Loyal followers of Haarlem Baseball Week will be familiar with his work, but not everyone will know who the person is who captures all those powerful hits, dizzying double plays, and spectacular catches. Louie-Jay Sienders can look back on a successful career behind the plate, but for several years now he has been enjoying himself just as much behind the camera. He does this primarily to promote his beloved baseball. With the same goal in mind, he has now teamed up with Gijs van Zalingen—and in close collaboration with the KNBSB—to set up a platform for the Lucky Day Hoofdklasse.
What does your platform Honkbal Hoofdklasse entail?
Honkbal Hoofdklasse is a platform on TikTok and Instagram for and by the players. It's the winter break now, so we haven't been able to use any game footage yet, but we'd like to do that in the future. Right now, you'll mainly find transfer announcements, statistics, and interviews, but as soon as the season starts, we'll be reporting on it so that baseball fans worldwide can follow our league and the players in our league get the stage they deserve."
What can people expect on your platform?
"The statistics we use go a little further than those on the association's website. For example, we recently created a First and Second Team based on OPS+ and ERA+ from the past Hoofdklasse season. We will continue to track this during the coming season. In addition, every month we will be putting the spotlight on the best slugger, who will receive a new bat of their choice on behalf of our sponsor, and we have now also found a partner for a similar monthly prize for pitchers. We are still looking for partners for other components, so if anyone reading this would like to contribute, they are welcome to do so."
Will you be active again during Baseball Week?
Absolutely! Baseball Week is a perfect opportunity to shoot beautiful videos, reach a large audience, and promote the sport, so I will definitely be there again with my camera.