2008 Olympics: Dutch National Team Breakdown

Back in third grade my best bud was a Dutch kid named Goose. Not only was that his real name, it gave him a certain street cred because Top Gun was huge back then and, because we were best buds, if he was Goose that made me Tom Cruise. Third grade came and went, and Goose moved with his family back to the Netherlands. We exchanged a few letters, but soon forgot all about one another as fourth grade arrived and with it the pressure of learning division, armpit hair, and of course, choosing which instrument to drive our parents crazy with for band class.

I mention this because I have no idea where Goose is now or what the fates had in store for him. I can only hope the fates saw fit to make him a baseball fan, and that he has a helluva good time rooting for his homeland’s heroes. Sidney de Jong, Yurendell de Caster, Dirk Van ‘t Klooster—ok, maybe these are not exactly household names, but they are good ballplayers, and they give the Netherlands a fighting chance heading into the 2008 Olympic games.

The Netherlands are home to the most successful national baseball team in Europe—which is a little bit like being the only dude at a Melissa Etheridge concert: You’re not Mr. Sensitive, you’re just pussy-whipped. But the Netherlands have won 20 gold medals and seven silver medals in thirty years of the European Championships. They also stepped into the spotlight (briefly) during the 2006 World Baseball Classic, when their pitcher, Shairon Martis, threw a no-hitter against Panama. It wasn't enough, as the Dutch finished third in their pool and did not advance into the second round.

So here's their 2008 Olympic starting lineup, as I see it:

CATCHER: Sidney de Jong, Amsterdam Pirates. The only player on the Netherlands who needs no introduction, de Jong is a veteran member of the Netherland National Team, having logged over 100 games for the Orange . He was the catcher for Martis’ no-hitter in the 2006 WBC, during which he hit .455. Owner of a .452 career OBP, his slugging percentage in playoff competition is .537. He also threw out nearly 40% of would-be base stealers in 2008.

FIRST BASE: Sharnol Adriana, San Luis Potosi. Mexican league star Sharnol Adriana is no stranger to international competition; he was named to the all-tournament team in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, where he batted .405/.511/.568 with 11 RBI in nine games. Thirty-eight years old, he still stole 22 bases in 2007. A member of both the 2000 and 2004 Netherland Olympic squads, he’ll add punch and some much-needed veteran leadership to an otherwise defensive-minded and young national team.

SECOND BASE: Yurendell de Caster, Columbus Clippers. A prospect in the Washington Nationals’ farm system, de Caster started the season at AA Harrisburg and was promoted after just 69 at-bats. He is currently batting .256/.324/.424 for AAA Columbus. He caught a cup of coffee with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006. He was Winter League Player of the Year in 2005-2006, playing in the Venezuelan league. At twenty-eight years old, his time as an MLB prospect is almost over, but as a veteran of the 2004 Olympic team and the 2006 WBC, he’ll add international experience to the 2008 Dutchmen. For some unkown reason, you can watch him shop at Wal-Mart here.

THIRD BASE: Raily Legito, DOOR Neptunus. Legito hit .400/.571/.600 in the 2006 WBC, for a team-high 1.171 OPS. A veteran of the Dutch leagues, he’s been a mainstay of the Dutch National Team since 1999. We could talk about his stats or his stocky build, but I’d rather you watch this bizarre video featuring Mr. Legito. I don’t speak Dutch, so I’m left with three burning questions: Is this a Dutch soap? Has Legito written the Smoking Man the longest greeting card ever? And is the Netherlands the only place in the world where smoking is still considered cool?

SHORTSTOP: Roel Koolen, Corendon Kinheim. Shortstop is really a toss-up between Koolen and Michael Duursma. Both played NCAA Division I baseball; both went undrafted and have since turned into regulars in the Dutch league and international competition. Duursma had the slightly-better college career but seems to have developed an iron glove, so Koolen received most of the PT in the 2007 World Baseball Cup. He followed up that campaign with a 294/.409/.471 line in the 2008 European Cup, and figures to get most of the Olympic at-bats early on.

LEFT FIELD: Eugene Kingsale, DOOR Neptunus. Kingsale might be the only knight in the entire Olympic field; he was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in 2004, along with major leaguers Calvin Maduro and Sidney Ponson. (Who says the Dutch don't take baseball seriously?) Between 1996 and 2003, Kingsale spend time with the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers. A switch-hitter, he hit .251/.307/.319 over his MLB career before joining the Dutch National Team. He led off for the Netherlands in the 2006 WBC, battled injuries in 2007, and hit .318/.503/.523 for Neptunus in 2008.

CENTER FIELD: Dirk van 't Klooster, Corendon Kinheim. Van 't Klooster was the MVP of the Dutch league in 2005, when he hit 403/.459/.597. He's a "major star" in his home country. He hit .350 in the 2000 Olympics (he slugged .650) and led the Neptunus to their sixth-straight title in 2004. In the 2006 WBC he batted .286/.375/.429, returned home, and immediately tested positive for marijuana. (Maybe the ghanja is to blame for the wonky n-space-apostrophe-t in his surname.) Regardless, it wasn't his first positive test, although it led to his first official suspension. But the Dutch are a little more lenient than we are in the States—van 't Klooster returned to hit .360/.419/.424 in 2007 and then .308/.471/.308 in the 2007 European Championships to help the Dutch qualify for Beijing. This past season he was nailed with a 10-game suspension for his part in a huge brawl between Kinheim and his former team, Neptunus. So he's a fighter; he's a pot smoker; he's a nationally-renowned centerfielder...personality to spare, I'd say. How can you not love this guy?

RIGHT FIELD: Danny Rombley, Corendon Kinheim. Rombley spent six seasons in the Montreal Expos' minor league system before joining the Dutch league in 1998. He won the batting title in 2007 (.392) and earned MVP honors in the 2007 European Cup, hitting a blisternig .500/.500/.909 with five runs, nine RBI and two home runs. He hit .417/.481/.542 in the 2007 European Championship to help the Netherlands qualify for the Olympics.

STARTING PITCHERS: Likely Shairon Martis, Rod Cordemans and Leon Boyd.

BULLPEN: There's only one man you need know: 7'1", weighing in at 245 lbs... Minnesota Twins prospect Loek van Mil.

The Dutch team would be even better with the additions of Wladimir Balentien and Greg Halman. Both are prospects in the Seattle Mariners farm system, but the Mariner's front office will not permit them to play. The 2009 WBC will be a different story of course, and with Balentien's power and Halman's raw athleticism added to the mix above (as well as Andruw Jones, if he ever returns to form), the Netherlands just might make some noise.

As it stands now, I don’t think the Netherlands can compete against superior squads from the U.S. or Cuba. However, teams also won't be able to simply look past the Netherlands on the schedule.

For the Dutch, the worst case scenario is a repeat of the 2004 Olympic games, when they finished sixth. But I also think this is a team that could surprise. The Netherlands have finally consolidated their national talent from among Aruba, the Netherland Antilles, and the Netherlands itself, and organized baseball has been around there now for more than three decades. If you're looking for a Cinderella this summer in Beijing, it could easily be the base-ballers from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Thanks to knbsb-stats.nl and Baseball-Reference.com for many of the stats and details contained in this post. You can also check out Baseball Fever's take on the Dutch Olympic team here.