Honkbal Hoofdklasse

Last updated
Honkbal Hoofdklasse
Current season, competition or edition:
Baseball current event.svg 2024 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season
Honkbal Hoofdklasse logo.png
Sport Baseball
Founded 1922
No. of teams8
Country Netherlands
Most recent
champion(s)		 Amsterdam Pirates
(7th title)
Most titles Neptunus
(19 titles)
Relegation to Overgangsklasse
Related
competitions		 European Cup

The Honkbal Hoofdklasse (Dutch for Major League Baseball) 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).

Contents

Games are played principally on weekends. The season runs from April to September and is followed by the playoffs among the four best teams, which culminates in the Holland Series. Both of the playoff rounds are best-of-five. The league follows a promotion and relegation system with the Honkbal Overgangsklasse so that the composition of both levels changes from year to year. Many of the official team nicknames contain the name of the club's corporate sponsor.

The two best teams participate in the European Cup.

History

The Honkbal Hoofdklasse has been the highest level of competitive baseball in the Netherlands since 1958, when it was elevated over the former Eerste Klasse by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Honkbal Bond, the forerunner of the KNBSB. The Eerste Klasse served as the top baseball competition in the Netherlands from its establishment in 1922 until 1957, excluding 1945 when play was suspended due to World War II. The Hoofdklasse has been organized by the KNBSB since 1971.

Until 1986 the winner of the season was also crowned the national champion, with the exception of 1972 and 1973, when a best-of-five Holland Series was held between the top two teams to determine the champion. Since 1987 the Holland Series has been held annually at the end of the season to determine the national champion. The series is currently held in a best-of-seven format.

In 2021 the Eerste Klasse was reinstated as the second level of Dutch professional baseball and the league to which teams from the Hoofdklasse are relegated at the end of the season. This was also the case from 1958 to 1986 and 2001 to 2009. In the intervening periods, from 1987 to 2000 and 2010 to 2020, the Overgangsklasse operated as the secondary professional baseball league in the Netherlands.

Following the 2021 Season the KNBSB decided to end relegation and promotion and operate the Hoofdklasse with fixed teams. The reform is part of broader efforts to improve the league's quality of play and national visibility. The tournament was also expanded to 9 teams for the 2022 season. [1] The Silicon Storks, who were slated to be relegated, will remain in the Hoofdklasse alongside the RCH Pinguins, who had earned a promotion to the top league. [2]

Current clubs

Netherlands location map.svg
Red pog.svg
L&D Pirates
Red pog.svg
Amersfoort
Red pog.svg
Neptunus
Red pog.svg
HCAW
Red pog.svg
DSS
Red pog.svg
Twins
Red pog.svg
Storks
Red pog.svg
Pioniers
Red pog.svg
RCH
TeamCityStadiumRefCapacity
DSS/Kinheim Haarlem Pim Mulier Sportpark [3] 2,500
Quick Amersfoort Amersfoort XL Lease Park Dorrestein [4] 400
Curaçao Neptunus Rotterdam Neptunus Familiestadion [5] 2,460
L&D Amsterdam Amsterdam Sportpark Ookmeer [6] 500
Twins Oosterhout Oosterhout Slotbosse toren Park [7] 500
HCAW Bussum Rob Hoffmann Vallei [8] 1,000
Silicon Storks The Hague Sportpark Kijkduin-Schapenatjesduin [9] 1,000
Hoofddorp Pioniers Hoofddorp Sportpark Pioniers [10] 1,000
RCH-Pinguins Heemstede Heemsteedse Sportparken400

Results

Hoofdklasse Records [11]
RankTeamTitlesFirstLast
1st Neptunus Rotterdam 19 1981 2018
2ndHaarlem Nicols12 1965 1989
3rd Blauw-Wit Amsterdam 9 1923 1946
Sparta/Feyenoord 9 1963 1974
5th
Amsterdam Pirates 7 1987 2023
6thOVVO Amsterdam6 1949 1955
7thSC Haarlem5 1929 1941
Schoten Haarlem5 1947 1961
Kinheim Haarlem 5 1978 2012
10th Ajax Amsterdam 4 1924 1948
11th Quick Amsterdam 3 1922 1935
EHS Haarlem3 1954 1962
Amstel Tijgers 3 1979 1986
HCAW Bussum 3 1996 2022
15thAGHC Amsterdam2 1926 1927
16thVVGA Amsterdam1 1933
HHC Haarlem1 1936
Seagulls Amsterdam1 1939
EDO Haarlem1 1958
ADO Den Haag 1 1992
Hoofddorp Pioniers 1 1997

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HCAW</span>

HCAW, in full Honkbalclub Allen Weerbaar, is a Dutch professional baseball and softball club from Bussum. As of 2021 the club numbers about 400 members, including 270 players, making it one of the largest baseball and softball clubs in the Netherlands. The club's top teams all play in their equivalent Dutch major league.

The 2006 Holland Series were held from 21 September to 1 October 2006 between the two Dutch play-off winners Corendon Kinheim and Konica Minolta Pioniers. The first team to win 3 games in the best-of-five-games series would become Dutch champions. Konica Minolta Pioniers took a 1-0 and 2–1 lead, but with only one more win needed they lost the remaining matches, resulting in a 3-2 Kinheim championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinheim</span> Baseball and softball team based in Haarlem, the Netherlands

Kinheim is a baseball and softball team based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The title sponsor of the club is currently Corendon so that the official name of the team is Corendon Kinheim.

Pioniers is a baseball and softball team based in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. The club is currently sponsored by Raamsdonkveer-based construction company Vaessen BV and the team is officially known as the Vaessen Pioniers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Cordemans</span> Dutch baseball player

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.

Diegomar Raymundo "Diego" Markwell is a Dutch professional baseball pitcher for Curaçao Neptunus of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse.

David Franciscus Johan Bergman is a Dutch baseball player who currently plays for Kinheim of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse baseball league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martijn Meeuwis</span> Dutch baseball player

Martijn Meeuwis is a Dutch baseball player who currently plays for Neptunus and the Dutch national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. C. Sulbaran</span> Dutch-Curaçao baseball player

Juan Carlos Sulbaran is a Dutch-Curaçaoan baseball player for the Lexington Counter Clocks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and who 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 2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season began Saturday, April 10 and ended on September 18.

The 2009 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season began Saturday, April 11.

The 2011 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season began on Thursday, April 7 and ended on September 11.

The Honkbal Overgangsklasse is the second highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands. It is a twelve-team league that plays a 22-game schedule followed by two separate 15-game schedules for the best six teams and the weakest six teams, and is overseen by the KNBSB. Games are played principally on weekends. The season runs from April to August and is followed by a promotion and relegation system with the highest level of baseball in the Netherlands, the Honkbal Hoofdklasse, so that the composition of the top level may change from year to year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berry van Driel</span> Dutch baseball player

Berry van Driel is a Dutch professional baseball player. A pitcher, he has pitched in the Netherlands for the Netherlands national baseball team.

Randolph F. Oduber is a professional baseball outfielder for the Hoofddorp Pioniers of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. 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.

Dashenko Adriano Ricardo is a Dutch-Curaçaoan professional baseball catcher for Curaçao Neptunus of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dwayne Kemp</span> Dutch baseball player

Dwayne Kemp is a Dutch baseball player for the Curaçao Neptunus of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse.

The 2015 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season started on Thursday, April 16 and will end with the Holland Series, taking place in September.

Kevin Kelly is a Dutch-Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for Curaçao Neptunus of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. He played college baseball at Western Oklahoma State College and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

The 2017 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season is the 87th season of baseball in the Netherlands.

References

  1. ↑ Visser, Seb. "Hoofdklasse vanaf 2022 op slot, Silicon Storks blijft er als negende team in." HonkbalSoftbal.nl 29 October 2021. Accessed 10 December 22021. https://honkbalsoftbal.nl/2021/10/29/hoofdklasse-vanaf-2022-op-slot-silicon-storks-blijft-er-als-negende-team-in/.
  2. ↑ "RCH Pinguins H1 dwingt promotie af." RCH Pinguins. 17 October 2021. Accessed 10 December 2021. https://www.rch-pinguins.nl/?p=11411.
  3. ↑ "DSS". de Nederlandse honkbalsite. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Quick Amersfoort". de Nederlandse honkbalsite. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Curaçao Neptunus". de Nederlandse honkbalsite. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ "L&D Amsterdam". de Nederlandse honkbalsite. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Twinsbaseball.nl".
  8. ↑ "HCAW". de Nederlandse honkbalsite. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Silicon Storks". de Nederlandse honkbalsite. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Vaessen Pioniers". de Nederlandse honkbalsite. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  11. ↑ List of Dutch champions Archived 2014-12-26 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch)


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.