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, Cologne, Hamburg, Stockholm, Prague, Madrid, Munich, Regensburg, Rouen, Toulouse 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.

OWB has finalized the roster for its 8th annual HS trip to Europe, which will run from June 28 - July 9. The 2018 trip will begin in Germany (Tuebingen, Nuremberg and Regensburg), continue through Austria (Innsbruck) and end in Italy (Venice, Siena and Milan). This year's opponents will include the Tuebingen Hawks (German club team - 2nd Bundesliga) and the 18U National Teams from Germany, Netherlands, Great Britain and Italy. If you would like information about participating in the 2019 trip, please contact Stephan Rapaglia via email (coachpags@oldworldbaseball.com). 

OWB has completed the roster for its 8th annual HS trip to Europe, which will run from June 28 - July 9 and include time in Germany (Tuebingen, Munich and Regensburg), Austria (Innsbruck) and Italy (Venice, Siena and Milan). This year's roster will consist of 22 HS and college players. If you would like information about participating in the 2019 trip, please contact Stephan Rapaglia via email (coachpags@oldworldbaseball.com). 

OWB's roster for its 7th annual HS trip to Europe consisted of 20 baseball players from all over the USA, including 16 preparing to begin their first year in college, 2 current college players and 2 rising HS seniors. The 2017 trip, which ran from July 5-16, included time in Switzerland (Zurich area), Germany (Konstanz, Neuschwanstein, Munich and Regensburg) and the Czech Republic (Prague and Kutna Hora).  The 2017 OWB team finished with an impressive 7-2 record against high-quality competition. If you would like more information about participating in a future OWB trip, please contact Stephan Rapaglia via email (coachpags@oldworldbaseball.com). 

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/

With seven current OWB alumni on the roster, Middlebury College qualified for the NESCAC tournament for the first time since 2011.  Middlebury's two leading hitters (Andrew Hennings and Jason Lock) are both OWB alums.
http://athletics.middlebury.edu/sports/bsb/2016-17/releases/20170423n6w5e9

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. 

MLB.com recently published a great article on South Africa's Ngoepe brothers (Gift and Victor) who are now both in the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization, with OWB's Tom Gillespie being the international scout responsible for signing Victor.  Older brother Gift was the first black South African to sign a professional baseball contract, as well as the first to make the 40-man roster of any MLB team.   http://m.mlb.com/news/article/168958928/ngoepe-brothers-back-together-with-pirates

In July 2016, OWB completed its 6th annual HS trip to Europe. The 2016 trip, which included 21 players from all over the US, included visits to Spain (Barcelona), France (Toulouse area), Holland (Amsterdam area) and Germany (Mainz area).  OWB finished with a 6-4 aggregate record against the French, Dutch and German 18U National Teams.    

Just a few months after being named Head Coach of the German Junior National Team, OWB's Tom Gillespie led the team to the Bronze Medal in the 2016 European Championships.  Tom is also in charge of the German 23U National Team.  

Tom Gillespie of Old World Baseball has another venture, Play Global - a non-profit using baseball to bring people together in areas of conflict. Most recently, Tom and Play Global participated in a special event in Israel.  Check out the article below from Israel and see recent news from there, Uganda, Kenya, and more on Play Global's Facebook page. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Sports/Israeli-baseball-bringing-Jewish-and-Arab-youth-together-393807

Old World Baseball and Collegiate Baseball League Europe (CBLE) have reached a collaboration agreement to advance their respective programs as well as the development of European baseball. CBLE, initiated in 2012, provides a high level summer competitive and showcase opportunity for US players aged 18-23 and continues to expand. For more information about CBLE, visit www.cble.org.

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.

Both OWB co-founders have a number of connections with the recently completed World Baseball Classic.  Among other things, The Netherlands, a WBC semi-finalist, is the same team that Stephan Rapaglia (then field manager of the Great Britain National Team) coached against in the final of the 2007 European Championships, and Tom Gillespie worked with some of Team Italy's stars at the MLB European Academy.      

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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