Who Else is Interested in Baseball in Portugal?
As a lifelong baseball fan, I was curious about baseball in Portugal. Is it played there? Is it a common sport? Will I be able to go to many games?
Let me tell you what I found out. But first, allow me to talk about my interest in the sport.
Looking Towards the Past – Growing Up with Baseball in the US
I have always been a baseball fan. Beginning with T-ball at six years old, I grew up playing baseball. Other than one unassisted triple play I made, I was never really exceptional at playing. Oddly enough, I grew to love the game even more as a fan long after my playing days were over.
I follow Major League Baseball every year with my MLB app and subscription which I intend to keep in Portugal. Since their inaugural season in 1998, my favorite team has been the Tampa Bay Rays. Angie and I raised our kids in that area from 1995 until 2012.
Before the Rays, my favorite team was the Baltimore Orioles. I spent my youth living in the Washington D.C. area. Until 2005, the Washington Nationals (another local team) were still in Montreal and known as the Expos. I still love my Rays, but I am a firm believer in appreciating the game itself. I will pull for any team if they play the game well…except the Red Sox…or the Yankees (but I still respect them).
We have lived in the Knoxville, Tennessee, area for the last nine years. I taught high school math for seven of those years. All during that time, I have enjoyed watching high school baseball. For a couple of years, I also was involved as an umpire for the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA), and for the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA). Baseball leagues need people to do the work necessary to give kids great opportunities to have fun.
Current Baseball Trends in Portugal
In Portugal, baseball is relatively unknown, at least by American standards. There is a Portuguese Atlantic Baseball League, which is the highest professional league in the country. It was founded in 2006 and it consists of seven teams. It has a 24 game season that runs from April to July with the 4 best teams making the playoffs.
There is also an all-star game and home run derby at the end of the season with the players voted in by the fans. It’s not quite the 162-game season that I’m used to with MLB, but I plan to get into it as a fan of good baseball.
In Coimbra where we plan to live, the university’s student union is called Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC), founded in 1887. It’s the biggest such organization in Europe. In addition to being dedicated to culture and student life, the AAC has several sports teams and is one of the biggest sports clubs in all of Portugal. The AAC has 28 sports represented with baseball being represented only since 1994. The Academica Coimbra team is one of the seven in the Portuguese Atlantic Baseball League.
I haven’t been able to see much about the team on internet searches, so I suppose it’s not going to be too difficult to get individual or season tickets. Baseball for the AAC is practiced on one of two fields at the Campo de Santa Cruz, near the oldest campus of the university, the Pólo I campus.
Looking Towards the Future – Baseball in Portugal
I would like to one day get my little boy involved with baseball once we move. After doing a quick search, it may be difficult to make that happen. There doesn’t seem to be any baseball leagues geared for younger kids in the Coimbra region. I found a blog post written in 2013 by someone who found the only youth league in the greater Lisbon area (Almada).
It may be near impossible to find baseball teams in Coimbra, but I will still try. Maybe once I get to Portugal, I can give my time and passion for the game to bring what I believe is the perfect team sport to an area that doesn’t know much about it.
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15 Comments
Chad
My wife and I are in the transition to moving to Portugal. I am a former professional player and current professional coach. I have also found the same difficulty in research towards the popularity of baseball in Portugal. I would love to hear any updates you have.
Alecia Chesery Ramsey
Hi Chad. Thank you for asking the question. My brother, Dan, the author of the post, would be the one to ask. With your permission, I will pass your email on to him so he can begin a conversation with you. Dan is a former umpire so you will have much to discuss, I’m sure. Where in Portugal are you planning to move, and when will you transition to Portugal?
Alecia
Chad
Thank you for getting back to me! I have been in the process the past couple of weeks relocating with my wife in Lisbon. We are finally getting settled more near the city center…trying to learn Portuguese and diving all the way in! Of course you can pass my email along. Thank you once again.
Frankie
Hey guy’s cool article, feel free to pass my email along as well. I’m from States also currently moving to Portugal. Had a sandlot growing up and played club ball. Anyway, likely will be buying in Tomar soon. Would love to help grow the baseball scene out here.
Cheers.
Alecia Chesery Ramsey
Hi Frankie,
I’ll pass along your contact info to my brother, Dan.
When do you plan to move to Tomar? That’s not too far from Coimbra, and I know it’s on our list of places to see. We’ll be in Coimbra next summer, aiming for mid-July.
Francisco Barreto
Portugal is indeed one of the least developed European countries in baseball terms, but that strikes me as an opportunity on many levels. If Lithuania, covered by ice and snow for months of the year, can put together a 7-team league and produce a Major Leaguer, Portugal can do it, too. It just takes a group of volunteers, parents and coaches to make it happen. I’m one of those American ex-pat dads / coaches / umps / volunteers trying to do the same in my corner of Germany.
You’ll find baseball in many unexpected places in Europe, with the history a lot deeper than you might think. For news and more about Old World baseball, check out mister-baseball.com, which has covered European baseball since 2007.
Alecia Chesery Ramsey
Thank you, Francisco, for your great email. I will definitely pass your comments on to my brother Dan, the author of the blog post.
MATT BORGES
I am interested in information regarding the Portuguese National Team. I am a baseball man in New England, more confused that I have never seen Portugal mentioned in that circle. Here in New England a very high number of great players are of Portuguese decent.
Alecia Chesery Ramsey
Hello Matt. Thank you for taking the time to write and ask your question. I will pass along your question to my brother Dan, the author of the article, and ask him to reply to you.
~~Alecia
Anna
Very nice article, thank you! I’ve been searching about basebal in Portugal for the last few days after we arrived here from Kyiv, Ukraine. And even wrote a few emails to Federation of baseball&softball of Portugal, but, unfortunately, no response. My son (14yo) has been played baseball as a professional player for UA junior team for the last few years, and I’d like to let him continue as his normal life, even if we’re far away from home at this terrible moment. I still hope to find some active baseball groups here to meet and network. So, please let me know, if you have any updates from you side. Thank you!
Alecia Chesery Ramsey
Anna, thank you for your note. I’m horrified by what is happening in Ukraine right now and feel bad for all of you. My brother is the one who wrote the article, so I will pass your comments on to him. Perhaps he may know of any updates. Good luck to you and your family.
Francisco
The Portugese federation is in development mode, but there are clubs spread across the county and the league will be starting this weekend: https://www.mister-baseball.com/portuguese-opening-day-scheduled-for-april-3/
If Anna needs help getting in touch with the Portuguese authorities, I have contacts with the federation and would be very happy to help her find a club for her son. Please feel free to get in touch.
Franciso Barreto
mister-baseball.com
Brian
I’m an international scorekeeper for the World Baseball Softball Confederation so I’m sure I can find information through them, but would love to know if there is a good site for that Atlantic League. Thinking of a weekend in May after I do my annual week in Salzburg, Portugal would be country number 52 if the rest of 2022 goes correctly and would be country 34 for baseball. Would love to mix in a game in between seeing the sites. I want to see it everywhere it is played
Let me know if you have anything else. Are you doing mister-baseball now and not Philip? I think I remember him saying he was stopping but not sure.
Alecia Chesery Ramsey
Hi Brian,
I really don’t know much about baseball. My brother wrote the post, but he isn’t in Portugal yet. If you have any questions about the Atlantic League, I suggest contacting Fransisco at mister-baseball.com
I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help.
Carlos Tavares
Hello, there are 10 teams currently playing in the Portuguese league divided by two divisions (north and south).
All the teams info you can find on the federations webpage
http://www.basebolportugal.com
Iwe are always eager to have new players/coaches that have the same passion for the game that we have. If you need any further info don’t hesitate to contact me. My number is on the contacts page of the site.
Thanks for the article!!
Carlos Tavares