On his Facebook page, Dudley Leonora showed a photo wearing a San Marino Baseball cap and a San Marino jersey, indicating he is joining the reigning “Italian” champion.
By being denied a spot on the roster of the Dutch national team with the 2021 European Championship, due to a rejuvenation of the team, Leonora lost his stipend of the NOC/NSF (Dutch Olympic Committee/Dutch Sports Federation). As a result, he had to look for a new employer. He found one in San Marino.
Italian baseball clubs are very interested in players from the Dutch kingdom, especially those from the overseas territories like Aruba and Curaçao as inhabitants of those islands have a Dutch and thus European passport. Leonora comes from Dutch side of the island St. Maarten (St. Martin).
After a four year career in the farm system of the Baltimore Orioles, Leonora headed to the Netherlands and joined Corendon Kinheim (now DSS/Kinheim). After two seasons and the exodus of the flagship team of Kinheim, Leonora moved to Hoofddorp Pioniers where he played for one season before being acquired by Curaçao Neptunus. He played four seasons with the multiple Dutch champion from Rotterdam and put up some impressive numbers at bat of which his .393 averag in 2021 was the best.
As mentioned before, Leonora was denied a spot with the Dutch national team because the Dutch Baseball Federation wanted to rejuvenate. But one can only wonder why a player who is in the prime of his life at the age of twenty-nine, isn’t offered a roster spot and players of thirty-three or thirty-seven are still on the roster. Besides that, the young players who took his place, hardly got a chance to play…
Anyhow, San Marino can use Leonora as a second baseman, a third bagger and a left fielder.
Dutch Baseball Hangout 