Andreas Gienger

Andreas Gienger

• Born March 10, 1979 in Frankfurt, Hesse Germany

Biographical Information

Infielder Andreas Gienger played for the German national team, as did his brother Markus Gienger. Their father Eberhard Gienger was a Bronze Medalist in the Olympics and served in the German parliament.

Gienger was 0 for 1 for Germany in the 1996 European Junior Championship; the next year in that event, he hit .261/.414/.478 with 9 RBI and 7 steals in six games. He led the team in both steals and RBI. He made his Bundesliga-1 debut with the Tübingen Hawks in 1997, hitting .237/.359/.329 with 20 runs in 25 games. He tied for 6th in the southern Bundesliga-1 with 55 assists.

In 1998, Andreas moved to the Bonn Capitals and produced at a .338/.393/.421 clip with 29 runs in 38 games and 15 steals in 20 tries. He fielded only .852. He was 4th in the northern Bundesliga-1 in assists but third with 25 errors. He hit .385/.464/.542 with 35 runs and 27 RBI in 28 games for the 1999 Capitals and went 12-for-13 in steals; he also fielded .959. He finished 12th in average, 5th in RBI, 64 in hits (37), tied for 4th in doubles (10), was 4th in runs (one behind the three co-leaders) and ranked sixth in both steals and assists. That earned him his first spot on the German senior national team. He fielded .923 in the 1999 European Championship while going 0 for 11 with a walk, two hit-by-pitch and four runs. He was Germany's main second baseman, forming a double play combo with Jendrick Speer.

The Frankfurt native hit .410/.468/.590 with 33 runs in 28 games in 2000, stealing 12 in 13 tries again. His fielding percentage fell again (.851). He was 12th in average, tied for third in hits (41), tied for third in doubles (4), tied for 5th in RBI, tied Stefan Fechtig for third in steals, was 7th in assists (58) and led in errors (17, two ahead of Michael Franke).

Gienger's last season was 2001. He fielded .886 and hit .476/.551/.667 with 16 runs and 19 RBI in 12 games. Despite his limited time, he tied for second with three triples. He was 1 for 6 with a walk and two errors in the 2001 European Championship.

Main Source: Bundesliga