(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
   Wladimir Balentien and Rick van den Hurk play first games in Japan
Nederlands
  NAGOYA / IZUMI (Japan) -
Dutch outfielder Wladimir Balentien and pitcher Rick van den Hurk have played their first games of the 2021 season in Japan.
However, they didn't play in Nippon Professional Baseball, the highest professional league in Japan, but in a Farm League.
Curaçao-born Wladimir Balentien is on the roster of Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Dutch-born Rick van den Hurk is one of the pitchers of Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
But they didn't play yet for the main-squad.
Instead, they played their first games in the last few days in the Farm-teams of these clubs in what can be compared with the American Minor League.
Balentien played his first game on Friday, April 16 for the Fukuoka Hawks Farm Team in the Western League, which is in second place with a 13-10-1 record.
Van den Hurk made his first pitching appearance last Tuesday (April 20) in the Farm Team of Yakult Swallows in the Eastern League.
This team is currently in seventh and last place with a 4-13 record.
Balentien played in five games (through Friday, April 23) as designated hitter and batted .143 (2-for-14).
One of his two basehits was a homerun, which he hit in his first at bat of the season in an away-game against Chunichi Dragons.
Fukuoka won that game with a 2-0 score.
In his lone appearance so far, Van den Hurk threw only one inning.
He was the starting pitcher on Tuesday in an away-game against Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
The righthander only threw the first inning in which he faced four batters.
He struckout one of them and gave up one basehit.
In the second inning, Van den Hurk was succeeded by American Cy Sneed, who also threw one inning.
The last two seasons, Sneed pitched in the Major League for Houston Astros.
Van den Hurk's team won only 1-0, with the run being scored in the second inning on a homerun by Dominican Domingo Santana, who played in the Major League in 2014-2020 for four clubs.
Both Sneed and Santana are playing in their first Japanese season.
In his first four seasons (2015-2018) in Japan, Van den Hurk was a regular pitcher for Fukuoka Hawks.
In the last two seasons (2019-2020), he pitched in only three and five games respectively for the main-squad.
Balentien played in the Major League for Seattle Mariners (2007-2009) and Cincinnati Reds (2009).
He plays in Japan since 2011, which was his first of nine seasons with Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
'Coco' Balentien was a Free Agent after the 2019 season.
On December 16, 2019, the outfielder signed with the team from Fukuoka for whom he played in 2020.
In 2013, Balentien wrote history when he broke the single-season homerun-record in the NPB.
That season, he hit 60 homeruns, breaking the all-time record which was first set by legendary Sadaharu Oh in 1964.
It was tied by American Tuffy Rhodes in 2001 and Venezuelan Alex Cabrera in 2002.
Van den Hurk played in the Major League for Florida Marlins (2007-2010), Baltimore Orioles (2010-2011) and Pittsburgh Pirates (2012).
The righthander then played two seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), the highest professional league in South Korea.
There, he played for Samsung Lions (2013-2014).
Van den Hurk made his debut in Japan in 2015, playing for Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
He played for this team through 2020 and was a teammate of Balentien last season.
Van den Hurk was a Free Agent after the 2020 season and he signed with Yakult Swallows on February 24 of this year.
The pitcher won the Korean title twice and the title in Japan five times.
Balentien and Van den Hurk both played for the Netherlands National Baseball Team during the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Balentien also wore the Orange shirt in the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece, the 2013 Classic and the 2015 Premier12.
(April 23)
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