(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 Kenley Jansen on shortlist Male Athlete of the Year
Nederlands
 HILVERSUM (Neth.) -
Curaçao-born pitcher Kenley Jansen is one of eleven athletes who is named to the shortlist for this years Male Athlete of the Year in the Netherlands.
On December 19, during the annual NOS / NOC*NSF Sportgala, the best Male and Female Athletes of the Year will be chosen, as well as the Paralympic Athlete of the Year, Team of the Year, Coach of the Year and Talent of the Year.
They will then win the Jaap Eden Award.
Coming weekend, on Sunday, December 3, a jury will name the three finalists in each category.
...Kenley Jansen with the Nethelands at...
...the 2017 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
This year, the 30-year old Jansen had another great season.
He won the National League West-title with Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he also won the National League Championship-title to reach the World Series.
In an exciting and thrilling Championship Final, the Dodgers lost to the Houston Astros, who won their first Major League Championship.
In his eighth season with the Dodgers, Jansen appeared in 65 games and earned 41 saves.
In 68 1/3 inning, the righthander struckout 109 batters and walked only seven, while giving up only eleven runs.
He closed the season with a 5-0 record and a 1.32 ERA.
Jansen led the National League with his 41 saves.
In July, Jansen played in his second consecutive All Star Game.
During the World Series, he was named National League Reliever of the Year.
In March of this year, Jansen joined the Netherlands Kingdom Baseball Team for the Semi-Final of the World Baseball Classic, which was played in his home stadium in Los Angeles.
Joining Jansen on the shortlist are Tom Dumoulin (cycling), Michael van Gerwen (darts), Dylan Groenewegen (cycling), Sjinkie Knegt (shorttrack), Sven Kramer (speedskating), Bauke Mollema (cycling), Kjeld Nuis (speedskating), Jan Smeekens (speedskating), Max Verstappen (formula one) and Ferry Weertman (open water swimming).
Ten candidates are standing on the shortlist for Female Athlete of the Year, being Chantal Blaak (road bicycle racing), Marit Bouwmeester (sailing), Anna van der Breggen (road bicycle racing), Nycke Groot (handball), Ranomi Kromowidjojo (swimming), Lieke Martens (soccer), Dafne Schippers (track & field), Annemiek van Vleuten (road bicycle racing), Kirsten Wild (track cycling and road bicycle racing), Ireen Wüst (speed skating).
It marks the first time that a shortlist is publicly announced.
The shortlist is compiled by the Netherlands Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF) and TV-channel NOS, who both organize the Sportgala.
In a statement, the organisors said that ''Some nominations led to to much discussions in the past.
To give the public an insight which names have been considered, it was decided to also make the shortlist available this year''.
In the past, Robert Eenhoorn, sharing with Foppe de Haan (soccer), in 2007 and Brian Farley in 2011 were named Coach of the Year.
In 2007, Eenhoorn led the National Team to the European title and qualification for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (China).
In 2011, Farley led the Orange squad to the World Championship-title in Panama.
The Netherlands Baseball Team was named Sports Team of the Year in 2011 for capturing the World Championship-title.
The first awards were handed out in 1959.
In that year, Arie van Houwelingen (cycling) and Sjoukje Dijkstra (figure skating) were the first Male and Female Athlete of the Year.
In 1968, Ajax (soccer) was the first Team of the Year and in 1973, the first Talent of the Year was chosen.
That was the Tom Schreursprijs, which was handed out to Harm Kuipers (speedskating).
Two awards were added in 2002, the Coach of the Year and the Paralympic Athlete of the Year.
In the last category, Esther Vergeer (wheelchair-tennis) then won her first of five awards.
She also won in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2010.
Guus Hiddink (soccer) was the first Coach of the Year.
(November 26)
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