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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & Jan Kruijdenberg)
 Few changes Amsterdam Pirates
Nederlands
 AMSTERDAM (Neth.) -
In the 2017 season, L&D Amsterdam Pirates will play with almost the same team as it did this year.
None of the regular players left the team to play elsewhere, while two players were added and two retired.
An active professional player also transfered to Amsterdam.
Next year, Charles Urbanus returns as Head Coach for his third season in Amsterdam.
Under his guidance, Amsterdam Pirates this year won the European Champions Cup in Italy and San Marino.
Despite several injuries, the team reached the Holland Series and played a series a strong games against Curaçao Neptunus, which went on to win its fourth consecutive championship-title.
Ten days ago, Urbanus won this years Coach of the Year Award.
Urbanus also was the Head Coach of Amsterdam in 2009-2012.
This season, Amsterdam Pirates finished in second place in the Overall Standings with a 31-11 record.
The transfer-deadline ended on Tuesday, November 1, at 5 PM.
Compete overview of all transfers in the Dutch big league
(November 1)
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After having played 21 seasons at the highest level, veteran short stop Michael Duursma recently announced his retirement.
Through the years, Duursma developed in the best defensive short stop in the league, making sometimes remarkable plays, as he had an enormous reach and a strong arm.
Besides that, he also was a very productive hitter.
He was frequently used in the lead-off spot and had a high on-base percentage.
He led the Amsterdam-squad this season with a .480 on-base percentage, 36 walks and 11 hit by pitches.
Duursma led the league the past two seasons in Hit Batter, a category in which he was listed high annually in the past seasons.
His 36 walks this season was only one behind league-leader Gianison Boekhoudt (Neptunus).
This year, Duursma was Amsterdam's fifth best hitter with a .294 batting average (37-for-126) with seven doubles.
He scored 28 runs and batted in 22, while stealing seven bases.
His 140 assists were the most in the league.
Michael Duursma made his debut in the Dutch big league in 1996, playing for HCAW.
After having played five seasons for the Bussum-club, he transfered to Neptunus, where he briefly played during the 2001 season.
Hereafter, Duursma played ten years for Hoofddorp Pioniers.
After the 2011 season, he moved to Amsterdam Pirates, for whom he played the past five years.
Duursma also has been a regular in the Netherlands National Baseball Team for many years and participated with the Orange-squad in a lot of big international events, including Olympic Games, World Baseball Classic, World Championships and European Championships.
During this years European Championship in Hoofddorp (Netherlands), he was one of five players who were honored for their many years of service in the National Team.
Also retiring is Koen Nooij, who was used as an outfielder or designated hitter.
The brother of former big league-catcher Bas Nooij played in 28 games this season and batted .300 (18-for-60) with three doubles, two triples and one homerun.
Nooij scored 18 runs and batted in eight.
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...Koen Nooij (left) and Jimmy Osinga (right)...
(© Both Photos: Henk Seppen) |
Righthanded pitcher Jimmy Osinga, who was added to the roster in June, will pitch for Pickles UVV next season.
Osinga played the majority of the season in the Rookie League Team of Amsterdam.
With the main-squad, he participated in the European Champions Cup-tournament early June in Italy and San Marino.
There, he captured the European Cup with Pirates and closed on game, earning a save.
He was then one of two pitchers from the Rookie League Team to be added to the main squad shortly thereafter due to several injuries in the pitching staff.
On June 28, Osinga made his debut in the Dutch big league.
The righthander appeared in four regular season games of Amsterdam, including two starts, and was 1-0.
He struckout three batters in 9 1/3 inning, but also walked six.
In the meantime, it has been reported by a Japanese newspaper that Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, one of the professional Japanese organizations, has shown interest in Tom de Blok.
The righthanded closer might be invited for a try-out, but no further details are known yet at the moment.
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...Zerzinho Croes (left) and Norbert Jongerius (right)...
(© Both Photos: Henk Seppen) |
Two players have joined the Amsterdam-squad, infielder Zerzinho Croes and outfielder Norbert Jongerius.
Zerzinho Croes batted .311 (52-for-167) this season playing for Vaessen Pioniers.
There, he led the team with 36 runs scored (with Kevin Dirksen), 52 basehits, two triples, 62 total bases, three sacrifice bunts and 16 stolen bases.
Croes almost surely will replace Michael Duursma as short stop and lead-off hitter.
This year, Croes mostly was the lead-off hitter for Pioniers and was its short stop, but also played some games at second base.
Norbert Jongerius this year also made his debut in the French National Team, with whom he participated in the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in Panama and the European Championship in the Netherlands.
The outfielder batted .216 (22-for-102) with three doubles, eight runs scored and nine runs batted in.
He led the team with 13 stolen bases and seven sacrifice bunts.
Added to the big league-roster from the Rookie League Team of the club was righthanded pitcher Hidde Brocken.
Like Jimmy Osinga, Brocken traveled with the main-squad to Italy for the European Champions Cup-tournament early June, which was won by Pirates.
Both Brocken and Osinga played the majority of the season in the Rookie League Team of Amsterdam.
The two were then added to the main squad shortly after the tournament due to several injuries in the pitching staff.
On June 25, Brocken made his big league-debut.
The righthander pitched in four regular season-games, all starts, and was 2-1 with a 2.42 ERA.
In 22 1/3 inning, he struckout nine batters.
Also transfering to Amsterdam Pirates is powerhitter Kalian Sams, who has played professionally in Canada in an Independent League this year, as he had done last year.
He was on the roster of Kinheim the past two seasons, but only briefly played for the Haarlem-squad in 2015.
Sams also briefly played for Neptunus a few years ago during the postseason.
After having played in the Dutch big league for ADO, the outfielder now plays professionally since 2007.
He was signed by the Seattle Mariners and played in Single-A through 2012.
Hereafter, Sams played in the organizations of the San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers in 2013.
Since 2014, he plays in Independent Leagues.
In this years European Championship, Sams batted .394 with four homeruns (three in one game) for the Netherlands Team, with whom he captured the Championship-title.
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Copyright © 1997-2016 Marco Stoovelaar / Grand Slam * Stats & News.
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