Yesterday we went to the first baseball match of Holland, against Greece. The (very nice) stadium was packed with Greeks cheering on 'their' heroes. Actually, 22 out of the 25 players on the Greek team are actually Americans who once ate a Pita Giros... Any good American player with a great great great grandfather born in Greece was eligible for this Greek team.
The Dutch team is a bit similar but not entirely the same. 75% of the Dutch team are actually players from the Dutch Antilles. Major difference, however, is that these players are already born with the Dutch nationality. They play for Holland, as it is almost impossible for the Antilles to qualify for the games in a region with all major baseball countries (USA, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Panama, just to name a few)
The starting pitcher was Calvin Maduro (Aruba) who played a few years in the Major League and he was on fire. He only allowed 2 hits in his 7 innings. The locals were still hopeful until the fourth innings when Yurrendel DeCaster (Curacao) totally smashed a fastball for a 3-run homerun. There were some 50 fans of the Dutch team singing chants like "Wat zijn die Grieken stil!" and "Zij gaan op Tienertour". The final score was 11-0 to Holland.
After the game I had a quick chat with the delegations of the Dutch Antilles and Aruba, which were also in the stadium cheering the Dutch team on. For you Arubans out there, the Aruban sprinter is targetting 10.45 for his 100 meters. Let's hope he achieves this as he is still young and hopes to peak 4 years from now.
I've tried to get my pictures on-line but these internet cafes are a bit strict on connecting cameras to the PC's. It must be the Taurus build... ;-)
(that's an insiders joke)
Roberto
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2 comments:
I saw the game on tv. I was checking the crowd as I knew you would go to a baseball game. Unfortunatly they didn't take a shot of you guys. Did you forget to paint your hair and beard?
Indeed, forgot to bring the Orange paint
Roberto
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