This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources .(May 2015) |
Abbreviation | KNBSB |
---|---|
Formation | 1912 |
Type | International sport federation |
Purpose | Sport governing body |
Headquarters | Nieuwegein, Netherlands |
Region served | Netherlands |
Membership | 23,926 players (1 November 2007) |
Official language | Dutch, English |
Chairman | Ruud van Zetten |
Parent organization | Confederation of European Baseball |
Affiliations | Confederation of European Baseball |
Website | http://www.knbsb.nl/ |
The Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (Dutch : Koninklijke Nederlandse Baseball en Softball Bond, KNBSB) is the national governing body of baseball in the Netherlands. Baseball is widely played in the Netherlands but has struggled to become a major spectator sport due to the dominance of soccer, in which the Netherlands has always been one of the leading nations. School-aged children are generally encouraged to play soccer rather than baseball.
The national major league in the Netherlands, the Honkbal Hoofdklasse, was established in 1922. Notable Dutch baseball players include Hensley Meulens, Robert Eenhoorn, Andruw Jones, and Didi Gregorius.
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.
SV Amsterdam Pirates, commonly referred to as Amsterdam Pirates, is a Dutch baseball and softball organization based in Amsterdam that plays in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. It was founded as an expansion of the football club SV Rap on 17 February 1959 by Loek Loevendie. In the first years it was known as the RAP Pirates, but after a few years the club changed its name according to American tradition and became the Amsterdam Pirates.
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 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 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.
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.
The Netherlands women's national softball team is the national team of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is governed by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation. It is a member nation of the Confederation of European Baseball and the International Baseball Federation.
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.
Baseball in the Netherlands started in 1911, having been introduced to the country by English teacher J.C.G Grasé of Amsterdam, following a holiday to America. The first professional baseball league began in 1922. The national governing body for baseball is the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation.
The Western Illinois Leathernecks are the teams and athletes that represent Western Illinois University, located in Macomb, Illinois, in NCAA Division I sports. The school's primary conference affiliation is with the Ohio Valley Conference; its football team is a member of the Division I FCS Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) and its men's soccer team plays in the Summit League, in which the school had been a member since that conference's formation in 1982. Western Illinois announced on May 12, 2023 its departure from the Summit League to become a full member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in most sports beginning seven weeks subsequent on July 1. Two Leathernecks teams will play outside the OVC in the fall 2023 season before joining the rest of the school's teams in the OVC in 2024—the football team in the MVFC, and the men's soccer team in the Summit League.
Robert Franciscus Eenhoorn is a Dutch former professional baseball player and manager. He played four seasons of Major League Baseball as a utility infielder for the New York Yankees and California/Anaheim Angels. On September 27, 1997, Eenhoorn became the first Dutch-born player to hit a home run in the Major Leagues since Jack Lelivelt in 1912. The feat was later repeated by Greg Halman and Didi Gregorius. All other Dutch MLB players to have hit home runs were born elsewhere, mainly in the country's Caribbean territories, most notably the Curaçao natives Andruw Jones and Hensley Meulens.
Yurendell Eithel DeCaster is a Dutch professional baseball third baseman. He played part of one season in Major League Baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates. 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.
AHC Quick, commonly known as Quick Amsterdam, is a baseball and softball club based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Founded in 1913, it is the oldest baseball club in Europe still in existence. Today the club operates four men's baseball teams playing in the second, third and fourth divisions of Dutch baseball. However, the club's top men's baseball team has previously played in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse, winning the Holland Series three times between 1922 and 1935. The club's is the direct successor of Hercules, one of the three original members of the Dutch Baseball Association.
The Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Dominguez Hills, located in Carson, California, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Toros compete as members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association for all 9 varsity sports.
The Wheaton Lyons represents Massachusetts' Wheaton College and fields 21 varsity intercollegiate teams, 9 for men and 12 for women, in addition to 14 club sports programs and a variety of intramural activities. The school's teams play within the NCAA Division III and in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).
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.
Ohio is home to many professional and college sports teams. The metropolitan areas of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus are home to major league professional sports teams in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer.