Big news for Dutch baseball fans. Two Dutchies have been added to a roster of a new club.
Sharlon Schoop, the older brother of…., has been promoted from AA Bowie to AAA Norfolk.
The 28-year old infielder struggled last year with the BaySox as he hit .217. The Orioles did resign him and placed him on the roster of the BaySox again. He did not get much playing time but in the seven games that he played for Bowie, he hit a very decent .304.
Sharlon also played for the Dutch team during the 2014 European Cup. In that tournament he hit .381 with a slugging percentage of .714 and an on-base-percentage of .440.
This is the first time that Sharlon is called up to AAA level. He played at AA level for the major part of his career. In 2004 by the Giants as an undrafted free agent.
Last night Sharlon debuted with the Norfolk Tides. He went 0 for 4 but he was the initiator of a 4-6-3 double play.
Another Dutch national team player found a new job in Canada. Quebec City to be exact. Kalian Sams signed a deal with the local CanAm League franchise, les Capitales de Quebec, the club with the best uniform, best cap and the best looking stadium in that league.
Kalian Sams has an extensive minor league career. Born in The Hague in the Netherlands, Sams debuted in the Hoofdklasse (Dutch Major League) with ADO in 2005. Two years later he debuted with the Everett AquaSox, A Short Season farm team of the Mariners. From that year he moved to A Full Season and back to A Short Season several times until 2011. He started that season with the Clinton LumberKings but was promoted to the High Desert Mavericks (A Advanced) eventually. In 2012 he spent the season with the Jackson Generals (AA) before he got injured. After his rehab, he was released shortly before the 2013 season. He had a short stint with the Camden RiverSharks of the independent Atlantic League before the Padres picked him up and sent him to their AA team, the San Antonio Missions. In his short stay wiith the Missions he mashed the pitchers in that league, hitting 10 homeruns in only 26 games. That earned him a promotion to the AAA Tucson Padres but at that level he struggled. Eventually the Padres released him and he was picked up by the Texas Rangers. Once again he played in the Texas League, this time for the Frisco RoughRiders. The Rangers signed him for the 2014 season but again he was released just before the start of that season. Once again he went to the RiverSharks but in the course of the season he got injured and the team cut him loose. Eventually he went to Taiwan where he played in the new erected Popcorn League. He played for the Topco Scientific Falcons and won the championship with that team. Kalian Sams may be best known for his scacrifice fly that drove in Andruw Jones in the 2013 WBC game vs Cuba, that sent Cuba home and made the Netherlands advance to the semi finals in San Francisco.
The Quebec Capitales have a subscription to CanAm League titles. Since the league’s inaugural season in 2005, the team has won six championships: 2006, 2009-2013. The club plays in historic Stade Municipale that was built in 1938 and opened it’s doors in 1939. In 1999 the stadium got a thorough renovation. The place is an absolute gem with a capacity of 4,800.
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