Approximately 5 million of the 17 million people in the Netherlands are registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two thirds of the population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly.
Hensley Filemon Acasio Meulens, nicknamed "Bam Bam", is a Curaçaoan professional baseball coach and retired player. He is the hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB).
The South African national baseball team is the baseball team which represents the Republic of South Africa in international baseball competitions such as the World Baseball Classic and the Summer Olympics. The governing body of the team is the South African Baseball Union.
The Honkbal Hoofdklasse is the highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands. It is an eight-team league that plays a 42-game schedule and is overseen by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB).
The Venezuela national baseball team is the national team of Venezuela. It is currently ranked sixth in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, behind Chinese Taipei and ahead of the Netherlands.
The Dominican Republic national baseball team is the national baseball team of the Dominican Republic. The team has won the Baseball World Cup in 1948 and World Baseball Classic in 2013. They are the first team to have won both world competitions. They are currently ranked the 9th-best in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. At the Olympics in 2021 it faced Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and the United States.
The Puerto Rico national baseball team, also known as Team Rubio is the national baseball team of Puerto Rico. The men's senior team is currently ranked 13th in the world. Puerto Rico is the incumbent Pan American and Central American/Caribbean champion, as well as the 2017 World Baseball Classic runner-up. The team competed against Israel, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Nicaragua in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in March 2023 in Miami, Florida.
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 Europe, and the team is also ranked seventh in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). The team is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation, which is represented in the WBSC Europe.
The Chinese Taipei national baseball team is the national men's baseball team of Taiwan. It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is ranked fourth in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The team is usually made up of professionals from Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, and Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball from the United States.
Eight teams qualified for the Olympic baseball tournament. The host nation qualifies automatically. Additionally, two teams qualified from the American qualifying tournament, and one team qualified from both the European and Asian qualifying tournaments. The field was rounded out by the top three teams from the world Olympic qualifying tournament. The qualifications were held in Taichung, Barcelona, and Havana.
The World Baseball Softball Confederation Europe, known as WBSC Europe, was established on February 10, 2018, during a Congress of the Confederation of European Baseball and the European Softball Federation in Val d’Europe, France. the establishment of WBSC Europe followed the historic merger of the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) and the European Softball Federation (ESF). As of September 2022, WBSC Europe counts 40 members for baseball and 39 for softball.
The French National Baseball team represents the French Federation of Baseball and Softball in international competitions, such as the World Baseball Classic, the European Baseball Championship, and the World Cup of Baseball. They are currently ranked 21st in the world.
The 2007 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament held from September 7 to 16, between national baseball teams of the Confederation of European Baseball. The tournament was held in Barcelona, Spain and served as the qualifying competition for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. The Netherlands won the tournament for the 5th consecutive time and qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Great Britain and Spain advanced to a final qualifying tournament in Taiwan. Prior to the tournament, Greece was removed by the European Baseball Confederation and replaced with Austria. Czech Republic was downgraded to last place at the end of the tournament and its wins in the preliminary round vacated due to the use of ineligible players. This was the first time that five teams, rather than two, were relegated to the B-Pool.
The 2009 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 38th international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the 1986 AWS. The 2009 tournament was held, for the first time, across a continent — with games played in 27 cities across eight European countries, from September 9 to 27. The final was a repeat of the previous BWC final, with the United States again defeating Cuba, winning its fourth title. Canada won the bronze medal, the nation's first medal in the tournament, after defeating Puerto Rico 6–2.
The Israel National Baseball Team represents Israel in international competitions. It is managed by Ian Kinsler.
Tjerk Smeets is a former Dutch baseball player for Kinheim and the Dutch national team and technical director of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB). He is the son of Dutch radio and television personality, writer, and columnist Mart Smeets.
The qualification for the 2007 European Baseball Championship was held from July 25–29, 2006 in Russia and August 1–5, 2006 in Belgium. 16 nations contested to qualify for 2 spots available among the 10 other sides already qualified. In the end, 3 teams qualified for the 2007 competition, because of the removal of Greece. Austria replaced Greece, being the runners-up in the qualifier pool in Russia, while Croatia and Russia won their qualifier pools and were qualified to compete in the 2007 competition, to be placed with the 9 already qualified teams from the 2005 competition. These were Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009.
Kalian Rivalino Sams is a Dutch former professional baseball outfielder who reached Triple-A in Minor League Baseball and played professionally in other countries. He also played for the Netherlands in many international baseball tournaments.
The Women's European Baseball Championship (WEBC) is the main championship tournament between national women's baseball teams in Europe, governed by the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB).