Baseball is a niche sport in Germany. With Max Kepler, however, one made it into the American MLB. And a young super talent could follow him: Tim Fischer. For the 17-year-old, the first step of his big dream has come true.
Tim Fischer "still can't quite put it into words" what he thought when the door to a great career suddenly opened. It's overwhelming too. He, Tim Fischer, 17 years old, pitcher (thrower) of the second team of the "Legionnaires" from Regensburg, signed a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers from the professional baseball league MLB just over a month ago. You can be speechless at times.
The Dodgers are a cult club, they last won the World Series in 2020. They are looking around the world for players who promise them success, and they obviously think Fischer is a promise that will eventually be fulfilled. "They made it known very early on that they wanted him," says Martin Brunner, who directs the baseball academy he built in Regensburg. She also produced Max Kepler, hitter for the Minnesota Twins.
The Dodgers had had Fischer for a few years, and what they saw and see captures their imaginations. Born in Regensburg, who has been playing baseball since he was four years old, he is now more than 1.90 meters tall and weighs 90 kilograms, his throws already reach speeds of 92 miles per hour (approx. 148 kilometers per hour), and - very tempting and rare: he can throw the ball in four ways.
By MLB standards, Fischer, who started an apprenticeship as a carpenter after school, is a model athlete with tremendous potential -- even if he's only played on the Legionnaires' second team so far. "He can win even if he's having a bad day," says Brunner, and that means: "It's time for him to leave Germany. He's outgrown German baseball now."
When his visa arrives these days, Fischer will first fly to a Dodgers academy in the Dominican Republic. If everything goes well, he could work on himself next spring in the club's spring training session, at least within sight of superstars like Clayton Kershaw. Fischer says what one says in such a case: "You always have an idea of where you want to be. But I want to go step by step."
The journey through the multi-level farm system should of course end in the MLB - the right-hander Fischer would be the first German pitcher to make it there. The path is brutal, the selection merciless. But, says Brunner: "In terms of head and physique, Tim has good prerequisites. If the Dodgers didn't see in him that he could do it, they wouldn't have signed him."
