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Watch Game One of 2020 Nippon Series here
Today the 2020 Nippon Series between the Yomiuri Giants and the SoftBank Hawks comences. The Hawks try to four-peat, the Giants try to win it all since 2012. If you are interested in Japanese baseball or if you don’t want to call it quits yet regarding the 2020 season, here is the link to the…
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Dutchies in Japan thread
As all the baseball fans of the Dutch Kingdom (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustace, St. Martin and The Netherlands) will know, there are two players (Wladimir Balentien and Rick van den Hurk) from the Dutch Kingdom playing in Japan for a couple of years now. For the first time, they are playing on one…
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Rick van den Hurk’s take on Minor League Baseball
Most of you will know by now that I would regret the contraction of 42 minor league teams by Major League Baseball, especially for the (IMO) made-up reasons. So I thought “What’s better to have a former minor leaguer have his say about the minors to (perhaps) cast some new light on the issue?” And…
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Rick van den Hurk donates for charity
In a tweet and on his own website, Rick van den Hurk announced that he will have a weekly auction, to raise money for the Ronald McDonald Foundation. 🚨NEWS🚨Full article on website➡️: https://t.co/OcEOT3zhht #VandyforCharity pic.twitter.com/wGdS06GtZY — Rick van den Hurk (@rickvandenhurk) May 21, 2020 The Dutch-born pitcher from Eindhoven will donate game-used baseball items and…
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NPB cancels practice games
After three players of the Hanshin Tigers have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) has decided to cancel all practice games of the Japanese major league clubs. At least, according to a Tweet by Dutch pitcher Rick van den Hurk, all practice games are cancelled but the Ni-Gun (minor league) games…
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Softbank Hawks about to make Balentien a two-year offer
According to several Japanese news outlets, the Softbank Hawks from Fukuoka will make Curaçaoan slugger Wladimir Balentien an offer for a two-year deal worth about $9 million. One of the demands/wishes Balentien has is to play with number four, the number he has worn during his NPB career with the Yakult Swallows. The Softbank Hawks…
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Rick van den Hurk stays loyal to Hawks
The Softbank Hawks and Dutchie Rick van den Hurk agreed on a one-year contract extension. It was rumored Rick was looking for opportunities in the MLB but he decided to stay with the Japanese champion. Van den Hurk’s contract expired after the 2019 season, which was rather injury-riddled. Rick appeared in only three games of…
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Wladimir Balentien not an FA yet
Even though he has the right to do so, Wladimir Balentien didn’t use his free-agent rights yet. Apparently, he wants to talk with the club he has spent his entire NPB career with first. Due to this move, the Yakult Swallows will have exclusive negotiation rights until the end of November. If both parties will…
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Wladimir Balentien’s new status makes him interesting for other teams
Wladimir Balentien comes off his ninth season in the NPB. The Curaçao-born slugger joined the Yakult Swallows in 2011 and has not left the club ever since. Since his first season in the NPB, Balentien has hit at least 30 home runs per season. He only fell short on that mark in 2015 as his…