Mister Baseball

This weekend the Dutch Hoofdklasse starts into the 2010 season. Defending champion DOOR Neptunus is playing the openers against local rivals Sparta/Feyenoord and is again considered to be the favorite for the title. The other six teams, Konica Minolta Pioniers, L&D Amsterdam Pirates, Corendon Kinheim, Mr. Cocker HCAW, ADO and the promoted Almere Magpies also kick off the new year in Netherlands Baseball. The Hoofdklasse will feature a new event on July 4th, when the best players from the north take on the south in the first-ever All-Star Game.

Time	Home	Visitor	Field
Dates and Times are subject to change! In case of doubt check with the responsible national federation!
Saturday, April 10 2010
14:00	L&D Amsterdam	ADO	Amsterdam - Spo...
14:00	Corendon Kinheim	Almere Magpies	Haarlem - Pim M...
14:00	DOOR Neptunus	Sparta/Feyenoord	Rotterdam - Fam...
14:00	Mr.Cocker HCAW	Konica Minolta Pioniers	Bussum - Sportv...
Sunday, April 11 2010
14:00	ADO	L&D Amsterdam	Den Haag - Leen...
14:00	Konica Minolta Pioniers	Mr.Cocker HCAW	Hoofddorp - Spo...
14:00	Sparta/Feyenoord	DOOR Neptunus	Rotterdam - Spo...
14:00	Almere Magpies	Corendon Kinheim	Almere - Fanny ...

Team by Team Previews:

DOOR Neptunus

DOOR Neptunus won the Dutch championship for a twelfth time in team history, tying the record of the Haarlem Nicols. Now they want to take over sole position of the all-time lead in the Netherlands. And it looks pretty good. Lennart Koster, Matt McGraw and Jurjen van Zijl are gone, while Marvin Bleij, Eldrion Regina, Danny Rombley and ex-pros Dwayne Kemp and Leon Boyd have joined the club for the 2010 campaign among others.

With Boyd back in the fold, it is going to be interesting how the pitching staff pans out, as Dushan Ruzic, Diegomar Markwell and Kevin Heijstek were starters last year. Kemp and Rombley will reinforce an offense, which already had Eugene Kingsale, Benjamin Dille, Raily Legito and Jeffrey Arends. Catcher Martijn Meeuwis will solely focus on Neptunus after his retirement from the national team. These are not good news for the rest of the Hoofdklasse, as the team of head coach Steve Janssen will be the number one favorite for the title.

Konica Minolta Pioniers

After losing in the Holland Series against DOOR Neptunus, the Konica Minolta Pioniers had a pretty active winter to overhaul the 2010 roster. Twelve players were added to the team, highlighted by Eddie Aucoin, Dave Draijer, Lennart Koster, Nelson Santander, Jurjen van Zijl and Jakub Malik, though Koster will be sidelined for the first six weeks with a shoulder injury. Last year’s MVP Ryan Murphy, Roger Kops, Glenn Romney and Andley Simmons departed. But even though the big bat and the great arm of Murphy is no longer on the roster, head coach Bernie Beckman still would consider anything but another Holland Series participation a non-successful season.

L&D Amsterdam Pirates

The Pirates won the 2008 championship and had a decent start into the 2009 season. After a second-place finish in the regular season they were eliminated by the Pioniers in the semi-finals. They suffered another big loss in the offseason, as Cuban slugger Fausto Alvarez joins a second-division team in the Netherlands. Also not coming back are Nick Stuifbergen and Adam Blackley. On the plus side, they have signed Rob Cordemans, probably the best Dutch pitcher of the past few seasons, and Ben Grover. Additionally some prospects get promoted to the first-team roster, including infield prospect Nick Urbanus. L&D Amsterdam also made a change on the coaching staff, as Charles Urbanus is taking over for Rikkert Fanyete.

Corendon Kinheim

Corendon Kinheim celebrates its 75 year anniversary this summer. In 2009 they lost in the semi-finals against DOOR Neptunus after having finished the regular season in fourth place. We didn’t hear much about their offseason during the winter. They had added Bjorn Hato to their roster, but he also got signed by the Mets and is making his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League these days. Nick Stuifbergen, who comes from Amsterdam, basically replaces Robin van Eis on the pitching staff. Outfielders Denny Beljaards and Danny Rombley are gone too. Shortstop Josh Renick is also not expected back. David Bergman, Nick Veltkamp and Patrick Beljaards will be starting pitchers besides Stuifbergen with Michiel van Kampen back as closer. The offense still relies on Dirk van’t Klooster, national team coach to be Tjerk Smeets, Jason Halman and Brian Engelhardt. Although Kinheim probably isn’t as strong as in their championship years, they still are a candidate for the playoff spots.

Sparta/Feyenoord Rotterdam

Sparta/Feyenoord finished in fifth place in the Dutch Hoofdklasse last year, missing out on the playoffs by a mere 1.5 games. However it is going to be difficult this season, as Rob Cordemans, basically a guarantee for a win, when he was starting, has left for Amsterdam. They also lost outfielder Eldrion Regina. Raynard Doran is supposed to make up for the loss and also strengthens the pitching staff. During the preseason they impressed with good performances and won the Hudson John Tournament against DOOR Neptunus, the Savigny Lions and ADO.

Mr. Cocker HCAW

HCAW had no shot at the playoffs last year, finishing in sixth place with an 11-30 record. The big acquisition this winter was the Venezuelan shortstop Dirimo Chavez, who looks back at five years in the minor leagues and played in the Baseball World Cup last September. Other notable newcomers are pitcher Robin van Eis and British national teamer Aeden McQueary-Ennis. German national team pitcher Andre Hughes has returned to the Solingen Alligators. Jason Rees is also not coming back. With that HCAW is likely again a candidate for fifth or sixth in the standings.

ADO

ADO avoided relegation last fall, by defeating the RCH Media Monks in four games. The forecast for the 2010 season isn’t looking much better. They have added the American pitcher Bobby Carrington and the Australian first baseman Matt Ryan at the beginning of spring. Additionally nine players have arrived, although all none of them played in the Hoofdklasse last year. The biggest name among the departures is Aeden McQueary-Ennis.

Almere Magpies

The Magpies have returned to the Hoofdklasse thanks to winning the second division in Dutch baseball. They are replacing the RCH Media Monks in the league lineup. They acquired 16 new players, including five from RCH. Also among them is the American Michael Parker and Scott Ronnenbergh, who just recently signed with the Seattle Mariners, but should be available for Almere in the first few months of the season. But besides a few surprises they are bound for the bottom half of the standings.

Hoofdklasse champions of the last Decade:

• 2000 DOOR Neptunus
• 2001 DOOR Neptunus
• 2002 DOOR Neptunus
• 2003 DOOR Neptunus
• 2004 DOOR Neptunus
• 2005 DOOR Neptunus
• 2006 Corendon Kinheim
• 2007 Corendon Kinheim
• 2008 L&D Amsterdam Pirates
• 2009 DOOR Neptunus

Final Standings Regular Season 2009:

Standings

Photo: © Ron Wickert, www.eott.nl

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