Michael Weigl

Michael Weigl

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 198 lb.

• Born January 22, 1982 in Regensburg, Bavaria Germany

Michael Weigl has played for over a decade in the Bundesliga, primarily at first base.

Weigl pitched for Germany in the 1999 European Junior Championship, walking three and allowing two hits and one run in 1 2/3 IP. In 2000, he made his Bundesliga debut, going 1 for 2 with a double and two walks for his hometown Regensburg Legionäre. He hit only .212/.295/.308 in 2001 and went 0 for 2 for the club in 2002. He then moved to the Baldham Boars for the rest of '02 and hit .275/.326/.400 while also pitching a career-high eight games (1-5, 8.69). He tied for fifth in the 1.Bundesliga-South in losses.

From 2003-2005, Weigl played for the Fürth Pirates. He batted .382/.462/.559 his first year with the club, finishing 7th in the league in average, 9th in OBP and 10th in slugging. He remained productive at .357/.436/.510 with 26 runs and 25 RBI in 28 games for the 2004 Pirates. He ranked 10th in average, fourth in RBI (behind Alexander Lauterbach and two foreign import players), fourth in runs, tied for third in hits (35), was second in doubles (9), 9th in slugging, 10th in OPS and first in putouts (247). He fell to .203/.296/.333 in 2005.

Weigl moved back to Regensburg for 2006, playing DH mostly, and rebounded to .338/.400/.426. He hit .400/.451/.600 with 18 runs and 17 RBI in 23 games for the 2007 Legionäre to finish 7th in average, 7th in slugging, 10th in OBP and 8th in OPS. He produced at a .382/.473/.500 rate in 2008. He placed sixth in average (behind Klaus Hopfensperger, Simon Gühring and three Americans), tied for 6th with 9 doubles, was 9th in OPS and 7th in OBP (between Keith Maxwell and Chris Falls). He went 6 for 15 with a homer in the finals as Regensburg won its first title, beating the Mannheim Tornadoes. He had hit .390/.432/.463 in the playoffs. In the 2008 European Cup hosted by Regensburg, he was 7 for 18 with a double and a walk; only Šimon Kudernatsch had a better average for the home team.

Michael slipped to .319/.358/.340 in 2009. He was 5 for 17 in the 2009 European Cup and his five RBI tied Ludwig Glaser for the team lead. He switched clubs in 2010, signing with the Heidenheim Heideköpfe. He hit .263/.375/.298 for the season, his worst performance in five years. Heidenheim went to the finals but fell to his old Regensburg club. He did very well in the 2010 European Cup (10 for 27, 3 2B, HR, 2 BB, 5 R, 4 RBI in 7 G) as Heidenheim won the Silver Medal, the best finish by a German team in a European Cup. In the Gold Medal game, he went 0 for 2 with a walk in a loss to Fortitudo Bologna of Italy.

Through 2010, his career average in the Bundesliga-1 was .321/.398/.443 in 223 games.

Sources

• Bundesliga stats
• CEB website