Just a few days after the Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) announced that Jim Stoeckel will not return as manager of the Dutch National Team next year, they have found a successor. The 49-year-old American Brian Farley will take over at the helm. He already has served on the coaching staff several times as bench and pitching coach in the past. In the past two years he was the head coach of the AAA (Junior) National Team and the KNBSB development manager.
The former Minor League pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, who is turning 50 next month, is a familiar face in the Netherlands since 1988. Farley was a player/coach for RCH and the Twins and later managed HCAW in the Hoofdklasse. He was named coach of the year in 1998 after winning the championship with HCAW. He also led them to a European Cup title in 2000. This summer he guided the Junior Team to a sixth place at the World Championship in Thunder Bay, Canada, their best finish ever. He is married to former Dutch Softball pitcher Gonny Reijnen. Farley is scheduled to speak at next weekend’s EBCA Convention in Cologne, Germany.