History Of Honkbal

Learning the history of baseball in a country that surprises you as a powerhouse

NYT

When you think of The Netherlands, you think of Amsterdam, the Devil’s lettuce and windmills. When you think of sports in The Netherlands, you think of soccer.

Soccer is by far The Netherlands’ most popular sport and the sport they are the best at, two European championships and three heart wrenching defeats in the World Cup Finals will do that to you.

However, The Netherlands have become a powerful force in another sport. That sport would be America’s pastime, which of course, is baseball. Or as the Dutch call it “Honkbal.”

Honkbal was brought to the country in 1911 when a Dutch English teacher named J. C. G Graśe took a vacation to America and saw the Americans playing the game. Graśe was able to translate the rules of the game into Dutch, the country’s home language. The first game of baseball in The Netherlands took place in March of 1912.

11 years later the first competition league was formed. A four team league which all the teams were located in Amsterdam until a few laters when the game reached Haarlem.

One of the best Dutch baseball stories goes like this: in 1925, a US Navy ship had came to The Netherlands, so a Dutch pro team challenged them to a game of baseball. After the first inning, the American soldiers were up 14–0 and ended up winning the game 27–2.

In the early years, the players would wear shorts, unlike the long pants they’d wear in America. Dutch pitchers were only capable to throw a fastball with absolutely no control (aka the Miami Marlins special) because of the lack of control, it was disrespectful to bunt or take a base on balls.

Until 1937, baseball in The Netherlands was played with a 2 hour time limit until a controversy in the championship game where the Haarlem team had thought they won the championship but there were three minutes left in the game so the umpire determined another inning should be played, Haarlem ended up losing the championship. After this, The Dutch instituted the nine inning rule.

Now, the Dutch league is called Honkbal Hoofdkalsse. Which is a modern day version of the league that started in 1922. There are eight teams, the season runs from April-September. The 49 game schedule are usually played on the weekends.

On the international level, the Netherlands have dominated baseball in Europe by having the most European Cup titles.

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Dutch baseball wasn’t really on the map until the 2009 World Baseball Classic, where the Dutch, filled with minor league baseball and Dutch league players, pulled off the biggest upset in baseball history, eliminating The Dominican Republic on a walk-off to advance to the next round.

In the 2013 WBC, the Dutch shocked the world again, in walk off fashion by eliminating powerhouse Cuba in a 6–5 thriller. The Dutch were eventually knocked out of the tournament by the DR in the semi finals.

Now, in the 2017 WBC, the Dutch are back in the semi finals and are just two wins alway from capturing their first WBC championship. They would also be the first European country to win this tournament.