Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season | |
Sport | Baseball |
---|---|
Founded | 1922 |
No. of teams | 8 |
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).
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.
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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 nine 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]
Team | City | Stadium | Ref | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|---|
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 Sportparken | 400 |
Hoofdklasse Records [11] | ||||
Rank | Team | Titles | First | Last |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Neptunus Rotterdam | 19 | 1981 | 2018 |
2nd | Haarlem Nicols | 12 | 1965 | 1989 |
3rd | Blauw-Wit Amsterdam | 9 | 1923 | 1946 |
Sparta/Feyenoord | 9 | 1963 | 1974 | |
5th | ||||
Amsterdam Pirates | 7 | 1987 | 2023 | |
6th | OVVO Amsterdam | 6 | 1949 | 1955 |
7th | SC Haarlem | 5 | 1929 | 1941 |
Schoten Haarlem | 5 | 1947 | 1961 | |
Kinheim Haarlem | 5 | 1978 | 2012 | |
10th | Ajax Amsterdam | 4 | 1924 | 1948 |
11th | Quick Amsterdam | 3 | 1922 | 1935 |
EHS Haarlem | 3 | 1954 | 1962 | |
Amstel Tijgers | 3 | 1979 | 1986 | |
HCAW Bussum | 3 | 1996 | 2022 | |
15th | AGHC Amsterdam | 2 | 1926 | 1927 |
16th | VVGA Amsterdam | 1 | 1933 | |
HHC Haarlem | 1 | 1936 | ||
Seagulls Amsterdam | 1 | 1939 | ||
EDO Haarlem | 1 | 1958 | ||
ADO Den Haag | 1 | 1992 | ||
Hoofddorp Pioniers | 1 | 1997 |
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.
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 Worldwide Pharma Logistics BV, and the team is officially called Worldwide Pharma Logistics Hoofddorp Pioniers. Under a previous sponsorship, the team had been called the Vaessen Pioniers.
Storks is a baseball and softball team based in The Hague, The Netherlands. Storks' baseball team plays in the Honkbal Heren Hoofdklasse, the top level of baseball in the Netherlands. The club has also won three consecutive Dutch softball titles, winning the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Holland Series.
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.
Martijn Meeuwis is a Dutch baseball player who currently plays for Neptunus and the Dutch national team.
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Juan Carlos Sulbaran is a Dutch-Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. 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 2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season began Saturday, April 10 and ended on September 18.
The 2009 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season began Saturday, April 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.
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.
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.
Lars Huijer is a Dutch professional baseball pitcher for HCAW of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse.
The 2017 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season is the 87th season of baseball in the Netherlands.