Mister Baseball

by Pim van Nes

KNBSB penalty committee presided by Mr. Leo van den Boomgaard has sentenced four Kinheim players and three Pioniers players to ten Hoofdklasse games suspensions, including two games conditionally. Last Saturday all players could speak in a hearing session in the federation bureau and explain their behavior in the second base fight after three incidental collisions on the same spot of the Hoofddorp ballpark. As the suspensions had an immediate effect after subject game with the bench clearing brawl, by now those seven players have missed seven Kinheim games and six Pioniers games. As from next Thursday the two clubs will meet again in the weekend series of three games: first game without all seven players punished, second game without three Pioniers players and game three with all players happily reunited.

A week ago both clubs came out with substitute players, however Konica Minolta Pioniers beat DOOR Neptunus twice and Corendon Kinheim beat Sparta/Feyenoord twice. Early last week former Major League player Ivanon Coffie left Neptunus and Holland for continuation of his season in the Independent League, but Neptunus without Coffie beat Kinheim on Thursday by 1-5. Venezuelan pitcher Nelson Santander left the Pioniers and was replaced by another Venezuelan pitcher Alberto Mieres Paez, who arrived in Holland last Thursday. Without Santander the Pioniers beat Sparta/Feyenoord by 4-1 last Saturday, but it was DH Mieres Paez batting in the tying run for the Pioniers with a sac fly in the second inning.

The Pioniers had scored 152 runs in 18 previous games, but versus Sparta/Feyenoord on Sunday they had only one hit in eight innings pitched by good old Rob Cordemans and Venezuelan closer Aristides Almenar. The pitcher’s win was for starter Cordemans, but the save of the 7-2 victory was for Almenar with another perfect outing. He inherited three runners and one out from middle reliever Berry van Donselaar, leading 6-2 in the game. Almenar retired all eight remaining Pioniers batters in the game with one fly out and seven strikeouts, six of which in the eighth and ninth innings. Despite of the Rotterdam defeat, Pioniers conserved their leading position in Hoofdklasse, as also runner-up Kinheim suffered a shock loss by 2-1 versus Mr Cocker HCAW. Progress in Hoofdklasse ranking was made by DOOR Neptunus and L&D Amsterdam, sharing now second position with Kinheim and fourth position with Sparta/Feyenoord.

On June 1 the Dutch market for new foreign players was closed in conformity with strict regulations by KNBSB. Too late for Neptunus to react on Coffie’s departure. (EDIT: Neptunus already has a foreign player on the roster with Dushan Ruzic (AUS) and so were not able to look for a foreign substitute. Dutch regulations allow just one non-European player on the roster) If the rain would have interrupted Pioniers’ game before the fifth inning last Saturday, the three innings played by Mieres Paez would not have been recognized, resulting in the second Venezuelan pitcher’s return flight from Schiphol airport.

Standings

Pim van Nes
Baseball writer for
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