail what opportunities exist for the professional player seeking to take his career abroad to New...

From a strong NCAA D2 conference, Melvin played pro ball in Texas which eventually led to a role in the movie Moneyball. After Moneyball, Melvin had numerous independent baseball offers but decided to take his career overseas to experience other parts of the world and ended up in the Netherlands. Now, four years later, Melvin is still playing Dutch baseball and is heavily involved in youth develop...

At 49 years old, married and with teenage children, retired high school and college coach Ron Frazier decided to throw his hat in the coaching ring again but this time his focus was overseas. With the support of his family, Ron created a profile on the International Baseball Community website and began sending out emails to clubs all across Europe. Within a weeks he has a number of responses and s...

David T. Burns (me) interviews David J. Burns on his experience playing baseball in Italy. He explains how he went from the verge of hanging them up after college to using his Italian heritage as a ticket to a professional baseball career in one of Europe's top baseball countries. For those of you who qualify for duo citizenship in Europe, David provides a good tip on speeding up the process. I al...

Jon Rodriguez at only 27 had the experience of a lifetime in the winter of 2013-2014 as the head coach of the Rockingham Rams in beautiful Perth, Australia. Fresh off of this experience and back in California for the interview, you can hear the energy in Jon's voice when telling his story. If this interview doesn't get you fired up to take your career overseas, you need to take up badminton or som...

NAIA All-American and World Series Champion Zak Colby fills me in on his experience playing independent Japanese baseball and how others can go about doing the same. We dive into everything from the process for getting on with a club, how many independent clubs there are, the monster stadiums and decent size crowds, what pay can be expected, the insanely long pre-season, the list goes on. By the e...

In this second interview, Chris provides listeners and aspiring European baseball professionals with great info on: 1) History of going from non-drafted to playing in three of Europe’s top leagues. 2) Detail on the Dutch Major League. Weekly schedule, top clubs, opportunities. 3) The subtle differences between European baseball and baseball in the US. 4) Differences between the EU leagues he has p...

In this interview with Aaron Brandt he tells us how the International Baseball Community website helped him to take his career to Belgium in the summer of 2013 and then how that was immediately followed up with a winter stint in Melbourne, Australia for the winter of 2013-2014. Aaron landed a job with Belgium club the Namur Angels and then immediately moved on to the St. Kilda Saints of Melbourne,...

The International Baseball Community podcast Episode #23 features back-to-back interviews on Czech baseball. First I interview Draci Brno GM Arny Nesnal and then Lucie Cubikova, director of international affairs for Czech baseball. Between the two of them, listeners are able to get a clear idea of what Czech baseball has to offer. Mr. Nesnal fills IBC listeners in on what is going on in Brno and w...

Ryan Flynn, CEO of baseball New Zealand put me in contact with Jacques Levy at New Caledonian baseball recently as they are in need of someone to come help them grow the game of baseball. This small Island that is just 1000 km's off the coast of Australia in the South Pacific, is seeking a young, energetic and motivated individual who is passionate about teaching the game of baseball and enthusias...

In this episode I interview Baseball New Zealand CEO Ryan Flynn for the second time. Ryan takes us through his story of how he followed his passion to work in baseball from the unlikely country of Guam to his current position as CEO of Baseball New Zealand. Listen to Ryan explain how he used international baseball to build his resume and eventually uproot his family in the US to move to New Zealan...

In Episode number 20 I interview Drew Samuelson, the Australian Baseball Federation’s Player & Coach Development Coordinator as well as the Performance Manager of Southern Australian baseball. Drew takes us through his story of how he dropped his promising 9-5 career to follow his passion, a career in baseball. After some short stints within baseball in the Northwest, he worked his way in to the a...

This interview with Austin Weymouth goes into areas yet to be covered on the podcast including an alternative way to selecting your team, working your way into Dutch baseball from a much lower league within one year, visa requirements, a vivid idea of what life is like in Europe, playing for small town clubs, the list goes on. In this 45 minute, very informative conversation where we talk about ju...

Baseball is the fastest growing sport in New Zealand as numbers have risen from 800 to 6000 in the past three years. Also, the level of play on the national level is rapidly increasing as New Zealand climbed in the world rankings in the past year from unranked to 28th. CEO of Baseball New Zealand, Ryan Flynn, informs us in this episodes of how this exponential growth has opened up opportunities fo...

An Interview with Rainer Krankl, President of one of the more successful European baseball clubs Rainer Krankl has been with the Attnang Athletics since 1993 and took over the role as president in 2004. Immediately after Rainer took over as president the organization began to grow rapidly. The Athletics went from a mediocre organization with a backyard park with a couple of beer bench seats to one...

In this episode Owen and I continue where we left off in Episode 6, discussing the opportunities for import players and coaches in Australia. About half way through we take the interview in a direction that is more beneficial to clubs that are looking to take their organization to the next level as Owen shares his experiences as a key person in operations for the professional baseball club the Per...

Dennis Kelly takes us through his experiences playing baseball in Sweden (Karlskoga Bats), France (Montpellier Barracudas), Australia (Sandringham Royals) and Germany (Mannheim Tornados). If you are lacking in motivation to play baseball overseas, listen to Dennis tell his story which took him from the beaches of Australia to the beaches off the coast of France all within one year. He provides ins...

Podcast episode #9 continues to focus on the various baseball hotbeds in Australia, this time with Brisbane, one of the largest baseball regions in the country. Jeff Tezak spent two years in Austria playing for the Vienna Metrostars and has since taken his game to Brisbane for the past couple of years to play with the Redcliffe Padres Jeff is a true utility player which puts him in high demand wit...

This episode switches things up a bit by focusing on what is probably the most valuable tip for baseball players looking to take their game overseas: use your coaching experience as your ticket or gain coaching experience if you don’t have any. Owen and I discuss the coaching opportunities that are present in Europe and Australia and some unique ways to break in as a coach or player-coach. We dive...

As a compliment to a recent post titles “Top 5 Reasons EU Imports Go Home Early and How to Avoid Them“, I had a short but content rich discussion with Owen Reid on the same Skype session as our last interview about the trial and error of the relationship between professional baseball import players and clubs overseas. We discuss many of the same topics in the post and speculate as to why players a...