Old World Baseball* - Overview                                        Twitter @oldworldbball
Are you passionate about baseball?  Do you want to experience Europe in a unique way?  If so, you have come to the right place.  Old World Baseball, LLC (OWB) is dedicated to providing custom-tailored, high-quality, baseball-playing/cultural opportunities in Europe for groups and individuals (of all ages).
 
Each of the founders of OWB, Tom Gillespie and Stephan Rapaglia, has had tremendous coaching and playing experience in the European baseball world.  Between them, Tom and Stephan have coached and/or played in the shadows of Windsor Castle and Edinburgh Castle, in Barcelona's Olympic Stadium, and in other historic European locations such as London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brno, Cologne, Hamburg, Stockholm, Prague, Madrid, Munich, Regensburg, Rouen, Toulouse, Tuebingen, Grosseto and Zagreb.  OWB was founded by Tom and Stephan so that adventurous and enthusiastic North American ballplayers can share these types of experiences.  
 
*Old World Baseball is not affiliated in any way with Major League Baseball® or the World Baseball Classic®.  

RECENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
 

Click any headline for more information.

Informational Zoom Session - 2021 College Baseball and Softball Trip

OWB will be holding an informational Zoom session for college baseball and softball players interested in participating in OWB's 2021 Europe trip this August. The Zoom session will occur at 8:30 pm on Tuesday, May 18. Topics covered will include potential destinations and opponents, structure of trip, coaching staff, European playing opportunities and Covid-related issues. To register for the session and receive the Zoom info, please email Stephan Rapaglia (coachpags@oldworldbseball.com).

2021 Baseball and Softball Trip for College Players

OWB is currently planning a Europe trip in August 2021 for college baseball and softball players. The trip will include visits to at least 2 European countries (Covid-permitting) and approximately 8 games against European national teams and/or top-level domestic club teams. Trip participants will have the opportunity to interact with their European counterparts and showcase for potential 2022 playing opportunities with European club teams. 

Although exact dates and destinations remain open pending Covid-19 developments in Europe, we are targeting a trip with a planned Amsterdam hub, with visits to Belgium and/or Germany. Timeframe is 7 nights within August 15-24, 2021. Price: $2,450.00 (excl. airfare).

If interested, please email Stephan Rapaglia (coachpags@oldworldbaseball.com).  

As a result of the slow Covid-19 vaccine rollout in Europe and the continuing uncertainty surrounding European travel, we have been forced to cancel our annual high school trip to Europe for the 2nd consecutive year. While this is very disappointing, we are looking forward to the 2022 trip, which will be our 10th HS trip.

Delayed 10th Anniversary Alumni Trip in the Works

OWB celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced us to delay our intended anniversary trip.  So, consider this Take 2.  Once again, we would love to take a group of OWB alumni to Europe this fall, and college ballplayer friends of OWB alumni are also welcome to join us. The current plan is to spend 5 days or so in Munich (during Oktoberfest) and Prague in late September or early October. If you have potential interest in this trip, please email Stephan Rapaglia (coachpags@oldworldbaseball.com) so that we can keep you informed of the trip plans.

OWB Completes 9th Annual Europe Trip

OWB's 9th annual HS trip to Europe, which ran from June 27 - July 8, included 20 players, 6 coaches, 4 countries (Austria, Slovakia, Czechia and Germany), 7 cities and towns (Vienna, Bratislava, Trebic, Prague, Dresden, Hamburg and Berlin), 10 games and 3 national team opponents (the Slovakian Men's National Team and the 18U National Teams from Czechia and Germany).  For the first time in OWB's 9-year history, OWB finished the trip undefeated, with an impressive 8-0-2 record against high-quality competition.

Tom Gillespie recently completed his second 18U European Championships as Head Coach of the German Junior National Team. Tom previously led the German team to the Bronze Medal in the 2016 European Championships. Tom is also in charge of the German 23U National Team. 

OWB previously noted that Tom Gillespie played a key role in reuniting South Africa's Ngoepe brothers (Gift and Victor) in the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization, with OWB's Tom Gillespie being the international scout responsible for signing Victor.  Older brother Gift has now become the first African-born player to make the big leagues, and Tom is cited in the first MLB.com story about Gift's promotion.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/226598902/pirates-promote-south-african-gift-ngoepe/

At the invitation of current Great Britain Head Coach Liam Carroll, Stephan Rapaglia served as a special advisor to GB's 2016 WBCQ team. The 2016 WBCQ took place in Brooklyn, NY in September, and GB finished in 2nd place. Stephan is a former GB head coach (2004-2010), and he also served as GB's bench coach for the 2012 WBCQ.

You can also keep track of OWB news via the following forms of social media:
*Facebook: www.facebook.com/oldworldbaseball.
*Gamechanger: 2013 trip boxscores are available via Gamechanger at http://gc.io/team-51a8e688de0b8838ba565dbb. Old World Baseball Summer 13 is the team name.
*Twitter: @oldworldbball.

Tom Gillespie visited Uganda to spend a week running coach and player clinics for the Ugandan Baseball and Softball Federation. Click the headline to see a photo.  In 2010, Tom spent time in Uganda working with many of the members of the Uganda Little League team that qualified for the LLWS.
 
OWB Co-Founder Stephan Rapaglia participated in MLB's World Baseball Classic Qualification tournament as the bench coach for the Great Britain Men's National Team.
  
OWB Co-Founder Tom Gillespie recently took a position with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a professional scout for the team in Europe.
 
Stephan Rapaglia is quoted multiple times in a ESPN.com feature article on the rise of European baseball:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/6948276/mlb-baseball-europe-take-off.
 
Tom Gillespie ran coaching and player clinics in Uganda in 2010, where he worked with many of the members of the Little League team recently featured on ESPN (http://search.espn.go.com/uganda-baseball/videos/6). 
 

 

 
 
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