(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
      Shairon Martis pitches in Venezuela
Nederlands
   MARACAIBO, Zulia / PUERTO LA CRUZ, Anzoátegui / BARQUISIMETO, Lara (Venezuela) -
Curaçao-born Dutch professional Shairon Martis is currently active in Venezuela.
The righthanded pitcher plays for Aguilas del Zulia, which is in first place in the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol, which opened the new (winter) season on October 3.
Another familiar pitcher to Dutch baseball-fans also plays in Venezuela, as lefthander Ricardo Hernandez Sánchez pitches for Caribes de Anzoátegui.
Brazilian-born righthanded pitcher Tiago da Silva also plays in Venezuela.
He also is a familiar name in international baseball and has played several seasons in Italy.
Da Silva pitches for Cardenales de Lara.
...Shairon Martis pitching for the Netherlands...
...during the European Championship in September...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Since the start of the new (winter) season in Veneuela, Shairon Martis has pitched in eight games (all starts) for Aguilas.
The righthander is 0-3 with a 4.00 ERA.
In 36 innings, Martis struckout 20 batters, walked only nine, but gave up 42 basehits and 19 runs.
So far, Aguilas already has 32 different pitchers (nine starters) this season in 35 games.
Aguilas del Zuilia is in first place with a 22-13 record.
Earlier this year, Martis pitched for Lincoln Saltdogs in the American Association (Independent League), where he was a teammate of Curt Smith, who currently plays in Nicaragua.
With Lincoln, he was 9-8 with one save and a 3.34 ERA this year.
Martis plays professionally since 2005 and has pitched in 26 Major League-games.
He first pitched for Washington Nationals in 2008 and 2009, then made his comeback in the big league in 2013, when he appeared in six games of the Minnesota Twins.
Martis was 6-7 and struckout 64 batters.
He also played in the organizations of the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates, as well as in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Taiwan.
Martis has been a frequent member of the Netherlands National Team since 2006.
He played for the Orange squad team in the 2006 and 2013 World Baseball Classic, the 2008 Olympic Games, as well as the European Championship in 2007, 2012 and in September of this year.
In 2011, he was a member of the successful squad that captured the World Championship-title and last year, he participated in the Premier12.
Ricardo Hernandez has pitched in 15 games as a reliever for Caribes, for whom he also played in the previous two seasons.
The lefthander is 0-1, earned one save and has an 1.29 ERA.
He only threw seven innings and struckout five batters, while walking four.
Hernandez is one of 27 pitchers (including seven starters) being used so far by Caribes.
...Ricardo Hernandez Sánchez...
...pitching for Spain in the 2012...
...European Championship... | 
...Tiago da Silva pitching for...
...Italy in the 2010...
...European Championship... |
| (© Both Photos: Henk Seppen) |
Hernandez pitched in the Dutch big league for Vaessen Pioniers in 2014 and 2015.
Before coming to the Netherlands, Hernandez pitched for Nettuno in Italy in 2012.
This year, he pitched for Pirate dei Rimini in the Italian Baseball League.
Hernandez played profesionally since 2006 in the organization of the Florida Marlins through 2009.
Since 2008, he also plays in the Venezuelan Winter Leagues.
As he also has a Spanish passport, Hernandez participated in several international events with the National Team of Spain, including the 2013 World Baseball Classic and the recent European Championship in September in the Netherlands.
On that event, Spain surprised by reaching the Final, but then lost to the Netherlands.
Hernandez also pitched for Spain at the European Championships in 2012 and 2014.
Tiago da Silva has appeared in 18 games (all as reliever) so far and is 3-1 with one save and a 3.38 ERA.
In 18 2/3 inning, the righthander struckout five batters and walked seven, while giving up 18 basehits.
So far, Cardenales has used 29 pitchers (seven starters) this season.
Da Silva played in the Italian Baseball League for T&A San Marino (2008-2013) and he played for the National Team of Italy in several big tournaments, including the World Baseball Classic in 2009 and 2013.
He also played professionally in the Summer Leagues in México and Venezuela.
The pitcher is now back with Cardenales de Lara, for whom he also played last season.
In 2010, Da Silva pitched for Italy against the Netherlands in the Final of the European Championship in Stuttgart (Germany), which was won by the Italians.
In 2014, he again pitched against the Orange squad in the European Championship Final in Brno (Czech Republic).
This time, the Netherlands won the title.
In September of this year, during another European Championship, he again was one of the pitchers of Italy, which was eliminated for the Final.
(November 20)
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