Honkbal Hoofdklasse
Encyclopedia
The Honkbal Hoofdklasse is the highest level of professional baseball
in the Netherlands
. It is an eight-team league
that plays a 42-game schedule and is overseen by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB). Games are played principally on weekends. The season runs from April to September and is followed by the playoffs among the four best teams, which culminates in the Holland Series
. Both of the playoff rounds are best-of-five. The league follows a promotion and relegation
system with the Honkbal Overgangsklasse
so that the composition of the top level may change from year to year. Many of the official team nicknames contain the name of the club's corporate sponsor.
The two best teams participates in the European Cup
.
Professional baseball
Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....
in the Netherlands
Baseball in the Netherlands
Baseball in the Netherlands started in , having been introduced to the country by English teacher J.C.G Grasé of Amsterdam following a holiday to America. The first professional baseball league began in...
. It is an eight-team league
Sports league
League is a term commonly used to describe a group of sports teams or individual athletes that compete against each other in a specific sport. At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and compete on weekends; at its most complex, it can be an...
that plays a 42-game schedule and is overseen by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB). Games are played principally on weekends. The season runs from April to September and is followed by the playoffs among the four best teams, which culminates in the Holland Series
Holland Series
The Holland Series has been the annual championship series of the highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands since 1987, concluding the postseason of Honkbal Hoofdklasse...
. Both of the playoff rounds are best-of-five. The league follows a promotion and relegation
Promotion and relegation
In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...
system with the Honkbal Overgangsklasse
Honkbal Overgangsklasse
The Honkbal Overgangsklasse is the second highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands. It is an twelve-team league that plays a 22-game schedule followed by two separate 15-game schedules, including each the best six teams or the weakest six teams, and is overseen by the KNBSB. Games...
so that the composition of the top level may change from year to year. Many of the official team nicknames contain the name of the club's corporate sponsor.
The two best teams participates in the European Cup
European Cup (baseball)
The European Cup is an annual baseball tournament, sanctioned and created by the Confederation of European Baseball . The tournament features the top teams of the professional baseball leagues in Europe....
.
Results
| Hoofdklasse Records | ||||
| Rank | Team | Titles | First | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Neptunus Neptunus Neptunus is the baseball team of the Neptunus Sporting Club in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The title sponsor of the club is currently DOOR Training so that the official name of the team is DOOR Neptunus.... |
13 | ||
| 2nd | Haarlem Nicols | 12 | ||
| 3rd | Blauw-Wit Amsterdam | 9 | ||
| 4th | Sparta/Feyenoord Sparta-Feyenoord Sparta-Feyenoord are a baseball team in Honkbal Hoofdklasse, the Netherlands's professional baseball league.-External links:*... |
9 | ||
| 5th | OVVO Amsterdam | 6 | ||
| 6th | SC Haarlem | 5 | ||
| 7th | Schoten Haarlem | 5 | ||
| 8th | Ajax | 4 | ||
| 9th | Kinheim Kinheim Kinheim is a baseball and softball team based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The title sponsor of the club is currently Corendon so that the official name of the team is Corendon Kinheim. They are current Dutch champions.... |
4 | ||
| 10th | Quick Amsterdam AHC Quick AHC Quick , commonly known as Quick Amsterdam , is a baseball and softball club based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Founded in 1913, it is one of the oldest baseball clubs in Europe still in existence. Today the club operates four men's baseball teams playing in the third, fourth and fifth... |
3 | ||
| 11th | EHS Haarlem | 3 | ||
| 12th | Amstel Tijgers Amstel Tijgers IJshockeyvereniging Amstel Tijgers is an amateur ice hockey team in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, playing in the Dutch Eerste Divisie . It once consisted of an amateur and a pro-section, which were separate legal entities. The amateur team currently plays at the Jaap Eden baan... |
3 | ||
| 13th | Amsterdam Pirates Amsterdam Pirates Amsterdam Pirates is a baseball and softball team in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was founded as an expansion of the soccer club S.V. RAP. In the first years it was known as the RAP Pirates, but after a few years the club changed its name according to American tradition and became the Amsterdam... |
3 | ||
| 14th | HCAW HCAW HCAW or Mr. Cocker HCAW , in full Honkbalclub Allen Weerbaar, is a Dutch baseball club from Bussum. It is one of the largest baseball and softball clubs in the Netherlands and its teams play in all major domestic leagues.... |
2 | ||
| 15th | VVGA Amsterdam | 1 | ||
| 16th | HHC Haarlem | 1 | ||
| 17th | Seagulls Amsterdam | 1 | ||
| 18th | EDO Haarlem | 1 | ||
| 19th | ADO SV ADO SV ADO are a baseball team in Honkbal Hoofdklasse, the Netherlands's professional baseball league.-External links:*... |
1 | ||
| 20th | Hoofddorp Pioniers Pioniers Pioniers is a baseball and softball team based in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. The club is currently sponsored by Raamsdonkveer-based construction company Vaessen BV and the team is officially known as the Vaessen Pioniers.... |
1 | ||
- This team competes in the 2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse.
Current season
The 2011 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season began Thursday, April 7.See also
- Honkbal Rookie LeagueHonkbal Rookie LeagueThe Honkbal Rookie League is a professional baseball league in the Netherlands for rookies from the teams in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. It is an eight-team league that plays a 42-game schedule...
- Baseball in the NetherlandsBaseball in the NetherlandsBaseball in the Netherlands started in , having been introduced to the country by English teacher J.C.G Grasé of Amsterdam following a holiday to America. The first professional baseball league began in...
- Baseball awards #Netherlands
- Baseball awards #Europe
External links
- de Nederlandse honkbalsite (Dutch)
- KNBSB (Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation) (Dutch)
- Connor, Joe. Welcome to the Netherlands. ESPN (MLB), January 17, 2006. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- Remington, Alex. Honkbal! Netherlands Bids to Host MLB in 2014. FanGraphs. September 1, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
- 2008 Netherlands Baseball All-Star Team and MVP (fan vote at "de Nederlandse honkbalsite"). November 10, 2008. Mister Baseball: All about Baseball & Softball in Europe
- Rodney Daal Signs Pro Contract with San Diego Padres Organization. August 24, 2010. Mister Baseball: All about Baseball & Softball in Europe