Preview Dutch Major League Part One

CORENDON KINHEIM started their own title streak after numerous years of domination by NEPTUNUS and won the championship, beating KONICA MINOLTA PIONIERS in three games in the Holland Series. DOOR NEPTUNUS was eliminated during the semi-finals, after finishing in second at the end of the regular season behind KINHEIM. The AMSTERDAM PIRATES were the fourth club in the playoffs.

These four were also the only teams with records over .500. ALMERE’90 finished in ninth and went down. All other clubs will be back for the 2008 season. There are not many signings from outside of the Netherlands and most of the teams count on their players from last year. The preseason was not that perfect for the clubs, as most of the games were rained out.

Every club plays twice a weekend each a home and a road game against the respective opponent. They are playing a triple round robin with the top four advancing to the playoffs. Expect the playoff teams of 2007 right again in the hunt for the spots at the top of the standings.

On the first weekend the best four teams face the bottom four of last season:
{mrb-schedule:2008-04-12|2008-04-13|NL}
Complete Schedule

The champions of this century:
2007 Corendon Kinheim
2006 Corendon Kinheim
2005 Neptunus Rotterdam
2004 Neptunus Rotterdam
2003 Neptunus Rotterdam
2002 Neptunus Rotterdam
2001 Neptunus Rotterdam
2000 Neptunus Rotterdam

A last look at 2007
Regular Season

1. Corendon Kinheim 33-7
2. DOOR Neptunus 32-7
3. Konica Minolta Pioniers 22-17
4. Amsterdam Pirates 21-18
5. Mr. Cocker HCAW 17-22
6. ADO 15-24
7. Sparta/Feyenoord Rotterdam 13-25
8. MediaMonks RCH 12-27
9. Almere Magpies 11-29

Playoffs:
Corendon Kinheim – Amsterdam Pirates 3-2 (6-5, 8-1, 6-11, 1-5, 4-1)
DOOR Neptunus – Konica Minolta Pioniers 0-3 (1-3, 0-5, 3-4)
Holland Series:
Corendon Kinheim – Konica Minolta Pioniers 3-0 (7-4, 4-3, 4-1)

Players to look for:
Pitchers:
Leon Boyd (Neptunus)
David Bergman (Kinheim)
Adam Sowell (HCAW)
Al Morales (RCH)
Nelson Santander (Pioniers)

Position Players:
Fausto Alavarez (Pirates)
Danny Rombley (Kinheim)
Ryan Murphy (Pirates)
Railey Legito (Neptunus)
Harvey Monte (Sparta/Feyenoord)

Check part two of our preview for some notes on each team.