The Netherlands national baseball team is the national baseball team of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, representing the country in international men's baseball. They are currently ranked as the best team in the WBSC Europe, and the team is also ranked seventh in the WBSC World Rankings.[1]
The team is made up primarily of players from the Netherlands in Europe, and from Dutch territories and islands in the Caribbean that are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, such as Aruba and Curaçao (which is part of the former Netherlands Antilles, which have since been dissolved), where baseball is extremely popular. Some foreigners of Dutch descent have also been members of the team. While baseball only maintains a niche following throughout Europe, the Netherlands, along with Italy, are the two European countries where the sport's popularity is strongest; the team has finished in either first or second place in 31 out of the 32 European Baseball Championships in which it has appeared, the exception being the 2023 European Baseball Championship, where it finished in third place.
The following is a list of professionalbaseball match results currently active in the latest version of the WBSC World Rankings, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.[2]
The Netherlands has competed in all five of the World Baseball Classic tournaments held. All 16 teams that played in the 2006 edition were invited to compete in the second in 2009. The team was an automatic qualifier for the 2013 and 2017 tournaments.
The Netherlands has progressed to the second round of competition in 2009, and achieved its highest finish, 4th, in both the 2013 and 2017 tournaments. Unusual for international competition in baseball, the squads selected in the World Baseball Classic tournaments featured players active in Major League Baseball in addition to Minor League, Nippon Professional Baseball, and local players. Generally players in the Major Leagues are unavailable due to their contracts with the respective clubs.
Having failed to win against Cuba and Puerto Rico in their round-robin pool games, they finished third in their pool, and were eliminated along with Panama.
The Netherlands competed in Pool D, along with 2006 WBC semi-finalist Dominican Republic, Panama, and Puerto Rico, in the first round at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The team won both games against the strong Dominican Republic team. As result, the team made it through the first double-elimination round along with Puerto Rico.
In the second round the Dutch lost both their games against Venezuela and the United States. Therefore, the team was eliminated and finished 7th in the final standings.
The Dutch team defeated the Cuban team 6–2 before facing two-time defending champion Japan and earned a humiliating loss 16–4 at the end of 7th inning due to mercy rule and faced off against Cuba once again. They narrowly clinched their win against the Cuban team 7–6 to secure their position in the semi-finals where they lost against the Japanese team again 10–6. They faced off against the Dominican Republic where they lost 4–1. The Netherlands finished 4th overall.
Team Netherlands, ranked 9th in the world, included major league stars, many of whom were raised in islands in the Caribbean that are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The players included All Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts (Boston Red Sox; from Aruba), 20-home-run-hitter shortstop Didi Gregorius (New York Yankees; raised in Curaçao, which is part of the former Netherlands Antilles which have since been dissolved), 20-home-run-hitter second baseman Jonathan Schoop (Baltimore Orioles; born in Curaçao), Gold-Glover shortstop Andrelton Simmons (Los Angeles Angels; born in Curaçao), and infielder/outfielder Jurickson Profar (Texas Rangers; born in Curaçao).[4][5][6]Sports Illustrated opined that the Dutch team "boasts arguably the most talented infield in the entire tournament."[6]
The Netherlands was defeated by Team Israel (4–2). It then beat South Korea (5–0) and Taiwan (6–5), in the first round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[7][8] Along with Israel, which came in ahead of it in the pool, it qualified for the next round, in Japan.[9]
In what NBC reported was thought to be the tallest batter-pitcher matchup in baseball history, the Dutch team's 7-foot-1-inch (2.16 m) pitcher Loek van Mil walked Israel's 6-foot-8-inch (2.03 m) first baseman Nate Freiman.[10]
In the second round an extra innings loss against Japan was followed by two mercy rule wins against Israel and Cuba. Together with Japan which had finished top of the pool the Netherlands advanced to the championship round. 2016 All Star and NL Reliever of the YearKenley Jansen joined the Dutch team for the championship round.
The Netherlands semifinal match against Puerto Rico ended with an 11th inning walk-off sac fly by Eddie Rosario. The final score was 3–4. Dutch outfielder Wladimir Balentien was chosen in the All-WBC team.
Their best finish in the International Baseball Federation's (IBAF) World Cup was first place, which they achieved in 2011. Netherlands also hosted the games twice, in 1986 and in 2005. In 2009, the Netherlands was one of the 8 European nations to host the 2009 Baseball World Cup. It marked the first time in history that the World Cup was not hosted by a specific country, but rather by a whole continent.
The Dutch Caribbean has very strong baseball traditions. A team from Willemstad, Curaçao "Liga Pabou" won the 2004Little League World Series and was runner-up in 2005. Each territory has its own baseball federation and in the past, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba have fielded its own team in international competitions. In recent years, however, players from the Dutch Caribbean have played on the national team of the Netherlands itself, alongside players from continental Europe and a handful of Americans of Dutch descent, resulting in a team with a stronger concentration of talent. Since the 2013 World Baseball Classic, the Netherlands participates as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the formal name of the sovereign state that includes both the Dutch Caribbean and the Netherlands proper.
In January 2009 the International Baseball Federation created a ranking system so that the nations involved in international competition could be compared independently. Teams receive points based on the position they finish at the end of tournaments. The system takes into account results not only of the senior men's teams but also of junior teams. Weightings that emphasise the importance of certain tournaments are based on the number of teams competing, the number of continents represented (or eligible to be represented), and in the case of continental tournaments such as the European Baseball Championship the relative strength of teams eligible. Only results within the previous four years are used, so points are added and removed over time. Since the system began, the rankings have been adjusted after the completion of tournaments qualifying for the ranking process.
Since September 18, 2012, the Netherlands are listed at 6th position.[citation needed]
* When the rankings were first released, the 2008 Summer Olympics was the most recent tournament completed by the Netherlands that had any bearing on the rankings themselves.
** Multiple tournaments were held since the previous release of the rankings.
^"IBAF World Rankings"(PDF). International Baseball Federation. 12 August 2009. Archived from the original(PDF) on 7 October 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
(18 December 2023)[1]
1st (1 time, in 2011)
2nd (2 times, most recent in 2010)
1st (24 times, most recent in 2021)
