Over the years, great baseball players have been at Baseball Week. Dutch players with a great track record at the national and international level, but also an awful lot of players from other participating countries, some of whom would even later make it to baseball’s hall of fame: Major League Baseball.
From Haarlem to the Big Leagues. It seems like a big step, but certainly in the more recent editions of Baseball Week, many future Major Leaguers have played. The court supplier? The collegiate Team USA, also participating in Baseball Week this summer, as well as the A-team of Cuba, this year Team USA’s opponent on July 11!
This match will be followed closely by fans, but also certainly by scouts. Do you have some empty balls at home? (And otherwise just buy them at Keystone’s booth at the stadium!) Take them to Baseball Week and hunt for the autograph of the player in whom you see the greatest future.
Over the years, big stars have played at Baseball Week. Dave Winfield hit 3,000 hits in the Major League for the Padres and Yankees and has been inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame. Matt Stairs won the World Series and is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. In slightly more recent history (2000 to present), All-Stars such as Mark Prior, Mark Teixeira, Ryan Howard, Dustin Pedroia (AL Rookie of the Year in 2007 and AL MVP in 2008), Yoennis Cespedes, Carlos Rodon (no-hitter in 2021), Andrelton Simmons, Stephen Strasburg (World Series MVP in 2019), Kris Bryant (NL Rookie of the Year in 2015 and NL MVP in 2016), Trea Turner, Jose Abreu (AL MVP in 2020), Yulieski Gurriel, Alex Bregman and Dansby Swanson (World Series winner in 2021) on the mound or in the batting cage at Pim Mulier Stadium.
The 2012 edition takes the crown when it comes to future Major Leaguers. No fewer than 21 Team USA and Cuba players from this year’s batch reached the Major League. Of the 2012 Team USA, only Ben Grover, then pitcher of L&D Amsterdam, was not penalized. Nine of them were selected in the first round of the 2013 or 2014 draft.
Of the 2014 U.S. selection, even five players were selected in the top 10 of the 2015 MLB Draft: Dansby Swanson (No. 1, Arizona Diamondbacks), Alex Bregman (No. 2, Houston Astros), Dillon Tate (No. 4, Texas Rangers), Tyler Jay (No. 6, Minnesota Twins) and Carson Fulmer (No. 8, Chicago White Sox). The quartet of Tate, Fulmer, Jay and fifth-round draft pick Ryan Burr threw a combined no-hitter in 2014, the most ever in Baseball Week history.
The conclusion? Be there on July 11 when Team USA plays against Cuba. Bring a camera, a ball and a pen, because there might be a future MLB player or even Hall of Famer on the squad!
Tickets for July 11 can be purchased here. Below is a list of Baseball Week participants who later reached the Major League:
|
1972 |
Dave Winfield (Alaska Goldplanners) |
|
1988 |
Matt Stairs (Canada) |
|
1998 |
Jose Contreras (Cuba) |
|
2000 |
Mark Prior, Mark Teixeira, Ryan Howard, Xavier Nady, Bobby Crosby, Jeff Baker, Dewon Brazelton, Lenny Dinardo, Kirk Saarloos (USA) |
|
2002 |
Dustin Pedroia, Rickie Weeks, Aaron Hill, Carlos Quentin, Huston Street, Philip Humber, Sam Fuld, Conor Jackson, Ryan Garko, Chad Cordero (USA) |
|
2006 |
Yoennis Cespedes (Cuba) |
|
2008 |
Andrelton Simmons (Curaçao), Stephen Strasburg, Mike Leake, Mike Minor, Kyle Gibson, Matt den Dekker, Tyler Lyons, Derek Dietrich (USA) |
|
2010 |
Anthony Bemboom (USA) |
|
2012 |
Marco Gonzales, Carlos Rodon, Kris Bryant, Michael Lorenzen, Trea Turner, Michael Conforto, Jose Trevino, Kyle Farmer, Adam Frazier, Adam Plutko, Ryne Stanek, Trevor Williams (USA), Jose Abreu, Yulieski Gurriel, Rusney Castillo, Aledmys Diaz, Arisbel Arruebarruena, Odrisamer Despaigne, Alex Guerrero, Guillermo Heredia, Dalier Hinojosa (Cuba) |
|
2014 |
Dansby Swanson, Alex Bregman, Dillon Tate, Ryan Burr, Carson Fulmer, James Kaprielian, DJ Stewart, Kyle Funkhouser, A.J. Minter, Zack Collins, Taylor Ward, Bryan Reynolds, Thomas Eshelman, Mark Mathias (USA) |
By the way: Japan also often sent talented players to Haarlem. A number of them made it to NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball), the second league worldwide behind Major League Baseball. The loyal Baseball Week fan will remember one of them well: the chubby first baseman who stole the hearts of spectators and received the audience award in 2008: Ryoji Nakata. He later played for the Chunichi Dragons.
The best Japanese player ever at Baseball Week was the tournament’s MVP in 1992: Tosihisha Nisi. He played 12 seasons in the NPB and won the Japan Series twice.
Photo: Team USA. Bergman/Swanson (front row, right), Collins (standing third from right), Fulmer (top row, center)