Baseball in Switzerland

Last updated

Baseball in Switzerland
CountrySwitzerland
Governing body Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation  [ fr ]
National teams Men's national team;
Women's national team
First played1981
Clubs Championnat de Suisse de baseball  [ fr; de ]
International competitions

Baseball is a minor sport in Switzerland. [1] [2] [3]

History

The first baseball game in Switzerland was played in December 1980, though that game ended early due to snow. [4] [1] [5]

Contents

The governing body for baseball in the country is the Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation (SBSF), which is based in Therwil. Championnat de Suisse de baseball  [ fr; de ] is the national professional baseball league (NLA and NLB). [6] The Swiss men's national team first reached the European Baseball Championship in 2023 and has finished out of the top 10 in both appearances. [7] [8]

One player born in Switzerland has played in Major League Baseball. Pitcher Otto Hess was born in Bern in 1888 and moved to the United States when he was 10 years old. He led the American League in wild pitches in 1905 and tied for the lead in hit batters in 1906. [9] [10] [11]

Teams

The top three divisions in Swiss baseball are the NLA, NLB and 1. Liga. [12] As of December 2025, there were four teams in the NLA, 10 in the NLB, and 17 in the 1. Liga. This includes lower teams of several clubs.

NLA

NLB

1. Liga

East

  • Embrach Mustangs 2 (Embrach)
  • Wil Pirates 2 (Wil)
  • Wittenbach Pirates (Wittenbach)
  • Zurich Barracudas 4 (Zurich)

Central

  • Bern Cardinals (Bern)
  • Dulliken Ravens (Dulliken)
  • Hunenberg Unicorns 2 (Hunenberg)
  • Lucerne Eagles 2 (Lucerne)
  • Sissach Frogs 2 (Sissach)
  • Zurich Eighters (Zurich)

West

  • Bern Cardinals (Bern)
  • Bulle Baseball (Bulle)
  • Geneva Dragons (Geneva)
  • Geneva Tigers (Geneva)
  • Lausanne Indians 2 (Lausanne)
  • Martigny Minotaurs (Martigny) [13]

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 Letzing, John (October 4, 2016). "Out of Baseball Options? There's Always Zurich". The Wall Street Journal .
  2. ↑ Chetwynd, Josh (18 October 2019). Baseball in Europe: A Country by Country History, 2d ed . McFarland. pp. 227–229, 283. ISBN   9781476679129.
  3. ↑ Williams, Joe. "SWISS CLUB HONES ITS BASEBALL IN MT. DORA". Orlando Sentinel .
  4. ↑ "Swiss Baseball & Softball Federation". WBSC Europe. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
  5. ↑ Clair, Michael (September 2023). "40 years on, the Swiss national baseball team has made its first Euro championship". MLB.com. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
  6. ↑ Eggenberger, Peter. "Die Wiler Baseballer wollen in die Playoffs". St. Galler Tagblatt (in German). Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  7. ↑ "Men's European Baseball Qualifiers by the view of WBSC Europe Baseball Commission". WBSC Europe. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  8. ↑ "2025 Baseball European Championship - Daily Report Final" (PDF). WBSC Europe . September 27, 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  9. ↑ "Otto Hess Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
  10. ↑ Hess, Gary. "Otto Hess". Society for American Baseball Research . Retrieved 2026-02-09.
  11. ↑ "Players by birthplace: Switzerland Baseball Stats and Info". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
  12. ↑ "Spielbetrieb". SBSF | Swiss Baseball & Softball Federation (in German). Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  13. ↑ "Rangliste 2025" (PDF). swiss-baseball.ch. December 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.