Finding baseball heaven at Prague Baseball Week
Michael Clair
@michaelsclairPRAGUE -- If you weren't looking closely, you¡¯d miss it -- the small sign reading ¡°Eagles Baseball and Softball¡± blending in with the leafy greens growing around it. But if you made your turn and drove beneath the canopy of trees, you¡¯ll have found it: There, in the heart of the Kr? neighborhood of Prague, is heaven. You have made it to Prague Baseball Week.
Hosted at Eagles Praha¡¯s sprawling four-field facility -- the first true ballpark built in Czech Republic history -- Prague Baseball Week is one of Europe¡¯s oldest and greatest baseball festivals, alongside Austria¡¯s raucous Finkstonball and Haarlem¡¯s elder Honkbal Week. I was lucky enough to be in town for the 43rd edition of the event (full disclosure and egregious self-promotion: I was doing research for my upcoming book on the Czech Republic baseball team -- ¡°We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball¡± -- due out in 2026 from the University of Nebraska Press), which sees teams from around the world compete in the heart of central Europe. This time around, Germany, Chinese Taipei¡¯s U-23 team, and a squad featuring Japan¡¯s brightest collegiate talent, made the trip to take on Czech Republic¡¯s amateur stars.
While previous editions had featured plenty of baseball talent, this was the first time that a team like Japan had made the trip -- furthering the baseball partnership that has been built between the two nations since the World Baseball Classic and exciting the burgeoning baseball fans inside Czechia.
¡°It's the 43rd edition. No matter what -- Covid, you name it, all kinds of crisis -- Prague Baseball Week is always here,¡± Czech national team captain and lifelong Eagles Praha player Petr Zyma said. ¡°It¡¯s not always pretty. Sometimes it rains, but it's always here. It's always an important part of the Czech national team's preparation. Sometimes it's the only event we have a chance to meet with each other, and it's well respected in the Czech community. This is on everyone's calendar.¡±
¡°Prague baseball week ¨C I¡¯ve never been to a better one than now,¡± fellow national team player and Eagles Praha lifer Tom¨¢? Duffek added. ¡°I don't think Japan would ever come here if we didn't [impress like] we did in Japan. So, hopefully they keep coming. Everything is different in a good way.¡±
While the Czech Republic national team has become local celebrities in recent years -- I sat and watched as scores of fans young and old lined up to get autographs from pitcher/shortstop/firefighter Martin Schneider at the Czech Extraliga All-Star Game one week prior -- the fans were there for baseball no matter who took the field. When Japan defeated Chinese Taipei, 5-3, for the gold medal, the stands were nearly as full as they were when the national team played over the weekend.
¡°This is a very rare experience to play on a natural grass field like this. And the atmosphere is also great, especially the spectators,¡± tournament MVP Misho Nishikawa said through a translator. Expected to go in the first round of the upcoming NPB Draft, Nishikawa went 8-for-18 with a HR and 5 RBIs. ¡°The Czech people, they don't care which match is going on. They just cheer for the players and show respect to the players. We really appreciate them.¡±
Best of all, this was simply a celebration of baseball. There were fans in Yankees, Red Sox, and Braves gear alongside those wearing caps and tees for teams in the Czech Republic. That included Extraliga giants like Draci Brno and Arrows Ostrava to the smaller, regional clubs like Kladno Miners and ?umperk Cannibals (whose incredible crossed fork-and-knife logo is an all-timer).
The Czech Baseball Association and Eagles turned the games into a spectacle in the very best way possible. They added additional seating sections down the third-base line to accommodate the extra spectators, setting a record for highest-ever attendance at the event along the way. They installed a video board in the outfield, hired a DJ to blast music and lead between-innings entertainment and three mascots -- Spiky, Fasty, and Catchy -- raced, danced and skipped around the ballpark for hours each day. There was even a baseball tifo complete with red, white and blue smoke flares -- likely the first ever seen at a European ballgame.
There was plenty of great food, too, including traditional Czech hot dogs -- p¨¢rek v rohl¨ªku, where the hot dog is stuffed inside a bun with mustard or ketchup -- as well as an American-style hot dog that came with honey mustard, sauerkraut and bacon. The Czech beer, that golden nectar of the gods, flowed in abundance.
When I allowed myself an evening off at the end of the trip to partake in a game as a fan, soaking up the suds and ambiance of high-quality baseball in the heart of Bohemia, there was nowhere else in the world I'd want to be. This was baseball and it was perfect.