NSR: Baseball Euro 2010

Discussion in 'The Netherlands' started by Andr3sfc, Jul 20, 2010.

  1. Andr3sfc

    Andr3sfc Member

    Jun 30, 2009
    Manaus
    Club:
    Santos FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
  2. he so scrumptiouz

    Jun 1, 2006
    amsterdam
    we had a good preparation by winning the 'haarlemse honkbal week' that was held last week.

    [​IMG]

    we have won the last 5 editions of the european championship so will most likely win this one as well :p
     
  3. We beat the crap out of Cuba (10-0) and the USA (12-2 and 4-2). The match against japan was thrilling!
     
  4. he so scrumptiouz

    Jun 1, 2006
    amsterdam
    looks like this is shaping up to yet another oranje - italy final :D
     
  5. JC-14

    JC-14 Member+

    Jan 28, 2010
    Amsterdam
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    How come The Netherlands is good at baseball? Nobody plays the sport...
     
  6. Jamooky

    Jamooky Member+

    Mar 24, 2006
    Cleveland, OH USA
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They do in Curacao. :p
    That's why.
     
  7. 96Squig

    96Squig Member

    Feb 4, 2004
    Hanover
    Club:
    Hannover 96
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    It certainly gets more exposure in the media than it gets in Germany (it's the other way around with ice hockey or American football). So basically your group of 'nobodies' is bigger than that of anywhere else in Europe. That Curacao thing may be spot on as to why, though.
     


  8. You must be kidding, first we play an hour baseball with a tennis ball and then we use that same tennisball to play soccer. So that's why we are so good in both sports;)

    By the way: the second final the Orange teams loose this year
     
  9. he so scrumptiouz

    Jun 1, 2006
    amsterdam
    most of it is thanks to andruw jones who unlike most dutch athletes in the us of a actually played for the dutch national side for a while.

     
  10. By the way, we have an American play for the Orange Basketball team!
     
  11. PsychedelicCeltic

    PsychedelicCeltic New Member

    Dec 10, 2003
    San Francisco/London
    It's a European baseball championship....it's all relative here.

    And besides, the Dutch baseball board claims 30,000 players, which isn't that bad in a country of 16 million. Believe me, in the UK there is probably less than a half dozen real baseball fields (dirt infield) in the whole country, so to go to Holland and see that every town over a decent size has a real baseball field is pretty cool.

    Put it like this, five times as many Dutch per capita play baseball as rugby and rugby is hardly an unknown sport in the USA. It's not popular, but you won't go months without meeting anybody who has played it.
     
  12. Paganitzu

    Paganitzu Member+

    Aug 16, 2006
    San Diego
    Club:
    PSV Eindhoven
    Agree, I live in a village of 5790 people and even we have a own baseball club and field.
     
  13. ajaxpsv

    ajaxpsv New Member

    Nov 8, 2004
    L.A.
    Club:
    PSV Eindhoven
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
  14. Oranje23

    Oranje23 Member

    Mar 17, 2009
    Victoria, Canada
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    I saw the name flash by on a sports ticker and knew instantly he was Dutch by the spelling of his first name, and not just some American with a dutch name. It'll be interesting to see what he can do. With Rick Van den Hurk's career not really taking off yet I think Van Wil could be the only regular Netherlands (not including the Caribbean islanes) born player in the league. My Mariners have a promising outfielder from Haarlem in their system called Greg Halman, but I'm not sure he's ready yet.
     
  15. PsychedelicCeltic

    PsychedelicCeltic New Member

    Dec 10, 2003
    San Francisco/London
    Vanden Hurk just got called up by the Orioles since the rosters expanded, so he'll get another chance to prove himself. He's still young enough to have a decent career. The Orioles don't have a lot of pitching, so he should get that chance to tell once and for all if he's a MLB-quality pitcher. Maybe the jerseys and colors of the O's will inspire him. ;)

    [​IMG]

    Loek van Mil's main claim to fame is that he's 7'1" or 2.16 m, the tallest player ever to play professional baseball in the US. He's 25 and struggling at AA-level, but he is still quite raw. Dutch baseball is something like the opposite of Dutch soccer - kids don't play that many games and the technical coaching (probably - I'm no authority, just making an educated guess) seems not to be that great, because I think one of the big reasons players from Holland have tended to struggle in US baseball is that they have this enormous learning curve to deal with. I'm not sure what the situation is out in the Netherlands Antilles coaching wise, but the Curacao Little Leaguers have won the LL World Series before, and we certainly know the weather is good enough for baseball all year round, which produces more polished players. Of course, the fact baseball is king out in the Antilles/Aruba while it's a minority sport in Holland sure helps too.

    Oh yeah, and it can't be a Dutch baseball thread without mentioning Rik Aalbert Blijleven, soon to be the first Dutch Hall of Famer.
     


  16. Over here he would be the smallest:D....joking, not true
    Did he had his team clothing taylor made or do they have it in stock in his size? Wonder if there were any basketball coaches trying to lure him away.
     
  17. MagpieFan

    MagpieFan Member+

    Apr 25, 2004
    Back in DC
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's an enormous pitcher! Dude probably feels like he's throwing the ball downward just to get it to the strike zone of most batters.
     
  18. PsychedelicCeltic

    PsychedelicCeltic New Member

    Dec 10, 2003
    San Francisco/London
    [​IMG]

    I think they do have to make custom baseball clothes for him. One of the interesting things about van Mil was that when he was signed by the Twins organization he only came to the US with about an 86 mph fastball (about 140 kph), but a couple years of refinement has increased his fastball speed to 95 (a little over 150 kph). Between that and his height he should get some chances, though he is still very wild.
     
  19. Jamooky

    Jamooky Member+

    Mar 24, 2006
    Cleveland, OH USA
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    The O's also have Mark Hendrickson, who stands at just under 7 feet, I think. He used to play in the NBA - he would probably tell Mil to stick to honkball!
     
  20. PsychedelicCeltic

    PsychedelicCeltic New Member

    Dec 10, 2003
    San Francisco/London
    Gefeliciteerd, Bert.
     
  21. Bert Blijleven has been awarded a place in the Hall of Fame.
    Another Bert:)
     

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