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Tomorrow, March 5th, the World Baseball Classic 2026 kicks off with an important match for us: Czech Republic – Korea.
National teams wear official New Era caps – and we have just stocked the Czech ones on Snapbacks!
Clock in the morning, bats in the evening.
Shift ends, national team begins.
You probably guess that this is about the Czech national baseball team – a group of players who go to work during the day and train in the evening.
Czech baseball has written one of the best sports stories we’ve seen here in recent years.
And it all started with one game in Germany.
2022: Regensburg. The match that changed Czech baseball
September 2022.
Qualification for the World Baseball Classic in Regensburg, Germany.
Czechia was not the favorite. On the contrary – they even lost the first game against Spain.
But then came a series of victories over France and Germany… and the qualification final again against Spain.
This time the Czech team won 3:1 and qualified for the World Baseball Classic 2023 for the first time in history.
That moment was like a little Nagano for Czech baseball.
A small country. Big dreams!
2023: Tokyo and the first victory
When the Czech team qualified for the World Baseball Classic 2023 for the first time, few people knew what to expect.
Most of the players are not professional athletes.
They are ordinary guys with regular jobs.
At the tournament, they faced opponents from the absolute world elite: Japan, Korea, Australia, and China – teams full of professional players from the best leagues in the world.
The Czech team was an underdog. But an underdog with a huge heart.
And then came the match against China.
The Czechs won 8-5 and achieved their first-ever victory at the World Baseball Classic.
Home runs were hit by Matěj Menšík and Martin Mužík – and the internet was full of memes:
“Mužík Magic.”
Electrician vs. the Best Player on the Planet
Another moment that went viral worldwide came in the game against Japan.
Up to bat stepped Shohei Ohtani – the best baseball player on the planet and an MLB megastar.
On the mound stood Ondřej Satoria.
His civilian job?
Electrician.
And this electrician managed to strike out Ohtani.
David versus Goliath.
That moment took over the baseball internet.
Why the world loves the Czechia baseball team
Unlike other teams, the Czechs are not professionals.
Most players have regular jobs:
- Petr Zýma – financial analyst
- Arnošt Dubový – teacher
- Marek Minařík – real estate agent
- team manager Pavel Chadim – neurologist in Brno
They train in the evenings.
And when there is a big tournament?
They take vacation.
Respect from Ohtani
The story had one more beautiful epilogue.
After the match, Shohei Ohtani expressed great respect to the Czech team – he was seen wearing a Czech baseball cap for several weeks afterward.
The influence of the MLB megastar from Japan was felt even in our store – several months after the tournament, Japanese tourists came to ask us about Czech WBC caps.
The story simply resonated far beyond the boundaries of baseball.
Of course… we have caps this year!
At the World Baseball Classic, all teams play in official New Era caps.
And of course, we have the Czech ones here at Snapbacks.
And since this story is about normal professions, we symbolically photographed them in businesses around our Epicenter of caps:
- on a bartender in a hotel
- on a barista in a café
- on a hotel concierge
A small tribute to players who pick up the bat after work.
Where to watch a Czech sports fairy tale?
If you missed something in Olympic hockey this year, you might find it in baseball this year!
The World Baseball Classic offers exactly the kind of story that fans love: an underdog against world giants.
Fans in the Czech Republic can watch World Baseball Classic on ČT Sport.
Czech Television will broadcast 18 games on main channels and additional matches will be available online on ČT Sport Plus.
For example, Czech games in the group stage:
- Czech Republic – South Korea
- Australia – Czech Republic
- Taiwan – Czech Republic
- Czech Republic – Japan
So if you don’t usually watch baseball, this is the perfect time to start!
Where to next?
If you are interested in the story of Czech baseball, we recommend following the latest events on the great official Instagram, YouTube, or the Czech Baseball website!
Don't forget that a cap belongs to cheering!
The collection of caps New Era Czech Republic World Baseball Classic can be found on Snapbacks:
Where to watch?
ČT Sport and ČT Sport Plus
A total of 18 matches will be broadcast live by Czech Television on the ČT Sport channel with Czech commentary. The remaining matches will be available to fans on the ČT Sport Plus online platform, where they will air with the original English commentary.
Instagram @baseballczech
Baseball mission to NASA? Pitcher Filip Čapka examines satellite and rocket components
He stands firmly on the ground and is currently fully preparing for the World Baseball Classic, but in his free time his mind often flies in the clouds. And who knows, maybe one day Filip Čapka will work for the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA. The pitcher of the Czech team is studying the Space Applications program at Brno University of Technology and is simultaneously working for the company Space Race.
