Baseball
See also: Baseball in the NetherlandsThe Royal Dutch Baseball Federation was established on March 12, 1912. They merged with the softball federation to form the Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Federation in 1971 In 2008 there were over 24,000 players active at one of the 184 clubs in the country.
The Netherlands boasts the most successful national baseball team in Europe, winning the European Baseball Championship twenty times and frequently representing the continent in international competitions such as the World Baseball Classic and Baseball World Cup. There is a domestic professional baseball league whose best team, Neptunus of Rotterdam, regularly contends for the European club championship, including five consecutive titles from 2000–2004.
Baseball is especially popular on the island of Curaçao. In 2005, the Pabao Little League Champions of Willemstad advanced all the way to the championship game in the Little League World Series. New York Yankees outfielder, Andruw Jones is arguably the most successful and popular baseball player to emerge from Curaçao, and in 2006 was a member of the Netherlands national baseball team that participated in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Jair Jurrjens, pitcher for the Atlanta Braves became the first pitcher from Curaçao to pitch in the major leagues. John Houseman became the first Dutch-born player in the Major Leagues when he made his debut for the Chicago Colts in 1894. Bert Blyleven was an All-Star and two-time World Series champion.
In 2009, the Netherlands twice upset the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. The Dominican Republic's entire roster played in Major League Baseball, while the Netherlands only had one player on a Major League roster. The Dominican teams' combined salary total in the Major Leagues was about $84 million, while the Netherlands totals for $400,000. The Dominican Republic were highly favored but in its first game against the Dominican, the Dutch won 3–2. The Dominican Republic won its next game against Panama to set up a rematch against the Netherlands. The Dutch stunned the Dominicans again and won 2–1 in extra innings.
Read more about this topic: Sport In The Netherlands, Team Sports
Famous quotes containing the word baseball:
“Compared to football, baseball is almost an Oriental game, minimizing individual stardom, requiring a wide range of aggressive and defensive skills, and filled with long periods of inaction and irresolution. It has no time limitations. Football, on the other hand, has immediate goals, resolution on every single play, and a lot of violence—itself a highlight. It has clearly distinguishable hierarchies: heroes and drones.”
—Jerry Mander, U.S. advertising executive, author. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, ch. 15, Morrow (1978)
“One of the baseball-team owners approached me and said: “If you become baseball commissioner, you’re going to have to deal with 28 big egos,” and I said, “For me, that’s a 72% reduction.””
—George Mitchell (b. 1933)