Category Archives: Newsletter

National coach Evert-Jan ‘t Hoen has announced the players with whom he will not only aim to defend the title at the Haarlem Baseball Week, but also hopes to regain A-status. The Kingdom team kicks off the week as early as Friday night at 7:30 p.m. with a game against the young Team USA. This edition, […]

The introduction of the Pitch Clock is intended to reduce these pauses, making the games more dynamic and appealing to the audience. This not only speeds up the pace of the games, but also keeps the spectators engaged and excited. WHAT EXACTLY IS THE PITCH CLOCK? The Pitch Clock is a timer […]

Fifth, we introduce the team that was the first to be confirmed for this year’s Baseball Week Haarlem: Japan. The Japanese team has been a regular at Baseball Week for many years. Since 1990, “Samurai Japan” has missed only one edition, and the country has won the tournament four times (1978, ’92, […]

Until the pandemic threw a wrench in the works two years ago, Chinese Taipei had been a regular participant in Baseball Week since 2000. So it came as no surprise that the Asian team was also confirmed as the second country to participate in the upcoming edition. What can we expect from the current number […]

The fact that technological advances also have a dark side became clear a few years ago when Major League Baseball was deeply embarrassed by the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. Indeed, the 2018 champions allegedly owed their success in part to cheating. So it has been up to the league ever since to stay one step ahead […]

The third team in our round of proposals is Italy. That other European baseball powerhouse is participating in Baseball Week for the seventh time, but has never managed to win the tournament. In fact, the teams they finished behind in those earlier appearances can be counted on one hand. MIKE PIAZZA The Azzurri’s star player once again […]

In Part 1 of our three-part series on The Future of Baseball, we looked at new rules designed to make the sport more appealing. In this episode, we turn our attention to an innovation designed to make the sport more equitable: the Automated Ball-Strike System—ABS for short, but commonly referred to as “robot umps” on a regular […]

After introducing European champion Spain to you last week, it’s now Team USA’s turn. The Americans are coming to Haarlem this year with a slightly younger squad than last year. Get to know the stars of the game the day after tomorrow. Two years ago, we were treated to a rock-solid American roster. Standouts from […]

The first team we’d like to introduce is Baseball Week newcomer Spain. So even though this Southern European team is making its first trip to Haarlem, thanks to its 15 bronze medals at the European Championships, it’s fair to say that they’ve been the best of the rest behind the Netherlands and Italy for as long as anyone can remember. […]

The sport that is still sometimes affectionately referred to as America’s National Pastime has been losing ground to sports like American football, basketball, and soccer for years. To turn the tide and make the sport faster, more spectacular, and more surprising to a younger audience, several rule changes have been tested in recent years. […]