(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
  Netherlands Team will meet Japan in Samurai Series in March
Nederlands
  NIEUWEGEIN (Neth.) / OSAKA (Japan) -
The National Baseball Teams of the Netherlands and Japan will meet each other in the RAXUS Samurai Japan Series in March 2025, the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB) announced on Sunday (November 24).
The Samurai Japan-team is the national professional team, compiled of players from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the Japanese Major League.
The two teams will play a 2-game series at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka on March 5 and 6.
Japan is the reigning champion of the Olympic Games (2021) and World Baseball Classic (2023).
In the Premier12, which ends today, Japan meets Chinese Taipei in the Final.
In the Preliminary Round of this tournament, the Netherlands was eliminated in Mexico and finished in a tie for ninth place.
For the Netherlands, the games against Japan will be the first as part of the preparations for the European Championship, that is scheduled for September 2025.
Peter Kwakernaak, Technical Director of the KNBSB, is very happy to have been invited by Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
,,We are honoured to receive this opportunity to face the leader in the World Rankings in Samurai Japan, who have proven to be the best team in international baseball in the last few years''', Kwakernaak said in a press release.
It will be the second time that the Netherlands will play in a Samurai Series.
In 2016, the Orange-team was also invited for a 2-game series.
Back then, the games were very attractive and Japan won with a small difference, 9-8 and 12-10.
Amongst the players on the Japan-roster then was Shohei Ohtani, the current Major League 2-way star of Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he won the World Series last month.
A few days ago, Ohtani was voted Most Valuable Player of the National League.
He also was the MVP in 2021 and 2023 in the American League when he played for Los Angeles Angels.
Last year, Czechia was invited for the Samurai Series, which then was played in Nagoya.
Japan won those games with scores of 7-1 and 9-0.
In the KNBSB press release, it was also announced that the KNBSB and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have set up a partnership around the Samurai Japan Series and the Expo 2025, which will be held in Osaka at the same time.
Team Kingdom of the Netherlands will visit the Dutch pavilion in the first week of March.
The theme of the Dutch participation in Expo is 'Common Ground', referring to the way in which the Netherlands wants to tackle the major challenges of our time together with other countries.
It is also a nice reference to the centuries-old relationship between the two countries.
During the games against Japan, the Netherlands will play with the logo of this theme on their sleeve.
Marc Kuipers, the Consul General of the Netherlands in Osaka and the Commissioner General for the Dutch participation in the Expo, is delighted with the partnership:
In the press release, he said:
,,The fact that the Netherlands Kingdom Team is coming to Japan to play during Expo is a great example of 'Common Ground'.
Sport connects people and therefore also countries.
Baseball is the most popular sport in Japan and some players of the Kingdom team are real celebrities.
We are looking forward to the game and the visit of the team!''
(November 24)
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