Volker Kuhlmann

• Born June 3, 1972

Biographical Information

Volker Kuhlmann played in the Bundesliga and for the German national team.

He was with the Dohren Wild Farmers from 1991-1993. Statistics for this period are unavailable online (as of 8/6/2025). He was 6-for-24 with two walks, a hit-by-pitch, five runs and a RBI for the Lokstedt Stealers in 1994. He was a regular in '95, hitting .231/.383/.323. He improved to .388/.525/.500 with 17 steals and 30 runs in 1996. He was 7th in the Bundesliga-1 north in average, tied for 7th in runs, second in HBP (7), 4th in OBP, 9th in slugging, tied for 4th in swipes and 3rd in fielding percentage (.990).

In 1997, he scored 40 runs in 7 games, producing at a .326/.464/.449 clip and stealing 19 bases in 20 tries. He tied for 5th with 11 doubles, was second in runs, tied for 5th in walks (18), tied for 9th in HBP (5), was 3rd in steals, led in steal percentage and was fourth in fielding (.982). Debuting for the national team in the 1997 European Championship, he was 1 for 7 with a run and a RBI.

Volker moved to the Köln Dodgers in 1998 and won a title with them. He chipped in with a .262/.425/.477 batting line with 56 runs in 40 games, going 25-for-26 in steals. He tied for the lead in triples (4), was 4th in runs, ranked 8th in walks (24), led in times plunked (13), was 3rd in steals, led in steal percentage (.053 ahead of #2 Octavio Medina) and was 3rd in putouts (255). Returning to the Stealers the next year, he batted .313/.487/.494 with 33 runs in 28 games. He again led the league in triples (this time with 5), was 6th in runs (between Ole Drews and Jendrick Speer), led with 25 walks and was 6th with a .988 fielding percent.

During the 1999 European Championship, he was 1 for 14 with a triple and four RBI, backing up Janusz Radicke at catcher. He slashed .287/.427/.436 for the Stealers in 2000. He tied for 5th with 3 triples, tied Speer for 9th in runs (31), tied for 3rd in HBP (7) and was 9th in fielding at .978. Moving to the Pulheim Gophers in '01, his numbers fell as Germany switched from aluminum to wood bats; he batted .237/.383/.342. He tied for 7th with 11 stolen bases. With the 2002 Gophers, he slipped to .208/.317/.264 but was still their main backstop and still was 7-for-7 in steals despite his years of catching. That was his final season in Germany's top league, though he returned to Dohren in the minors for a few more seasons.