Bonn Capitals

Bonn Capitals founded in 1989
Full name
1. Baseball Club Bonn Capitals eV
Nickname (s)
Capitals
Club colors
Green white  
league
Baseball Bundesliga (since 1995) Division North (since 1997) Division South (1995–1996) Softball Bundesliga (since 2018) Division North (since 2018)
Ball park (s)
Rheinaue baseball stadium (since 1999)
president
Udo Schmitz
Members
~ 280 (as of 04.2019)
successes
German champion (1): 2018 German Cup Winner (1): 1996 Second CEB Cup (1): 2018 German runner-up (3): 1999, 2017, 2019 Nordmeister (5): 1997, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Second DBV Cup (1): 2006 German junior champion (3): 1995, 1999, 2008 German youth champion (5): 1997, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2019 German School Master (3): 2003, 2005, 2019
Website : www.capitals.de

The Bonn Capitals (fully 1. Baseball Club Bonn Capitals eV ) are a German baseball team founded by students on November 8, 1989 in Bonn . The German champions and cup winners are one of the most successful baseball teams in Germany. Today you play in the 1st Bundesliga in the group north.

history

Foundation and promotion to the 1st Bundesliga

In 1990 the Bonn Capitals started regular gaming in what was then the lowest league in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Landesliga. The team ended the season undefeated and thus rose to the association league. A year later, the first team in the association league was sixth, but had to relegate to the national league due to the restructuring of the leagues. The following year they rose again.

In 1993 the 1st team won the Association League championship and reached the 2nd Bundesliga via the play-offs. It was also the first year of the women's softball team.

In 1994 " Die Erste " was promoted to the Bundesliga after an excellent season. In addition, the first All Star game of the 1st Bundesliga was played in Bonn in front of 500 spectators. After being in third place in 1995, they narrowly missed the play-offs at the end of the season with fifth place , but the softball women become champions in their league of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Vice championship and cup victory

The 1996 season ended in third place. Winning the German Cup competition brought the Bonners to the European baseball competition in 1997. In 1997, thanks to a season with 23: 5 wins in the regular season, they came first in the northern group. In the semi-finals of the play-offs, however, was against the Lokstedt Stealers (now HSV Stealers ). In the European Cup Winners' Cup, the " Caps " in Montpellier in the south of France only managed to finish third.

In 1999, the year of its ten-year existence, the Capitals celebrated their most successful year. The junior team remained undefeated throughout the season and, after winning the NRW championship title, also won the title of German junior champion. The 2nd men's team rose to the association league. After the play-off defeat against Paderborn Untouchables, the team of the 1st Bundesliga came second in the regular season and thus reached the runner-up.

Establishment in the baseball Bundesliga

The following years were less successful for the Capitals, in 2003 the relegation against the Elmshorn Alligators and the Lokstedt Stealers could just be prevented in the playdowns . In 2004, the 2nd place in the final table of the preliminary round raised hopes for participation in the semi-finals of the German championship, which came to an end after 5 play-off games against the Fürth Pirates .

In the 2006 DBV Cup finals, the Bonn Capitals baseball players only managed to finish second. In the final they were defeated by the favorites Regensburg Legionnaires with 2:12. After the European Senior Championship took place in Bonn in 2001, the European Junior Championship was held in August 2009 in the Rheinaue baseball stadium.

The most successful years in the club's history

In 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the Capitals were four times in a row as the best-placed in the northern season after the regular season northern champions, in 2018 with a perfect season of 40 wins in 40 games. In 2017, the Capitals reached the final of the German baseball championship for the second time, but had to admit defeat to Heidenheim Heideköpf 2: 3. Also in the 2018 season, the Bonn Capitals played the final series against the Heidenheim Heideköpfe after they had prevailed against the Regensburg legionaries in the semifinals . Bonn won the first game in the best-of-five series, but lost the next two games. However , a fifth game could be forced through a victory in the home ballpark Rheinaue in game four. The Capitals won game five 7: 5, but the decision on the championship title was delayed due to a protest filed by Heidenheim Heideköpfe against a referee decision in game 4. However, this was rejected. Thus, the Capitals only became German champions for the first time ten days later at the green table of the sports court of the German Baseball and Softball Association.

The 2019 season ended with the Capitals in third place in the table after the regular season. The team made it into the final of the Bundesliga baseball, where they lost the fourth game of the final series against Heidenheim Heideköpfe in the Rheinaue baseball stadium with a score of 2: 3 and thus finished the season as runner-up.

The season was even more successful in the junior division. The Bonn Capitals were able to secure the German championship with both the pupils and the youth. With the championship in the Landesliga NRW, the third team of the Capitals was also able to secure promotion to the association league.

Audience numbers

The following shows the number of viewers of games by the Bonn Capitals in their home stadium, the Rheinaue baseball stadium (taken from media reports in the General-Anzeiger Bonn , the Südwest Presse and Bonn Capitals' own presentation).

Audience figures Bonn Capitals ( Rheinaue baseball stadium )

date	game	opponent	spectator
October 7, 2017	Final game 3	Heidenheim Heath Heads	1200
October 8, 2017	Final game 4	Heidenheim Heath Heads	2000
15th September 2018	Semi-final game 3	Regensburg legionaries	900
16th September 2018	Semi-final game 4	Regensburg legionaries	1200
October 13, 2018	Final game 4	Heidenheim Heath Heads	1700
October 14, 2018	Final game 5	Heidenheim Heath Heads	2000
3rd August 2019	Final game 3	Heidenheim Heath Heads	1200
4th August 2019	Final game 4	Heidenheim Heath Heads	2000

Web links

• official homepage of the Bonn Capitals

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thomas Heinen: Bundesliga baseball team makes history - Bonn Capitals are playing a perfect season . In: General-Anzeiger Bonn . September 2, 2018 ( general-anzeiger-bonn.de [accessed September 5, 2018]).
2. ↑ First final game in the Rheinaue - Bonner Capitals win against Heidenheim Heideköpfe . In: General-Anzeiger Bonn . October 3, 2018 ( general-anzeiger-bonn.de [accessed October 14, 2018]).
3. ^ Bonn Capitals - Second defeat in the best-of-five series . In: General-Anzeiger Bonn . October 7, 2018 ( general-anzeiger-bonn.de [accessed October 14, 2018]).
4. Jump up ↑ Baseball - Bonn Capitals force fifth game . In: General-Anzeiger Bonn . October 13, 2018 ( general-anzeiger-bonn.de [accessed October 14, 2018]).
5. ↑ Thomas Heinen, Sebastian Fink: Heidenheim renounces revision - Bonn Capitals now also officially master . In: General-Anzeiger Bonn . October 24, 2018 ( general-anzeiger-bonn.de [accessed October 24, 2018]).
6. ↑ Title defense failed - Bonn Capitals are defeated in the final Heidenheim. August 4, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Final of the Bundesliga baseball - Bonn Capitals miss the decision . In: General-Anzeiger Bonn . October 7, 2017 ( general-anzeiger-bonn.de [accessed September 18, 2018]).
8. ↑ Final of the Bundesliga baseball - Bonn Capitals miss the decision . In: General-Anzeiger Bonn . October 7, 2017 ( general-anzeiger-bonn.de [accessed September 18, 2018]).
9. ↑ Exhausted - Bonn Capitals . In: Bonn Capitals . September 17, 2018 ( capitals.de [accessed September 18, 2018]).
10. ↑ Exhausted - Bonn Capitals . In: Bonn Capitals . September 17, 2018 ( capitals.de [accessed September 18, 2018]).
11. ^ Südwest Presse Online -dienste GmbH: Bonn: Baseball: Heathers lose the championship . In: swp.de . October 15, 2018 ( swp.de [accessed October 21, 2018]).
12. ^ Südwest Presse Online -dienste GmbH: Bonn: Baseball: Heathers lose the championship . In: swp.de . October 15, 2018 ( swp.de [accessed October 21, 2018]).
13. ↑ German Baseball Championship - Bonn Capitals are subject to the best-of-five final series in the third game. August 3, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Title defense failed - Bonn Capitals are defeated in the final Heidenheim. August 4, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 .