In our third installment on international baseball, D3baseball.com catches up with 2006 Chapman graduate John Alexander. Previously, D3baseball.com caught up with Gary Kahn in Sweden, and Todd Emr and Brian Hurld in Belgium.

By Travis Cross

Somewhere in 1999 Kevin Costner is chasing Kelly Preston in For the Love of the Game. In 2008, John Alexander played for his own love of the game both on and off of the diamond.

John and now wife Emily played baseball and softball in Switzerland in 2008. John played for the Therwill Flyers in Basel; first for a month in 2006 and then for a full season in 2008. John, a 2006 Chapman graduate, acted as both the starting catcher and coach on the Flyers.

The Switzerland Professional League isn't as competitive as other international leagues we've looked at which is directly related to the lack of baseball awareness in the country.

"Throwing and catching a ball does not come easily to Swiss," says Alexander.

A few bad apples don't ruin the harvest, though.

"I compare the top half of teams in Switzerland to above-average DIII teams and the bottom half to above-average high school teams," he adds.

Competition aside, the differences we've seen thus far this summer continue to be evident in Switzerland. The biggest of these is the way the pitching staffs are managed. In Japan, most pitchers routinely throw over 150 pitches a game, and that's on a lucky day when someone is kind enough to count. Switzerland, meet Japan but I think you already know each other.

The Flyers' ace would throw the first game of every weekend without a pitch count. Actually, they never even considered counting pitches. His preparation for the weekend start wasn't the light catch, bullpen, side work, weightlifting, and running routine that MLB players complete in between starts. His program consisted of one light 45-pitch bullpen.

"One bullpen a week and as many pitches as they could muster on game day," says Alexander. "He would frequently mock the fact that Americans count pitches."

One of the differences already mentioned is the player-coach aspect of the teams. Alexander would routinely give signs from the bases, that is, if he were fortunate enough to make it there. Another commonly forgotten responsibility that comes with coaching is arguing missed calls to umpires.

"With a convincing enough argument, umpires will frequently change their minds," says Alexander. "It's quite hilarious actually; during one argument there was French, Spanish, Swiss-German, and English being argued in."

Most of the playing surfaces are makeshift soccer fields with portable fences and a plug-in mound. This is in line with the cultural viewpoint on baseball, which Alexander found out firsthand.

"I'd get dirty looks when I carried my baseball bat on the trams. Later, I was told that most Swiss think it is a weapon," he says.

Whoops.

The salary is on par to most Independent teams in the states which ends up around $1500 a month plus rent and insurance. Even though the salary is enough to break even, it just isn't enough to warrant a career.

"Ultimately, you are just too far away from family and close friends," says Alexander.

Alexander developed a strong relationship with players from other teams and still checks on Mondays to see how they did in games that weekend. He keeps in touch with players who are still playing and his closer friends are considering a trip to the US to see John and his wife, who currently reside in Nevada.

Both John and Emily were offered contracts for the 2009 season but denied the offer to begin their professional careers.

"You have to be okay with a wacky style of baseball. You have to be okay with the cultural and language barriers. You have to be okay teaching the kids how to play the game," says Alexander.

Baseball is baseball, it doesn't matter what country it's in. Regardless of how it's said, an out is an out, a run is a run, and a pitch is (except in Switzerland) just another pitch.

"Without question I'd recommend it to people wanting to continue playing," he says. "Although my body was breaking apart, I thought it was a perfect way to retire."