The curious history of Czechs at bat as Prague Baseball Week begins

Prague Baseball Week returns this weekend for its 45th edition, bringing eight national teams to the Czech capital for one of Europe's longest-running international baseball tournaments.

The competition runs from July 5 to July 8, with games held at Eagles Praha in Krč with additional games at Tempo Praha. The championship game takes place Wednesday, with Czechia looking for redemption after falling to Germany, the defending champion, in last year's final.

This year’s field includes Czechia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Chinese Taipei among the top group of contenders. Czechia and the Netherlands arrive in Prague following participation in Haarlem Baseball Week earlier this summer, marking the Czech team’s return to home soil after competing at the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.

But the story of today's baseball, a sport increasingly becoming a fan favorite in Czechia, swings back before modern brackets and mascots, to the Cold War.

Czech baseball’s history is unusual in Europe, writes Michael Clair, for MLB.com. Unlike in Germany, where the sport spread through American military bases, baseball in Czechoslovakia developed under communist rule in a more complicated cultural environment. The sport was often viewed with suspicion, associated with the United States.

Instead, it survived through student clubs and the conversion of softball teams into hardball baseball during the 1960s and 70s. It also drew indirect inspiration from baseball’s stronghold in other socialist sporting systems, particularly Cuba, whose international success helped give the sport a degree of legitimacy in the Eastern Bloc.

The Extraliga launched in 1979, and the national team began competing internationally in 1982.

Today, Czechia is a regular presence on the global stage, including its recent World Baseball Classic debut and back-to-back Prague Baseball Week titles.

No Czech-born player has reached the majors under the country's current name – the "record book" Carl Linhart was born in what's now Slovakia and his family identifies as Slovak.

The real pedigree runs through the Extraliga, led historically by 22-time champion Draci Brno, and through players like Martin Schneider, considered the best pitcher-shortstop in Czech history, whose win over Spain helped send Czechia to its 2023 World Baseball Classic debut.

Prague Baseball Week traces its origins back to a different time and place.

“The idea of organizing the Prague Baseball Week came immediately after the first unofficial trip of the Czechoslovak baseball team to the Netherlands in 1979,” according to historical records from the Czech Baseball Association.

The tournament was founded in 1980 by players from VSBH Prague (later KOVO Prague), working under coach and key figure in Czech baseball Mirek Vojtíšek.

“In the beginning, the tournament was supposed to be held once every two years… as a series of exhibition games aimed at promoting and developing baseball,” the association’s website notes.

“Teams desired to compete and determine the best, as well as gauge how much Czech baseball needed to progress to match Europe’s top teams,” says the PBW official history page.

Dutch teams dominated the early years, winning five of the first six editions once placement games were introduced.

After 1989, the opening of the country brought a turning point. U.S. coaches began arriving to run training camps, and Czech baseball slowly started building toward the international level it now occupies.

More than four decades later, the tournament has become a permanent part of the Czech baseball calendar.

“No matter what, Covid, you name it, all kinds of crisis, Prague Baseball Week is always here,” Czech national team captain Petr Zyma said of the tournament's 2024 edition.

Held at Eagles Praha’s four-field complex in Krč, the tournament now regularly draws international attention and increasingly strong visiting teams.

The 2024 edition marked a milestone when a Japanese collegiate selection team took part for the first time, a sign of the tournament’s growing international reputation.

Japan went on to defeat Chinese Taipei 5–3 in the final.

“It’s a very rare experience to play on a natural grass field like this,” tournament MVP Misho Nishikawa told MLB.com through a translator. “The Czech people don’t care which match is going on. They just cheer for the players and show respect.”

Chinese Taipei’s presence this year is similarly notable. Ranked among the strongest teams in the world, it brings a level of competition rarely seen in Central Europe.

The Netherlands also arrive as reigning European champions, while Germany enters as defending Prague Baseball Week winners.

Few Czech players have broken through internationally quite like Ondřej Satoria.

The electrician-turned-pitcher became an internet sensation the 2023 World Baseball Classic, when he struck out Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani on three pitches during an exhibition appearance, using a fastball measured at 79 mph.

Since then, Satoria has become one of the most recognizable figures in the sport in Czechia. Speaking to iRozhlas, he reflected on the perception gap faced by smaller baseball nations.

“It’s an honor, because there were big prejudices, they didn’t want us there,” he said. “We don’t pitch fast, we’re not a lucrative opponent for them.”

Despite stepping away from the national team, Satoria says the experience reinforced the importance of visibility for Czech baseball on the international stage.

“At the World Baseball Classic we represented not only the Czech Republic, but European baseball,” he said. Satoria will appear at Prague Baseball Week.

Eagles Park, tucked into Prague’s Krč district, has become the symbolic home of Czech baseball.

Originally the first true baseball facility in the country, it has gradually expanded to keep up with the tournament’s popularity. In recent years, extra seating, a video screen, music, and mascots have turned games into a full summer event.

But will there be hot dogs?

Clair's 2024 dispatch noted that there are Czech classics like párek v rohlíku (hot dogs in a bun with mustard or ketchup), alongside American-style versions with bacon and sauces. Czech beer remains a constant presence throughout the day.

“It’s baseball and it was perfect,” Clair writes of the atmosphere in Krč.

Prague Baseball Week has long served as a summer testing ground for the Czech national team, offering competitive games against international opposition outside official tournament cycles.

“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,” says team captain Petr Zyma.

But it is also more than a sporting fixture. The tournament has become a community event, drawing a growing base of local fans alongside international visitors.

The tournament has maintained steady attendance of several hundred to over a thousand fans per game, with larger crowds during Czech national team fixtures.

Games run daily through July 8, with the final set for Tuesday evening at Eagles Park.