Samara Roosters want a poultry farm sponsor

Baseball in Samara is almost an exotic sport. But three guys formed their own team (with a funny and provocative name) and are gradually developing the discipline in the region. While officials claim they have never heard of such a sport, the players continue to play and invite people to watch or join them.

The Samara Roosters explained the rules, the cost of the hobby, and what baseball teaches in an interview with 63.RU.

«We just happened to have a glove»

The Samara Roosters are only two years old. One day, three friends — Slava, Misha, and Aman — decided they wanted to be the city«s first baseball team. And the guys sincerely rejoice when they are called by their Russian name — roosters.

— It«s like the name chose itself. One day we were walking and thought: we have the concept, the desire to create a team. But we decided it should be something highly recognizable. We thought about what to call ourselves. In Samara, there is an American football team called the Stormbringers (Burevestniki). I don»t even remember who suggested: «Let»s call ourselves roosters?« We thought: it»s provocative, interesting. And it«s a kind of counterbalance to the Stormbringers, — Vyacheslav Matvienko said with a smile.

Vyacheslav plays as pitcher and shortstop.

— A pitcher is the one who lifts his leg and throws hard. Or maybe not hard. Second baseman is the one who stands on second base, shortstop is the one who runs between two bases. It«s simple, — Vyacheslav Matvienko explained.

Baseball is not the most popular sport in Russia. But it caught the interest of the three Samara residents.

— We don«t know how we started playing baseball. We just had a glove and a ball, we went out and started throwing it. Although there is a very old story: 15 years ago, my friend Akim, who came from America, once suggested, »Let«s play baseball.» We played about five times and stopped. About ten years later, Misha suggested, «I have a ball, let»s go throw it in nature.« We played. And then Aman said, »Let«s throw together!» And so we played the three of us, — recalled a Samara Roosters player.

«A game can last two days»

So, let«s try to understand the rules of baseball.

A funny historical note from Vyacheslav:

— Baseball is often compared to lapta (a traditional Russian bat-and-ball game), which is funny because these games don«t have much in common. Except maybe a round ball and a bat. Lapta is a game that appeared in Ancient Rus, while baseball emerged in the 19th century. But there is no official confirmation that baseball originated from lapta.

A baseball team must have nine players: pitcher — who throws the ball, catcher — catches the ball, infielders at bases, and outfielders who take defensive positions in the outfield. The team also needs substitutes.

— We have a field shaped like a diamond. Home plate is the bottom corner, the right corner is first base, the top corner is second base, the left corner is third base. The rules are simple: there is a defensive team and an offensive team. The attacking team must hit the ball and run all the bases counterclockwise. Once an attacking player completes the circuit, they score a run. The defense«s job is to catch the ball and get it to a base before the attacking player, — explained Vyacheslav Matvienko.

Players take positions at bases: defenders at first and second; then shortstop; third base and outfielders. Behind home plate sits the catcher. In the attacking team, there are batters who try to hit the ball with the bat. Batters take turns: they step up, hit, and if successful, they occupy a base, becoming runners. Their goal is to run all bases in a circle and return home. If they do that, they score a run for the team. The defense must prevent that. They need to get three opponents out: either by tagging them or by getting the ball to a base before the runner. Then the teams switch.

The game has nine periods called innings. During one inning, a team first attacks then defends. A baseball match can last a very long time.

Shortstop is a key defensive position in baseball, and the player who occupies it is positioned between second and third base.

An out in baseball is the removal of an attacking player from the game (temporarily, until the end of the current inning). It is earned by the defensive team for certain violations or successful defensive actions. Three outs end a half-inning (the attack), and the teams switch roles.

— A game can last two days. Usually, it«s about five to six hours, maybe seven. We go to amateur competitions where there are restrictions: either a run differential or two to three innings. The match lasts about two hours, — a 63.RU interviewee reported.

«We took third place out of four teams: wow!»

The Roosters have no patrons.

— We exist without sponsors, we buy everything with our own money, all trips are also at our expense. We order gloves through a friend in America, through a sister in Israel. Misha recently went to Japan and brought back a glove, — said the Samara baseball team«s pitcher.

Each month, the hobby costs three to four thousand rubles ($33–44). One-time expenses: a new glove costs 10,000–15,000 rubles ($111–167), while a second-hand one can be bought for about five thousand rubles ($56).

The Samara Roosters are always short of players.

— Our dream is to get about 30 people, then we would argue, create several teams and start competing. It would be a derby. I«m joking, — Vyacheslav clarified with a smile.

Now the guys have started making and giving away their own merchandise, which also raises the team«s profile. To attract new players, the Roosters put up flyers with a QR code leading to an invitation to join training sessions. Currently, the team plays on a field in Gagarin Park.

— People walk by, get interested, film us. Some approach and then join us for training, — shared Vyacheslav Matvienko.

Baseball is considered an «unconventional» sport in Russia. Perhaps that is why players are slow to gather and a sponsor is hard to find. We even joked: what if some poultry farm decides to sponsor the team?

— Oh, that would be absolutely fantastic! If such a sponsor appears, we«ll even set up a grill at the game! — Vyacheslav laughed.

In the two years of the Samara Roosters« existence, the team has participated in competitions twice:

— We met the president of the Bashkir Baseball Federation, and he invited us over. Last year we went, played, and gained good experience. This year we also went and took third place. Out of four teams. That«s something! We also met guys from Cuba, a student team. Our main rival is the Yekaterinburg »Foxes.«

«No »Americanization,« it»s just cool and great«

Mikhail Kazakov is the catcher. He admitted: baseball interested the group of friends not only because of the glove they had, but also because they wanted to try a new sport.

— We invented a game: one person takes the bat, one sits behind, the task is to throw and hit the ball. A more primitive version of baseball. You run forward, then back… But it quickly became not very interesting. We realized we needed to find more players to make it more fun and active. Players gathered, some kind of baseball community formed. And then we decided to learn how to do it properly: catch, hit, throw, — Mikhail said.

The Samara Roosters tried to announce themselves to the regional Ministry of Sports.

— We needed a flat surface to run on without breaking anything. We first found the Zarya Stadium. But the soil was in pretty bad condition, overgrown with grass. We tried to deal with the mowing, but the grass grew back too quickly. Nature proved stronger than us. Instead of playing all summer, we were mowing grass, — admitted a player of the Samara baseball team.

The guys had an idea: try to interact with the Ministry of Sports and develop the discipline in the region.

— We naively thought we could write to them and they would figure out how to interact with us. We didn«t think they wouldn»t be familiar with this sport. But if there was some federation, interaction could be established, — noted Mikhail Kazakov.

Now creating a baseball federation has become not just a dream but a goal for the Samara Roosters.

— We need to register a nonprofit organization. That means a charter, reports, accounting, money. It can«t be done just like that. Grants are difficult, you have to enter competitions. For now, we are looking into it, studying this issue, — the catcher noted.

The guys believe there can be nothing bad about sports in general.

— No «Americanization,» we don«t bow to the West. We just think it»s cool and great to play, and we keep an eye on how it«s commercialized, how money is made from it. Sports don»t have a nationality and aren«t tied to a specific country. In Russia, people happily play hockey and football, even though those sports didn»t originate here many years ago. Sports are about sharing experience. The world is big and quite open, we need to interact, be interested, learn, — the player asserted.

Outside baseball, Mikhail Kazakov works at Samara University in the Center for Artificial Intelligence.

«Girls came to training and filmed Reels to songs from »Twilight«»

Aman Kalkunov plays as pitcher and outfielder.

Aman is a front-end developer. He said that almost everyone in the team works in IT, with only a couple of people from other fields.

The three main enthusiasts are responsible for the uniforms.

— The logo and colors we came up with together. An idea is born, we discuss it, make a design, and show it to the whole team. The guys vote, if everyone likes it, we approve it, — Aman explained.

Previously, the team had white striped jerseys with names and numbers.

— But we misjudged the sizes, they were huge. This year we made black ones. And the size fit better, and it looks more stylish, — a player of the Samara baseball team shared.

The Samara Roosters try to look stylish. And they definitely succeed: they wear black jerseys, white pants, black stirrups, and baseball caps (what«s baseball without caps!). On the caps is embroidered, as the players say, an »angry rooster« with a ball and bat. Naturally, we had to ask how much all this costs.

— We ordered pants from a brand store for 3,500 rubles ($39) each. We ordered jerseys on AliExpress for about 1,500 rubles ($17) each. The cap was about 600 rubles ($7), plus about 900 rubles ($10) for embroidery. Shoes — cleats with multiple spikes suitable for professional rubberized surfaces. They cost different amounts, like any sports shoes, — Aman Kalkunov calculated.

The most expensive was the catcher«s uniform.

— We bought it on Avito for 23,000 rubles ($256), the whole team chipped in. It includes a chest protector, knee pads with shin guards, a mask, and a helmet, — Aman Kalkunov recalled.

Not only the catcher, but other players also wear protection — pads and a cup. But it«s optional.

— The ball can come very fast. Especially a hit ball. When a player hits with the bat, the ball comes off the ground at very high speed. If it hits you, it hurts a lot, — the player explained.

In cold weather, the Samara Roosters don«t stop training, although it comes with some difficulties.

— Playing in winter is problematic. We rent indoor football fields, maneges. But it«s very expensive and not very convenient. We thought about renting some school gyms, but we were afraid: the balls are hard, we could break something, break a window, — the baseball player said.

Players need to maintain their physical fitness. Baseball may seem quite static, but Aman noted: throws are very exhausting and put a lot of strain on the shoulder joints.

— In baseball, general physical fitness is important, coordination of movements develops: you catch better, throw better. It«s also important to set the movement: you don»t just throw the ball, the whole body is involved from the hips, torso rotation, then elbow, and finally the palm. And hitting the ball with the bat is also not easy, — the 63.RU interlocutor explained.

Those who come to play for the first time are immediately treated with full seriousness.

— We immediately give newcomers a bat and a ball, so they get interested. If you don«t let them throw or hit on the first training session, they won»t come back, — Aman Kalkunov shared.

Because baseball is not the most common and still nearly unknown sport in Russia, Samara residents can feel like heroes of foreign movies and TV series.

— Earlier, more girls came to our open training sessions to try it out. And then they filmed Reels for themselves with songs from «Twilight,» — Aman Kalkunov said.