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Photo by Mark Adamsbaum

The Hungarian Baseball and Softball Federation (MOBSSZ) hosted a very illustrious guest at the American School in Nagykovacsi, as Simon Gühring joined us this past weekend during our Winter Training Clinic. The captain of the German National Team, was invited to Hungary by MOBSSZ to help making baseball more popular in the country. The player/coach of Heidenheim Heideköpfe, one of the TOP10 teams in Europe, was available for this interview after his first day here.

-Is this your first time in Hungary?

-Yes, unfortunately I never had the chance to visit this country, but so far I like it a lot. So far I’ve only seen Budapest at night, and it’s constantly raining, but I like the Palace and the Chainbridge a lot.

-You came as a guest coach. How did you get in touch with the Hungarian Federation?

-My brother, David, was here in November and he met Terry Lingenhoel. He gave my contact information, and after a few emails he convinced me to come over and help train players during the clinic. I worked with the Junior and Senior National teams on Saturday and will work with other interested Junior and Senior players on Sunday. Unfortunately I cannot stay longer for the rest of the clinic, because my family and work needs me back home. The facility is beautiful. Fully equipped gym, swimming pool…

-Tell us something about the beginnings. When did you first grab a bat?

-An American Christian team played in Mannheim, when I was 11, and their coach gave me one. That was the first time I had seen baseball. Half a year later, a first division team held its training camp in my city of Leonberg.  That’s when I first played the game. My brother asked me to go to the open practice with him. He chose soccer later on. I also played soccer, when I was younger, but ended up playing baseball. My first team was Leonberg.  We played in the fourth division, but all of a sudden a shopping mall was built on the field. That’s how I ended up in Heidenheim.

-Afterwards you signed to the States. How did that happen?

-At the age of 18 we were in South Africa, where American scouts gave me a contract. I played in one of the Milwaukee Brewers Minor League affiliate teams: the Arizona Brewers in the Rookie League. I was the third German born player after the country’s reunion to play in baseball’s home country. There was another German guy, the first one, who also played with the Brewers organization and Tim Henkenjohann, he played with the Minnesota Twins.

-Speaking of the Twins, Ron Gardenhire, their manager was also born in Germany. Do the Germans know who he is? How popular is baseball?

-Gardenhire? Really? I didn’t know that! It’s not that big of a sport, I guess only a handful of people would know him. Basketball just became popular, when Dirk Nowitzki got to the NBA. Maybe we are going to have to wait till someone gets to the Majors. The really popular sports are soccer and handball, where there is always something happening on the field. We need more players like Henkenjohann. It is really hard to find young players.  They are only interested in national sports, where they can get the big money.

INFO CARD:

Name: Simon Gühring
Born: 14.07.1983. Leonberg
Positions: Catcher (sometimes Outfielder)
Clubs (1994-2010): Leonberg, Heidenheim (German), AZL Brewers (American), Sportvereniging ADO (Dutch), Heidenheim
Marital Status: married to Sarai. They have an 18 month old daughter, their second child is to come in April.
Favorite MLB team: Seattle Mariners
Favorite MLB player: Josh Hamilton (Texas Rangers)
Favorite MLB catcher: Ivan Rodriguez (Washington Nationals), Brian McCann (Atlanta Braves) and Joe Mauer (Minnesota Twins)

Photo by Mark Adamsbaum

-Does Simon Gühring has the chance to break this barrier?

-I don’t think so. I’m already 26, but there are a lot of young talented players. This year Kai Gronauer was invited by the New York Mets to Spring Training and there is a kid from Regensburg, Max Kepler-Rozycki, who got signed by the Twins for $800.000. That is a lot of money.

-Back to the Brewers. Did you study as well or just play baseball? If I’m right you graduated at the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

-Studying only came afterwards. When I played baseball I only lived for that. Usually I woke up at 5:30 am and I spent the whole day on the field.

-You spent one season in the Netherlands, and returned to Germany in 2005. Has anything changed since you left?

-When I returned no. The real change came 2 years later. The quality of the game has improved a lot. The playing level is getting closer to the Big Leagues and they don’t only have a chance to compete at the college level but they might even have the chance to compete in the Show. In the past getting a visa always meant a big problem. It was really hard to get one, but now that has changed. The players from Germany, and other European countries can easily get in there.

-Let’s talk about the National Team. The head coach Greg Frady, led the team from the B pool all the way to the world’s elite.

-Frady is doing a tremendous job. He started when we were really down, our fame was broken. Not everybody wanted to play on the national team, and then he came along. He made us a team, and led us to the World Cup in just 2 years. I think he is the best coach who has ever worked in Germany.

-Germany will host the 2010 European Championship. Do you see any chance to get the first Gold medal, against the Netherlands?

-Definitely! The Dutch are really good, but we also have a great team. We have to give our best on all the games. Everything is possible in baseball. We can beat the Netherlands! We have to play perfect against them, on all parts of the game, especially the defense.

-Just like you did last year. After returning from major surgery, hitting a three-run home run off the very first pitch than a grand slam in your next at bat in game four. Finally, hitting another one in the decisive game 5 of the German Finals.

-I just returned from my surgery, I could barely jog. I knew I had to hit it a long way, otherwise I wouldn’t reach first base. They could even throw me out from the outfield. The real big deal was not the homeruns I hit, but the fact that I was able to play at all. A recovery from such surgery takes usually 6-10 weeks, and I was on the field just 4 weeks after the surgery. I’m really thankful to God. I truly believe that He helped me! Even the doctors said it was miraculous.

-Do you have any advice to the Hungarian youth players?

-Work hard, play hard, but always be fair. The whole sport is about professionalism. Not many Hungarian players could reach that level yet, that takes time. If they start to work harder and better they might get the chance to become professionals. But I can only say to have fun at what you are doing. This is a great sport, to learn sportsmanship and to learn to respect others. Someday they may get the chance to be part of the national team, which is the biggest honor a player can have.

Mérnyei Péter

Simon Gühring will have a Hungarian pitcher in his way this season. János Daróczi (interview coming soon), whose team got to the first division this past season. Gühring knows him: “Of course I know him! He plays for Neuenburg. They were in the second division last year, but I have met him in a camp in Rimini (Italy), which was organized by UPI. Next year we are going to face each other on the field.”

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