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 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 Italy national baseball team represents Italy in international baseball competitions. The Italian national team was ranked 16th in the world as of 2022. Like the country's association football team and other national teams, the national baseball team is known as the Azzurri, and wears traditional Savoy blue on its uniforms.
Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium is a stadium in Beitun District, Taichung, Taiwan. The stadium officially opened on November 9, 2006, replacing the antiquated Taichung Baseball Field. Located on the corner of Chongde Road (崇德路) and Huanzhong Road (環中路), it has considerably more parking available than the old stadium.
Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 13 to August 23. All games were played at Wukesong Baseball Field, a temporary venue constructed at the Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center. For the third time in Olympic competition, professional baseball players were eligible to participate, though no active players from Major League Baseball were available.
Rob "Robbie" Cordemans is a Dutch baseball player. He bats and throws righthanded. Cordemans is best known for representing the Dutch national team at the Olympics and other international competitions.
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.
Tom Stuifbergen is a right-handed pitcher for L&D Amsterdam of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. His repertoire includes a fastball that ranges from high 80s to low 90s, a changeup and a curveball. He is 6' 4" and 240 lbs. and speaks two languages: English & Dutch.
Sharnol Leonard Adriana is a Curaçaoan-Dutch baseball player and coach. He spent several minor league seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays organization before moving to the Mexican League. As of 2020, he is a coach for the Spokane Indians. Adriana was a member of the Netherlands national baseball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Diegomar Raymundo "Diego" Markwell is a Dutch professional baseball pitcher for Curaçao Neptunus of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse.
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 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.
Michael Steven Duursma is a Dutch professional baseball player who currently plays for Pioniers and the Dutch national team.
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.
Juan Carlos Sulbaran is a Dutch-Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for the Curaçao Neptunus of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. He has played for the Dutch national team. He throws a changeup, curveball and fastball. He played for Team Netherlands in the 2019 European Baseball Championship, at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament, in Italy in September 2019.
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.
Europe first participated in the Little League World Series in 1960. Teams from Europe were given a berth in the LLWS each year between 1960 and 2000. In 2001, the region was split into two co-terminus regions: Europe Region and Transatlantic Region. The Europe Region comprised mostly native European teams while the Transatlantic Region comprised mostly American expatriates. This distinction was eliminated in 2008; from 2008 to 2012, teams made up of either native Europeans or American expatriates were eligible to qualify from the Europe Region.
Orlando Yntema Peña is a Dutch professional baseball pitcher for the Curaçao Neptunus in the Dutch Baseball League. He played for Team Netherlands in the 2019 European Baseball Championship and at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019.
Mike Bolsenbroek is a Dutch professional baseball pitcher.