Sep. 15, 2010

Up At Bat

By Lisa Kestenbaum Daily Journal Staff Writer For San Francisco attorney Constantine "Gus" Panagotacos, baseball is just as much Greek as it is American. While working on his bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley, Panagotacos played on the school's varsity team. Then, in 2004, during his time at the University of San Francisco School of Law, he competed in the Olympics as a member of the Greek National team. So when he traveled from the Bay Area to Germany this summer, it was not for the Bavarian pretzels. Panagotacos, an associate in Gordon & Rees' San Francisco office, competed on behalf of Greece in the 2010 European Baseball Championship in Stuttgart, Germany July 23-Aug. 1. Competing in the tournament were teams from 12 European countries, including the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Italy - the last two being Greece's biggest competition. Panagotacos and his teammates placed forth overall. The ranking may help qualify them for the World Baseball Cup in 2012 and the 2013 World Baseball Classic, where they would play against baseball greats like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez. The team, named "Hellas," the Greek name for Greece, was founded in 2002, when Peter Angelos, a Maryland-based attorney and owner of the Baltimore Orioles, funded scouts to go nationwide to find players. The recruits squeezed in time for practice but, aside from tournaments, it was difficult to get everyone together. "It makes it even more of a typical Greek experience: One big cluster," Panagotacos joked. As Greece struggles to recover from its financial crisis, there has been talk of cutting baseball altogether, Panagotacos said. Despite the passion that Greek-Americans have for the game, they have suffered, he said, from a lack of structure and dwindling enthusiasm for the sport. Playing on the team has helped Panagotacos and other Greek-Americans reconnect with their heritage. "I take pride in being Greek, but prior to this involvement I was a bit removed," he explained. "Now, I'm closer to my family and to my roots." lisa_kestenbaum@dailyjournal.com