Blogs from Kaunas, Lithuania, Europe - page 6

Today Kaunas squared off in a doubleheader against Vilnius Logipolija. This was our first game in several weeks against solid competition so I was interested to see how we would respond. We won the first game of the doubleheader 11-5, Logipolija’s runs coming on a string of errors (including one by myself—an errant throw to first base on a bunt). We hit very well. I attribute our level of comfort at the plate to the amount of hitting we have been able to do in practice over the past two weeks thanks to our new (make-shift, home-made) batting cage. The second game we won 6-3, 2 of their three runs again coming on errors. In other Lithuanian baseball news: Utena Vetra lost both of their games today against the Black Vikings, which moves us into first ... read more

I am not sure if I have yet to truly dive into Yagi Torazo’s story yet. But his is worth a full entry, so here it is. Yagi is in his early 30’s. He is not very tall (I would estimate about 5 foot 2 inches). He is from Tokyo, Japan. He is soft-spoken, very friendly. He plays 2b, Shortstop, and Catcher for the Kaunas team. Yagi first heard about our team when he was in Cuba on a 4-month research assignment playing baseball and traveling Cuba researching for his book that will be about baseball in different cultures around the world. He had spent the previous three seasons living in Italy, playing first for a team in the Italian 1st Division, then 2nd Division, and finally the 3rd division this past summer. And it was ... read more

For the past two months I have been working at a summer camp called Mercurijaus, which is in a small village about 15 kilometers northwest of Kaunas. I have been working as a ‘sporto vadovas,’ or, (sports) camp counselor, teaching baseball to a group of around 20 kids for two hours each day. The camp is smaller than summer camps I have been to the US……it is situated in the woods on about 10 acres of land……but each week it attracts anywhere from 300-400 campers. As many things I have experienced in Lithuania, this summer camp is just like summer camp in the US, and also nothing like it at all. As you walk through the camp you feel the same energy of children running around, many of them playing sports or doing crafts, playing games, ... read more

Today we played a doubleheader against a University team from Vilnius. We were small in number—only Shaq, Kisa, Marijus, Draugas, Yagi, Gedas, and myself were playing from the first team. The team was filled out by Simas, a player for the second team, and Edgaris, who plays for the Senior League team. Nevertheless, we won 19-0 and 23-0. Both games were stopped after five innings because of the 10-run slaughter rule. In the second inning, Marijus Dargus, who is arguably our best pitcher and, before his knee injury and surgery, one of our best hitters, hit a shot to right field……one of the furthest balls I have seen hit in Lithuania. It was absolutely crushed. Marijus is just back from his injury and this is only the second weekend of games he has been hitting, and ... read more

Some pictures... read more