Hensley Meulens, the Curaçao-born bench coach of the San Francisco Giants made his first step in Major League Baseball, today 30 years ago. With the New York Yankees, Meulens became the first player from Curaçao to make it to the bigs. Meulens was signed by the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in 1985. After…
After his previous poor outing, Rick van den Hurk earned the win today for the Softbank Hawks in the game vs the Chiba Lotte Marines that was won 8-3. In his previous outing, Rick was highly ineffective as he gave up ten earned runs in just five-plus innings and was tabbed with the loss. Today, Rick…
Rick van den Hurk earned his first win of the 2017 season. After two losses, Rick bounced back in an old fashioned way in which he was flat out dominating. Unlike his previous two starts, in which Rick was pulled after only 4.2 and 5 inning, Rick lasted eight full frames today. The only two…
Ever since Cuban players got permission by the Castro regime to leave the country to play abroad (except in the USA), quite a couple of players were signed by NPB clubs. The latest signees are RHP Raidel Martinez, Leonardo Urgelles and Alfredo Despaigne. Alfredo Despaigne was a familiar face in Japanese baseball already of course,…
According to m.appledaily.com.tw the CPBL, KBO and NPB want to organize a new post season tournament between the winners of each of those leagues. This tournament would replace the defunct Asia Series. The three leagues have planned a new tournament in November 2017 with four participants. Question is who will be the fourth particpant. Will…
Did you know that there is an ethnic Russian baseball player enshrined in the Japanese Hall of Fame? His name is Victor Starffin. After a nineteen year career he was elected into the Japanese HOF in 1960 as very first foreigner. Victor Starffin was born as Viktor Konstantinovich Starukhin in the Urals region in what…
With the season over, it is time to look to the upcoming season. In the Major Leagues the hot stove is heating up. Many Dutch baseball fans are looking forward to the upcoming World Baseball Classic. We all expect certain players on the roster of the Dutch squad, but is there anything sure yet? Last…
After a long period on the disabled list (since June), Rick van den Hurk recently threw a few Ni-Gun (minor league) starts. Especially his second start was very successful. In five innings he allowed three hits, walked none and struck out six. In the previous article about Rick van den Hurk, it was mentioned that…
Unfortunately Rick van den Hurk wasn’t able to extend his record of fourteen wins without recording a loss. Last week he broke the 50-year old record by winning the game vs the Chiba Lotte Marines, in which he struck out ten batters and gave up only one run. Wladimir Balentien is hitting rather well lately,…
It is always good to see that there are people who intent to help other countries to develop the game of baseball. In the eighties there was a Dutch group, called the Trailblazers, that helped to develop the game in Eastern Europe, back then still under communist rule. After a career that brought him to…
