OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — In the quiet dugout hours before first pitch, as a few teammates begin their pregame routines on the nearby grass, Lou Helmig pauses and ponders his baseball lineage.
He holds a bat in his hand. It always seems he has a bat in hand, ready.
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Oakland Ballers' Lou Helmig, left, talks to a teammate before a Pioneer League baseball game against the Rocky Mountain Vibes in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Oakland Ballers' Lou Helmig runs onto the field while being introduced before a Pioneer League baseball game against the Rocky Mountain Vibes in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Oakland Ballers' Lou Helmig warms up before a Pioneer League baseball game against the Rocky Mountain Vibes in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Oakland Ballers' Lou Helmig, foreground right, greets youth baseball players before a Pioneer League baseball game against the Rocky Mountain Vibes in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Oakland Ballers' Lou Helmig cannot catch a home run hit by Rocky Mountain Vibes' Gary Lora Gonzalez during the third inning of a Pioneer League baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Helmig also carries a deep family history with every swing and every catch, with every sprint around the basepaths. He has carried it at every level, in every new place he plays, on whatever continent it happens to be in a given moment.
The larger-than-life right fielder for the independent Oakland Ballers is a third-generation German professional player trying to leave his own mark, just like his grandfather Claus, great-uncle Jurgen, and Helmig’s own dad, Martin, before him.
“I come from a baseball family, third-generation professional baseball player and I’ve got to make a name for myself first,” he said. “I’ve got to follow up the name. I love playing baseball, I love everything about it and I think it’s the best job in the world that you can have being out here in the sunshine having an amazing day.”
And people love to root for him. Like many of the Ballers, Helmig needed a fresh start, someone to believe in him again — and Oakland is thrilled he landed here to find it.
He represented Germany in this year’s World Baseball Classic qualifiers and played for the Phillies’ Florida Coast League rookie-level club in 2022 and ’23.
At 6-foot-5, the slugging outfielder is already a beloved face inside Raimondi Park, a huge hit with fans starved for a star to grab onto after the Oakland Athletics’ heartbreaking departure this year for West Sacramento.
Some have been sporting lederhosen as a thoughtful nod to Helmig's native Bavaria in Germany. The 22-year-old Helmig loves seeing German flags waving in the stands.
What many might not know is that his baseball pedigree dates back to pre-World War II-era Germany.
Helmig's grandfather and great-uncle became the first German-born players to sign with a major league club when they joined the Orioles in 1955. But that meant playing in the Negro Leagues when Germans weren’t always warmly welcomed in the U.S.
“After his playing career was over, he started bringing the game to Germany and to a lot of places. He was working with the Army bases which were still in Germany at that time,” Helmig shared. “He was also a distributor of baseball equipment and American sports equipment during that time to spread the game all over Germany.”
Father Martin played baseball, too, and still likes to chat with his son regularly about the games from across the world.
“I don’t know anything else besides baseball,” the youngest Helmig said. “My grandpa and my dad, you can change the subject on them but after five minutes it will come to baseball somehow.”
With a name inspired by Lou Gehrig, he has played on five continents and speaks three languages. Baseball has taken him all over Europe, to the Netherlands, Spain, Czech Republic, Italy, and also to Asia, Mexico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Colombia, South Africa, Australia.
“Quite a lot of places already,” he said, easily listing off all of the stops.
This one has already been memorable. Just last week Helmig helped the second-year franchise clinch a Pioneer League playoff spot with the tying and go-ahead singles in the sixth and eighth innings of a 6-5 win over the Rocky Mountain Vibes on July 10.
“Lou’s brought a great addition to the Ballers, just the personality, everything about him. He brings great energy to the field every day,” catcher Dillon Tatum said. “I love his personality, that’s what I love most about him. Same dude every day. Love him to death and glad to have him. It’s amazing, Helmig family.”
They hope to keep him all season. While players affiliated with major league clubs and in those teams’ farm systems have processes in place with customs and immigration to secure work visas for athletes, the Pioneer League doesn’t. But Helmig, Oakland’s second-youngest player who was released by the Phillies in April 2024, still had an active visa from his recent stint with the Fargo, North Dakota, RedHawks team.
Ballers assistant general manager Tyler Petersen is a German-American and loves the energy in the ballpark and support surrounding Helmig.
“It’s a little bit of fun for me personally of course,” Petersen said. “He has the tools, he’s got the makeup. It’s the same question we ask with all our athletes, can they put it together, can they show off to scouts to say either I deserve my next chance or my first chance? For him what was it that the Phillies gave up on him for? What can he show in this league? So what is the next step for him to make the jump back to the affiliate level, because he can play at the affiliate level. We love having him.”
Just as the fans learn about Helmig, he has been educated on Oakland’s sports history, too, like how the city lost its three major sports teams — the NFL’s Raiders, the Golden State Warriors moving to San Francisco and then the A’s, who plan to move to Las Vegas in 2028. So he quickly understood how much the Ballers fill a void for this baseball-crazed city.
“When I came here they told me everything about it. They gave me some history lessons in that,” he said of the loyal fan group called Last Dive Bar. “I love this place, I love this setup. People here take really good care of me.”
Always with him is the reminder of a family responsibility, and Helmig embraces it.
“It means a lot to me. I’ve still got to make a name for myself. I’ve got to be humble, keep going and keep working hard," he said. “I think about my grandpa a lot, too, obviously because he played the game I love, so it’s always in the back of my head.”
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Oakland Ballers' Lou Helmig, left, talks to a teammate before a Pioneer League baseball game against the Rocky Mountain Vibes in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Oakland Ballers' Lou Helmig runs onto the field while being introduced before a Pioneer League baseball game against the Rocky Mountain Vibes in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Oakland Ballers' Lou Helmig warms up before a Pioneer League baseball game against the Rocky Mountain Vibes in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Oakland Ballers' Lou Helmig, foreground right, greets youth baseball players before a Pioneer League baseball game against the Rocky Mountain Vibes in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Oakland Ballers' Lou Helmig cannot catch a home run hit by Rocky Mountain Vibes' Gary Lora Gonzalez during the third inning of a Pioneer League baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A group of Buddhist monks and their rescue dog are striding single file down country roads and highways across the South, captivating Americans nationwide and inspiring droves of locals to greet them along their route.
In their flowing saffron and ocher robes, the men are walking for peace. It's a meditative tradition more common in South Asian countries, and it's resonating now in the U.S., seemingly as a welcome respite from the conflict, trauma and politics dividing the nation.
Their journey began Oct. 26, 2025, at a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Texas, and is scheduled to end in mid-February in Washington, D.C., where they will ask Congress to recognize Buddha’s day of birth and enlightenment as a federal holiday. Beyond promoting peace, their highest priority is connecting with people along the way.
“My hope is, when this walk ends, the people we met will continue practicing mindfulness and find peace,” said the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, the group’s soft-spoken leader who is making the trek barefoot. He teaches about mindfulness, forgiveness and healing at every stop.
Preferring to sleep each night in tents pitched outdoors, the monks have been surprised to see their message transcend ideologies, drawing huge crowds into churchyards, city halls and town squares across six states. Documenting their journey on social media, they — and their dog, Aloka — have racked up millions of followers online. On Saturday, thousands thronged in Columbia, South Carolina, where the monks chanted on the steps of the State House and received a proclamation from the city's mayor, Daniel Rickenmann.
At their stop Thursday in Saluda, South Carolina, Audrie Pearce joined the crowd lining Main Street. She had driven four hours from her village of Little River, and teared up as Pannakara handed her a flower.
“There’s something traumatic and heart-wrenching happening in our country every day,” said Pearce, who describes herself as spiritual, but not religious. “I looked into their eyes and I saw peace. They’re putting their bodies through such physical torture and yet they radiate peace.”
Hailing from Theravada Buddhist monasteries across the globe, the 19 monks began their 2,300 mile (3,700 kilometer) trek at the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth.
Their journey has not been without peril. On Nov. 19, as the monks were walking along U.S. Highway 90 near Dayton, Texas, their escort vehicle was hit by a distracted truck driver, injuring two monks. One of them lost his leg, reducing the group to 18.
This is Pannakara's first trek in the U.S., but he's walked across several South Asian countries, including a 112-day journey across India in 2022 where he first encountered Aloka, an Indian Pariah dog whose name means divine light in Sanskrit.
Then a stray, the dog followed him and other monks from Kolkata in eastern India all the way to the Nepal border. At one point, he fell critically ill and Pannakara scooped him up in his arms and cared for him until he recovered. Now, Aloka inspires him to keep going when he feels like giving up.
“I named him light because I want him to find the light of wisdom,” Pannakara said.
The monk's feet are now heavily bandaged because he's stepped on rocks, nails and glass along the way. His practice of mindfulness keeps him joyful despite the pain from these injuries, he said.
Still, traversing the southeast United States has presented unique challenges, and pounding pavement day after day has been brutal.
“In India, we can do shortcuts through paddy fields and farms, but we can’t do that here because there are a lot of private properties,” Pannakara said. “But what’s made it beautiful is how people have welcomed and hosted us in spite of not knowing who we are and what we believe.”
In Opelika, Alabama, the Rev. Patrick Hitchman-Craig hosted the monks on Christmas night at his United Methodist congregation.
He expected to see a small crowd, but about 1,000 people showed up, creating the feel of a block party. The monks seemed like the Magi, he said, appearing on Christ’s birthday.
“Anyone who is working for peace in the world in a way that is public and sacrificial is standing close to the heart of Jesus, whether or not they share our tradition,” said Hitchman-Craig. “I was blown away by the number of people and the diversity of who showed up.”
After their night on the church lawn, the monks arrived the next afternoon at the Collins Farm in Cusseta, Alabama. Judy Collins Allen, whose father and brother run the farm, said about 200 people came to meet the monks — the biggest gathering she’s ever witnessed there.
“There was a calm, warmth and sense of community among people who had not met each other before and that was so special,” she said.
Long Si Dong, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth temple, said the monks, when they arrive in Washington, plan to seek recognition of Vesak, the day which marks the birth and enlightenment of the Buddha, as a national holiday.
“Doing so would acknowledge Vesak as a day of reflection, compassion and unity for all people regardless of faith,” he said.
But Pannakara emphasized that their main goal is to help people achieve peace in their lives. The trek is also a separate endeavor from a $200 million campaign to build towering monuments on the temple’s 14-acre property to house the Buddha’s teachings engraved in stone, according to Dong.
The monks practice and teach Vipassana meditation, an ancient Indian technique taught by the Buddha himself as core for attaining enlightenment. It focuses on the mind-body connection — observing breath and physical sensations to understand reality, impermanence and suffering. Some of the monks, including Pannakara, walk barefoot to feel the ground directly and be present in the moment.
Pannakara has told the gathered crowds that they don't aim to convert people to Buddhism.
Brooke Schedneck, professor of religion at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, said the tradition of a peace walk in Theravada Buddhism began in the 1990s when the Venerable Maha Ghosananda, a Cambodian monk, led marches across war-torn areas riddled with landmines to foster national healing after civil war and genocide in his country.
“These walks really inspire people and inspire faith,” Schedneck said. “The core intention is to have others watch and be inspired, not so much through words, but through how they are willing to make this sacrifice by walking and being visible.”
On Thursday, Becki Gable drove nearly 400 miles (about 640 kilometers) from Cullman, Alabama, to catch up with them in Saluda. Raised Methodist, Gable said she wanted some release from the pain of losing her daughter and parents.
“I just felt in my heart that this would help me have peace,” she said. “Maybe I could move a little bit forward in my life.”
Gable says she has already taken one of Pannakara’s teachings to heart. She’s promised herself that each morning, as soon as she awakes, she’d take a piece of paper and write five words on it, just as the monk prescribed.
“Today is my peaceful day.”
Freelance photojournalist Allison Joyce contributed to this report.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," get lunch Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Aloka rests with Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
A sign is seen greeting the Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Supporters pray with Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Supporters watch Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
A Buddhist monk ties a prayer bracelet around the wrist of Josey Lee, 2-months-old, during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a spiritual leader, speaks to supporters during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks participate in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks participate in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Bhikkhu Pannakara leads other buddhist monks in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Audrie Pearce greets Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a spiritual leader, speaks to supporters during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," arrive in Saluda, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," are seen with their dog, Aloka, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
