By Travis Cross

This is the first in a series of profiles of former Division III baseball players who are or have played international baseball. Our first installment follows Gary Kahn, a pitcher from Grinnell who is currently playing in Sweden.

Imagine this - it's mid-June and you sit on your couch, an undrafted, recent college graduate. Even though a few teams from an independent league have shown some interest in your right arm, it doesn't quite feel right. An email alert pings from your computer and you roll off the couch to check who it's from.

Flash forward 72 hours and you look out the porthole-sized window of your airplane. What are you looking at? Florida, also known as the last piece of US soil you'll see until September.

Sound unreal? Welcome to Gary Kahn's world.

Kahn plays for the Karlskoga Bats of the Elitserien League in Sweden. The Elitserien (pronounced E-Lee-Serian) is the top level of Swedish professional baseball, offensively geared, and lefty heavy. Most international baseball falls short of the "American" competition standard of MLB and MiLB, but baseball is an international language where lessons can be taught quickly.

"You can't make mistakes to these hitters," says Kahn, "facing lefties almost every at-bat makes it a challenge."

Finding a team to make it all possible was the first step. For this, Kahn relied on an international message board. He posted his 2009 statistics and received an email from Karlskoga in the middle of June expressing their interest and the rest is history.

The Bats sent along a contract and negotiations were conducted through email with terms of a contract being agreed upon very quickly.

"It was only a 72-hour period between the team sending the contract and me boarding a flight out of Miami," says Kahn.

He can't say how much he makes but has only positive things to say in regards to his contract.

"The [contract] is very generous," says Kahn, "and such that I do not have to worry about how to finance my time abroad."

Most pitchers in the league throw in the low 80's with average off-speed stuff, according to Kahn. The season is played primarily on Saturdays in a doubleheader fashion, which doesn't differ much from traditional Division III seasons. Variations between American and Swedish baseball are small, the most noticeable differences are seen outside the lines.

Two functioning bullpens for each team are a rarity as are dimensions on the outfield walls, warning tracks, and spectator stands. Despite the lack of amenities, the quality of the playing surface doesn't suffer.

"The fields themselves are comparable to many collegiate fields," says Kahn, "I was very happy to see this upon my arrival."

The stage is set to begin play except for one vital piece of the puzzle: the fans. The Bats don't draw the 800+ fans an Independent team would in the States but the support is still noticed.

"It's not as many fans as you would see at most professional games," says Kahn, "however the fans do give some nice support for their home team."

And how do they show this support?

"If the weather is nice, you'll see a lot of fans catching some rays, downing some of their beloved beer, and enjoying some baseball," replies Kahn.

Sunshine, tanning, beer, and baseball seem have made the transition to international play almost as easily as Kahn, who studied abroad in the fall of 2007. Kahn, an Anthropology major, traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark for a semester to conduct studies on trafficking and prostitution in Western Europe. While in Denmark he studied the Danish language, which is very similar to Swedish.

"Culturally, Swedish nuances and traditions are quite similar to that of Denmark," adds Kahn.

While abroad in 2007, he learned the best ways to talk to friends and family back home, including his brother Ryan who plays baseball at Johns Hopkins. He communicates via Skype, a free internet-based phone program, and the social networking site Facebook. Email is also a heavily used.

This trip overseas, with the encouragement of friends, he's started a blog that includes pictures and updates for his two and a half month trip.

In the fall of 2010, Kahn sees himself in law school. For the next year and a half he has plans of an internship but wants to play again next season.

"I would recommend it to any player who has enough courage to step outside of their comfort zone and experience a new way of life and brand of baseball," says Kahn.

Kahn's statistics can be found at http://tinyurl.com/orbdrj
His blog can be found at: http://garyinsweden.blogspot.com/