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https://baseballjobsoverseas.com/kaleb-bowman-podcast-interview/ A former Kaleb Appalachian State standout, Kaleb Bowman found himself undrafted upon graduation and made the decision to travel the world and play baseball. This journey landed him in Canada that very same summer after graduating, playing in a five-team semi-professional men's league in New Brunswick. After that season, Kaleb hopped on a plane to play for Surfers Paradise Baseball Club on the beautiful gold coast of Australia. After back-to-back very successful seasons overseas —including a single-season strikeout record in Australia— Kaleb took the summer of 2020 off along with the 2020-2021 winter. It was during this time that Kaleb worked hard at taking his game to a new level while also signing with the Regensburg Legionäre, a premiere club in Germany that has produced the likes of Max Kepler and Donald Lutz. Kaleb's hard work paid off, as he was named the German Bundesliga "Pitcher of the Year" in 2021 and 2022 in his two seasons with Regensburg and the league MVP & Triple Crown (Pitching) winner in 2022. Kaleb leveraged this success, and his Twitter account, to get noticed by the Gastonia Honey Hunters of the Atlantic League, the team with which he signed and finished the 2022 season. However, the success didn't stop there as Kaleb picked up where he left off, despite pitching against many players with MLB experience. In his 10 innings of relief with the Honey Hunters, Kaleb struck out 11 and produced a stingy era of 0.90. This didn't go unnoticed and led to his first-ever MLB contract, signing with the Milwaukee Brewers to play the 2023 season. In this episode, Kaleb dives into his unusual path to the minor leagues including his off-season program and how he took his game to a new level. He also shares how he utilized Twitter to get noticed by pro scouts. A strong theme throughout this episode is Kaleb's strong mental approach to his career, with an open mind towards overseas baseball while still grinding towards the MLB dream. 2023 UPDATE: "Spring training went great," said Bowman on April 5th, 2023. "I got to go out early, so I was there for 6 weeks. About 40 minor leaguers arrived when the big leaguers did and got the extra spring training. Including practicing with the big leaguers and getting to pick their brains some." Kaleb was fortunate enough to back up 10 of the big league games. "Sure enough, my first ever affiliate appearance was in a big league (spring) game!" Kaleb came in with a man on 3rd and two outs, facing the Guardians' #6 prospect Bryan Rocchio. He threw 3 pitches for 3 strikes and a strikeout. With about 3 weeks left, the rest of the minor league players came and they continued to scrimmage, play other affiliates, and practice daily. "It was just an awesome experience that I was told by many different people to just soak it all in, and I sure did that."

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/O-ymQpW8zwc After wrapping up his college career at Georgetown University with a successful senior campaign which saw him hit .344 and lead the Big East Conference in slugging percentage, Steve Anderson was hopeful of being drafted. When that didn’t come to fruition, he opted to forgo independent pro offers to pursue a business career as a management consultant. In 2018, Steve started his own consulting business (CoLo Consulting) and has been operating the company remotely while living in 10+ countries around the globe. Steve’s nomadic journey has taken him to Germany, Czech Republic, England, Hungary, the Netherlands, Georgia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada among other places. In 2021, while living in Canada, Steve decided to return to competitive baseball with the Fredericton Astros, who compete in the Capital City Intermediate Baseball League in New Brunswick, Canada. This led to a conversation with a good friend and BBJO member who had played overseas, prompting him to sign up for a membership. In 2022, Steve played for the Montpellier Barracudas on the south shore of France while continuing to work mobile. He made the most of that summer by joining the first-ever Baseball Jobs Overseas tournament team at both Finkstonball in Austria and Prague Baseball Week in the Czech Republic. Since the recording of this interview, Steve has gone on to play winter ball in Argentina for the Cordoba Falcons. We invite you to listen to this episode where Steve talks about his thought process as he transitioned from highly competitive college baseball to establishing his own consulting firm, to traveling the world while working mobile, to deciding to take advantage of his mobility with work by combining his love for travel and baseball.

As an indy pro pitcher in the Frontier League and American Association, Tim Brown spent his winters pitching in Australian state leagues — and some time in the ABL— for five straight years. Pitching year-round for five straight years. He even threw a no-hitter in the Frontier League during this time. Then, one day, he decided to forgo his stateside pro career for a full-time overseas travel baseball experience, playing in Europe in the summers and Australia, New Zealand and Argentina in the winters. To date, Tim has spent five winters in Australia, one in New Zealand, and one in Argentina. Since 2017, summers have been spent in the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovenia, Austria, and most recently in 2021 and 2022; Croatia. Tim has re-signed to play in Croatia in 2023 and after recording this episode, he signed to play the 2022-2023 winter in South Africa, the 6th continent he has played baseball on in his lifetime. In this episode, we talk equally about his experiences on the field and off the field, while also diving into his mindset, wisdom, and motivation to continue doing what he is doing at the age of 35. Hosted By: David Burns (@bbjoburnsy) and Jimmy Jensen (@jimboslice38)

https://baseballjobsoverseas.com/ Brett Holtz is an Ivy League first baseman who had his college baseball career ripped away from him by COVID-19 and Alec Lemmon had hung up the cleats and got the travel bug while backpacking in Australia and New Zealand before deciding to combine his new passion with his old passion; baseball. The two soon found themselves as roommates living in a small town in the Czech Republic and became fast friends on their way to a Czech championship.

UCLA Bruin alumnus Eddie Murray continues to work in the winter and play ball in Europe every summer at the age of 34. This includes four summers straight living in a student dorm in the middle of Paris.

In this episode, Baseball Jobs Overseas founder David Burns and co-host Jimmy Jensen interview Jacob Biller, a BBJO member who played his first season overseas in France in 2021 where he won a championship and even managed to get on with the French National Team as a coach for the European Championships in Italy. Jacob is a former NCAA D1 switching hitting shortstop out of Kansas State University who spent the summer at the top of the batting order for the Rouen Huskies, the reigning French champions, joining them at the champions cup in the Czech Republic where Jacob and the Huskies competed again the best teams in Europe, including the top teams from Italy and the Netherlands. What makes this story even more special, is that Jacob was a bit of a gamble to bring in as an import since he had not competed since graduating in 2018. In order for teams to roll the dice on someone who hasn't competed in that long and whom they haven't ever seen play firsthand, they need to have something special within their BBJO profile. So aside from coming from a big D1 school, what was it about Jacob that caught their eye????? It was his coaching experience. Ever since graduating he had been coaching at the junior college level and the Huskies were in the market for someone to help coach at their academy. Bringing over import players who bring a coaching element has always been a theme with clubs in the low to mid leagues in Europe, or the teams at the bottom of say France or Germany, but the trend we are starting to see is that coaching is becoming more and more a part of the profile of many of our members who sign overseas with some of the top clubs or in top leagues.

Seattle University alumna, Lisa Maulden, first took her career overseas in 2015 and never looked back. Her first few seasons overseas were in lower leagues including the Belgian second division and Hungarian Softball League before moving up the ranks to higher-level leagues such as the Dutch Golden League, Premiere Women's league in New Zealand, and the Italian Series A. However, it never dawned on Lisa that she would ever play in the Japanese Softball League, which is a pure professional softball league and considered by some, the best women's softball in the world. Lisa is about to enter her third season in Japan in 2022 and sits down for this interview with us from her apartment in Japan where she lives year-round. She shares her experiences on and off the field and advises others on how to go about playing there and what to expect.

In my previous two podcast interviews with Bryan Ruby, he was not openly gay. Since our last interview, Bryan has come out and is now the only known active, openly gay professional baseball player in the world. His coming out was not just within his friend and family circle but on a national stage when his story was featured on the front page of the sports section of U.S.A. Today and at Dodgers Stadium when announced prior to singing the national anthem this past fall. In this episode, Bryan talks about his fear of jeopardizing his career as a professional baseball player and a country music singer and songwriter by coming out. He also talks about his struggles as a closeted gay baseball player growing up. Although Bryan shy's away from all of the attention, he decided to use it to help broadcast an organization he started to help others athletes in the LGBTQ community titled ProudToBeInBaseball.

https://baseballjobsoverseas.com/ In this second interview with our globetrottin', country-music-singin', pro baseball player, Bryan Ruby, we talk about his experience playing winter ball in Guatemala in the fall/early winter of 2020 during the midst of a second COVID-19 wave and the Mavericks League in Oregon during the summer of 2021. This interview takes place two-thirds of the way through his 2021 season with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes and shortly after Bryan's life was turned upside down, resulting in a feature of Bryan on the cover of the sports section of USA Today. Make sure to mark January 3rd, 2022 on your calendar as the date we publish our third interview with Bryan where he tells that story.

https://baseballjobsoverseas.com/ Ryan "RJ" Johnson is a player in high demand overseas for a number of reasons and is currently living in the Czech Republic year-round as an import for a club that is on the rise. The former American Association pitcher has re-invented himself as a high-level two-way player overseas and it is paying off as quoted below from the interview. "I said make me an offer I can't refuse and they said 'here's our offer' and I went 'Oh boy!' The money is nice, don't get me wrong, but it was the coaching aspect and being here full time that was the low-hanging fruit."

Lindsay and Nicole Thomas took their twin pitcher-catcher act overseas in 2017, one year after graduating from UNC Greensboro where they were both standout players. A year into NCAA D1 coaching careers, both girls made the decision to put their coaching careers on hold and sign together to play in Vienna, Austria. Their international careers snowballed from there, both as a pair and as individuals. The girls continue to play overseas while doubling as virtual Mental Performance Coaches, a business they started together during the early days of the pandemic. Episode notes: Training Untamed Instagram handle: @training_untamed Correction: Sarah Edwards’ email is s.edwards@softballjobsoverseas.com

Pennsylvania-born Bryan Ruby is a baseball player and country music songwriter who has traveled the world playing baseball while continuing with his career in music. Bryan's passion for country music was behind his decision to pass up a D1 baseball scholarship in order to study and play closer to Nashville, the mecca of country music. Bryan eventually wrapped up his college career at a D3 school in upstate New York in 2019 before taking his career overseas. In one of his final college games, Bryan played all 9 positions in a single game and it is this versatility combined with a little networking savviness that led to playing baseball in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Chile and Peru within his first year overseas. In this interview, Bryan talks about his European jet-setting baseball experience and springboarding that adventure to join a crew of international baseball players on a South American baseball journey. Bryan also provides some great tips on how he utilized his first overseas experience to draw in multiple offers and further his off-the-field career.

Best known for his unique Tomahawk delivery, former MLB pitcher and Baseball Jobs Overseas member Josh Collmenter talks about his baseball career starting from his childhood, through college, leading to his MLB debut and then overseas to New Zealand. We talk about who is influencers were along the way, his "Tomahawk" delivery, making it to the MLB with a sub-90 mph fastball, his MLB debut experience, advice to his younger self and current aspiring pitchers, his experience in New Zealand and the Australian Baseball League, his future plans and much more.

After the summer of 2000 playing baseball in Vienna, Austria, Canadian baseball player Nick DeForest decided to forgo his final two years of college baseball eligibility and make Vienna his home. Twenty years later, Nick sits down to tell his story on the IBC podcast including what career in Austria he ended up in and how BBJO founder David Burns and Nick’s first encounter ended up on the front page of the Vienna newspaper.

In this episode, we hear the story of two corner infielders/ power-hitters from two different corners of the U.S. who first met in 2019 on a softball field in Austria as import players, leading their new team to the Austrian Softball League Championships.   Brittany McGuire (Florida Gulf Coast University) hit a clutch, come-from-behind grand slam late in game 1 of the best-of-three semi-final series against the reigning champs, while Kailyn Campbell (Central Washington University) hit for the cycle in game 2 of the series en route to securing the sweep.   The duo were the only two imports for the Wr. Neustadt Crazy Chicklets in 2019, so Brittany had to assume the role as a two-way player, despite not having pitched in college. Despite the lack of imported collegiate level pitching, the 3-4 combo of Kailyn and Brittany brought a much-needed 1-2 punch to the offense of a young Chicklets team, a team based in a small town of approximately 43,000 which is located about 30 minutes outside of Vienna, Austria. This was Kailyn’s second season as the Chicklets import, and she welcomed the protection in the lineup that Brittany brought, which was missing in 2018.   Although very similar in what they bring to the table as a softball player, this single season experience will be a different moment in their softball career scrapbook. For Brittany, this was a one-and-done experience as she moves on to pursue a coaching career in the U.S. whereas, for Kailyn, this second season overseas is just one of many more to come.

baseballjobsoverseas.com/ New York native Ryan Rupp did not play college baseball but took advantage of his dual citizenship with Austria to get his foot in the door in second division Austria in 2013. From there, he worked hard on his craft and in 2017 he won the Best Pitcher award and his second championship in the first division of Austria with the Attnang Athletics. He also became one of the go-to starters for the Austrian national team. In 2019 he won his third Austrian championship, this time with his new team, the Dornbirn Indians. In recent years, as Ryan approached the age of 30, he struggled with the pressure to start a career off the field and leave baseball behind. He found himself in New York, unhappy and with extreme bouts of anxiety. In this interview, we discuss how he was able to get through that, and the steps he is taking now to enjoy his summers of baseball while also progressing off of the field. Some of the topics discussed in this episode include: The different path of his baseball career and how he was able to develop into the pitcher he is today despite no college or professional experience. Finding success with the Austrian National Team and in the first Austrian division alongside teammate/coach and founder David Burns. How to continue to be in demand even when your numbers are not the best. How to switch from the anxiety and pressure that comes with starting a career and leaving baseball behind to doing what you love while also progressing off of the field.

https://baseballjobsoverseas.com/ In this episode of the Baseball Jobs Community Podcast, I hop on a call with club representatives from around Europe to discuss the current status of the Coronavirus in their country, the effect it has had on their baseball seasons thus far, and any further insight into when the seasons could possibly start. Specifically, I speak with Scotty of Korlarka Praha (Czech Extraliga), Eric of the Bonn Capitals (German Bundesliga), Mauro of T&A San Marino (Italian Series A), David of the Metz Cometz (French First Division), Trevor of the Stockholm Monarchs (Swedish Elite Series), Ron of Neptunus Rotterdam (Dutch Major League A.K.A. Honbal Hoofdklasse) and Andreas of the Attnang Athletics (Baseball League Austria).

David Burns and Jimmy Jensen from Baseball Jobs Overseas discuss how to position yourself for success in receiving offers from clubs overseas and once signed, how to make the most of that opportunity to further your career. This episode is particularly beneficial to those players who have yet to play professional baseball and are looking overseas as a career option but are still looking to play at the highest level possible.

https://baseballjobsoverseas.com/ After a lustrous career as an international import player and coach, Owen Reid decided to go to work for himself as an International Baseball Consultant and Mobile baseball coach. Now settled and based in Singapore, Owen has now traveled to five different continents and 21 countries as a baseball coach including some very unknown baseball markets such as the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, and Kyrgyzstan. His international baseball story began back in 2009, when fresh out of college, Owen signed on with the Vienna Wanderers in Austria as an import player. This led to his first gig as a youth coach the following winter in New Zealand, then in 2010 as a player-coach with another team in Austria, eventually settling in Australia from 2010 through 2014. It is in Australia where Owen's international coaching career really began to take shape after playing and coaching with three different teams, assuming a role with the Perth Heat in player development and then as their operations and marketing manager. It was also in Australian where Owen met his wife, who continues to fully support his international baseball endeavours to-date. The couple moved to Singapore in 2014 when Owen landed an Operations job at a major training facility, where he led a staff of coaches and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Albert Pujos and Augie Garrido. In 2016 Owen found that his passions were no longer in line with his role at the facility, and this is where he found himself at a crossroads in his career, unsure what he wanted to do next, but knew it was in coaching. This is when Owen decided to take a risk and start Reid Baseball and market himself to the baseball world as a mobile coach and international baseball consultant. This role encompasses a number of different services including one on one-on-one coaching, coaching small groups, running specialized clinics, working with and creating training programs and curriculums for teams or leagues, coach education, building academies and mental conditioning. The highlights of his international baseball endeavours include coaching in Dhaka, Bangladesh where he had to take a rickshaw from where he was staying through the dirty, crowded and polluted streets to the school where he was coaching or when he went to Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia to coach a group of kids on a small soccer field tucked in between two enormous rock formations which as he described '"ooked like out of a movie." Some of the takeaways for baseball people from all different aspects of the game including how to: -Open these doors and build your resume -Build your own baseball brand and found his own post-playing career baseball path -Connect with organizations around the globe -Work with kids of various groups sizes who don't speak English

https://baseballjobsoverseas.com/ American born and Wofford College alum, Eric Brenk, has been living and playing baseball in Germany since obtaining his dual citizenship in 2014, only 4 months after graduating from college. Eric not only helped bring home a championship for his Bonn Capitals in 2018, he has also been a major player for the German National Team, most recently at the 2019 European Championships, a stepping stone tournament to the 2020 Olympic Qualifier. Less than an hour from Cologne, Eric lives year-round in Bonn where he is heavily involved in baseball and is currently working for an international company after obtaining his masters in Germany. In this episode, Eric and BBJO founder David Burns discuss the application process for dual citizenship and how having dual citizenship has benefited Eric from a baseball and life standpoint. We also dive into the lifestyle and quality of life when living and playing baseball in Germany.