Big news from the former German capital. The local baseball club, Bonn Capitals, caught a big fish to bolster their bullpen. The German champion of 2018 signed former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher and farmhand Dovydas Neverauskas from Lithuania. Dovydas Neverauskas with the Toyo Carp The 29-year old Neverauskas was the first pitcher from Lithuania to make …
Japanese pitchers defy laws of nature
On the first day of Spring Training in Japan, several Japanese relief pitchers defied the laws of nature as they threw ridiculously long bullpen sessions. Relief pitcher Yuma Ohshita of the Yakult Swallows threw a bullpen session of 106 pitches. He almost repeated that feat on the second day as he threw a hundred pitches. …
Formidable outing by Van den Hurk leads Softbank Hawks to NPB title
In game six of the Nippon Series between the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, Dutch starter Rick van den Hurk and a very good outing. Thanks to his strong game, the Hawks earned the NPB championship by beating the Toyo Carp 2-0. Rick van den Hurk was masterful through six innings in …
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Softbank Hawks one win away from clinching NPB title
The Softbank Hawks from Fukuoka won game five of the NPB series vs the Hiroshima Toyo Carp today. The team of Dutch pitcher Rick van den Hurk beat the Carp 5-4. Thanks to this win, the team only needs one more win to clinch the NPB championship. After game one, that ended in a 2-2 …
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Softbank Hawks advance to Nippon Series to face the Hiroshima Toyo Carp
The Hiroshima Toyo Carp (Central League) and the Softbank Hawks (Pacific League) will face each other in the 2018 Nippon Series. The Carp swept the Yomiuri Giants 4-0 to advance and today, the Hawks clinched a Nippon Series spot by beating the Seibu Lions 6-5. As usual, the winner of the regular season in each …
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Softbank Hawks to face DeNa BayStars in Nippon Series
Dutchie Rick van den Hurk's team, the Softbank Hawks, that had clinched a spot in the Nippon Series already, will face the Yokohama DeNA BayStars that beat the Hiroshima Toyo Carp 9-3 today. The Nippon Series, the championship series of the Japanese NPB, will start coming Saturday, October 28. The Yokohama DeNA BayStars started the Climax …
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Nippon Series: Kuroda leaves early and Carp falls to Fighters
A solid outing over 5.2 innings by former Dodgers and Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda was not enough to clinch the win for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Over 5.2 innings Tanaka allowed one earned run. Eventually the Carp fell 4-3 to the Nippon Ham Fighters in ten innings, who got back in the series thanks to …
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Hiroki Kuroda hangs up spikes
Former Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda has announced his retirement. The work horse will hang up his spikes after the upcoming Nippon Series in which Kuroda's team, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp will take on the Nippon Ham Fighters. Kuroda made the announcement during a press conference last night. Before the …
Kenta Maeda will call LA home
Dodgers fans have been complaining that it was a bad off season so far. But how can you call the off season bad if the Dodgers just signed Scott Kazmir and the news was spread that the team also lured in Kenta Maeda. According several news websites, the Dodgers signed the Japanese star to an …
Maeda to be posted
After the Hiroshima Toyo Carp listened to the wish of their starting pitcher, Kenta Maeda, they said that they would carefully weigh the options. In the past week they announced that they would likely post him but today the word came out. Major League Baseball on Wednesday morning that the Hiroshima Carp of the Japan Central …
Kenta Maeda wants to be posted
Hiroshima Toyo Carp RHP Kenta Maeda wants to be posted by his team. But the Carp have not directly agreed with this request. In the Japanese press the club is saying that it is carefully weighing the options. Maeda, born on April 11 1988, has pitched his entire career for the Carp. In 2010 he …
Toyo Carp to commemorate first atomic bomb victims
The Hiroshima Toyo Carp will commemorate the victims of the first atomic bomb that was dropped on August 6 1945. Coming August it will be seventy years ago that the Americans dropped the first atomic bomb ever on Hiroshima. To commemorate the victims, the players will wear a special jersey that sports an 86 uniform …
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Promotions and demotion of Rick Van den Hurk from a Dutch point of view
Four weeks ago, the news was spread that Rick van den Hurk would be promoted by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, the defending champions of the NPB. You may understand that the Dutch baseball community was very excited. I found the news on Twitter and published it on my blog. It took several days before the …
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Rick van den Hurk likely to start in July 2 game for Hawks
Several newspapers in Japan are stating that Rick van den Hurk may start the NPB game of July 2nd for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks vs the Seibu Lions. In the last few days, Rick took part in the pitcher practice in Saitozaki training camp. According to sources, Jason Standridge will be pulled from the roster the …
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Rick van den Hurk removed from Softbank Hawks’ active roster
Rick van den Hurk's adventure in the NPB didn't last long. According to the website Yakyu Baka, he has been removed from the Hawks' active roster. Rick was called up about a week and a half ago from the Japanese minor leages, where he posted very impressive numbers. In ten starts, he won five games and lost …
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Van den Hurk debuts with Softbank Hawks
Today, RIck van den Hurk had his much anticipated debut with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.With Rick on the mound, the Hakws snapped a two-game losing streak. Vs. the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, RIck lasted six full innings in which he gave up two runs (one earned). One of the runs that he allowed was a solo shot …
Schierholtz released by Rangers, with a new job in a blink of an eye
I know this is nothing about Dutch baseball or the New York Yankees, but I was surprised to see how a player that was released three days ago, can get a new job so quick....in Japan. Some times, things can go very quick. This is what Nate Schierholz experienced after he was granted his release …
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Baseball Miscellaneous 2
Besides the fact that some minor league teams are called bees; Salt Lake (AAA Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Angels), Burlington (A Full Season Midwest League affiliate of the Angels) and Binghamton (AA Eastern League affiliate of the Mets), Bees do not have much to do with baseball. But yesterday a swarm decided to …
Dutch Baseball Hangout 
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