Tomas Bison is enthusiastic: “It’s amazing how fast it’s going. I think the only thing missing is the roof,” says the trainer of the Regensburg Legionnaires, who are currently training next to a construction site. In January, the baseball club in the Schwabelweis district began constructing a new multi-functional building right next to the stadium, which will also be used for popular sports. The future state training center, which will cost around 5.5 million euros, is also supported by the Free State and the city. It was only six years ago that the Legionnaires built a new building right next to the arena, with boarding school, business premises and a Californian restaurant. So now another 2000 square meters are added to make baseball in Regensburg better. There will also be more seats for spectators in a few months. One disadvantage is that the Bundesliga season starts next weekend, but the legionnaires have to play away for several weeks in a row. On Saturday they start with the Tübingen Hawks, a week later the Bavarian derby takes place with the Munich-Haar Disciples.
Any comparisons between the construction site and the team are out of the question, actually. The squad hasn’t changed much. Bison says he trusts the players he has – despite failing in the semifinals last season. But it was a close elimination, only after five exciting games did you have to admit defeat to the later German champions Heidenheim. Viewed in a somewhat more timeless way, the Bundesliga team is a construction site that somehow never gets finished: Despite the magnificent, highly professional conditions and the unquestionably strong talent that the in-house boarding school produces every year, the titles have been missing for a remarkably long time, since 2013 namely. In terms of championships, Heidenheim (six) has meanwhile outstripped the Upper Palatinate (five). “We want to reach the final series,” says coach Bison as a goal for the season.
The Italian coach comes from Ronchi dei Legionari – a laugh for the players of the Regensburg legionnaires
The plan for the new season: rely on consistency, believe in your own abilities. The foundation for this is the conviction that one’s own skills are in principle sufficient to be at the top again. For example, the experienced pitchers Jan Tomek and Kaled Bowman, who were voted the best pitchers in the south of the Bundesliga in the last two seasons, are still there. The talents from their own youth should be gradually integrated, but they also have to prove themselves in everyday competitive matches. Bison has made sure that the preparation is more professional this time than it was last time in Corona weddings. The 47-year-old Italian had organized a training camp for the team in his native Italy, in Ronchi dei Legionari. The fact that the legionnaires’ trainer came from a place with that name caused laughter when he was hired in autumn 2018. Above all, he had organized high-class opponents, the top European teams from Bologna and Parma. The Legionnaires showed remarkable early form with their 4:3 victory and the 3:4 defeat.
A man who you trust to make the existing team a little bit better may have already contributed to this. The 64-year-old Bruce Hines brings decades of coaching experience from the North American professional league MLB, where he also coached players in the top league for a number of years. “He’s a legend,” enthuses head coach Bison. When asked which tasks he will take on, Bison replies: “In practice, he is my special advisor.” On paper, Hines is only supposed to be an assistant coach at first and third base.
The boarding school building is in the extension of the third base in the Armin-Wolf-Arena, next to the first base they are currently building the new state academy. So it’s fitting that Hines should help bring the past and the present together again in a successful way.