(Story & Photo by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Andruw Jones returns home due to sad family-circumstances
Nederlands
 NIEUWEGEIN (Neth.) -
Andruw Jones, the most famous and experienced player on the roster the Kingdom of the Netherlands, today (Friday, October 30) didn't travel with the team to Taiwan.
Instead, the 38-year old Jones returned home to Curaçao to be with his family after the sudding passing of his father >b>Henry Jones.
...Andruw Jones...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
Henry Jones was one of Curaçao's best baseball players in the sixties and seventh.
He was known for his speed on the bases, while playing for wellknown team Royal Scorpions.
Jones Sr. had the talent to play professionally, but back then, far less scouts traveled to the Caribbean area than nowadays.
Henry started teaching Andruw baseball at a very young age, learning him to catch a ball, when he was not even three years old.
When Andruw started to play baseball a few years later, his father and he talked a lot about baseball, including strategy and game situations.
Besides that, Henry Jones trained his son, including baserunning and sprinting.
This was to be the basis for the impressive career Anduw later experienced.
The Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) issued the following statement today:
The baseball community in The Kingdom of The Netherlands would like to express their deepest condolences to Andruw Jones.
The start player of Team Kingdom of te Netherlands today didn't travel with the team to Taiwan, where the Premier12 begins in over a week.
The former Major League-player aborted his preparations for the prestigious tournament, after learning that his father Henry died suddenly last night at the age of 68.
The KNBSB wishes Andruw Jones a lot of strenghth with this huge loss.
Jones had spent the last few days in The Netherlands to prepare with Team Kingdom of The Netherlands in Hoofddorp for the Premier12.
Today (October 30), the players left from Schiphol to Taiwan.
Instead of traveling with the team to Chinese Taipei, Jones immediately went back to Curacao to join his family in their farewell to Henry Jones.
His father was a well-respected baseball player who played an important role in the development of his son into a five times Major League All Star and ten times Gold Glove Award winner.
Andruw Jones hopes to rejoin Team Kingdom of The Netherlands in time for the start of the Premier12.
(October 30)
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