Martijn Meeuwis
Encyclopedia
Martijn Meeuwis is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player who currently plays for 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....
and the Dutch national team
Netherlands national baseball team
The Netherlands national baseball team is the national baseball team of the Netherlands. They are currently the top team in Europe and currently the sixth ranked men's baseball team in the IBAF World Rankings....
.
Meeuwis debuted with the Twins Sport Club in 1999 as a teenager but did not return to the Hoofdklasse
Hoofdklasse
The Hoofdklasse is the 2nd highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fourth tier in general.-Background:The league is divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunday. This is a result of the traditional pillarisation , the segregation of Dutch society. The Saturday-clubs are by...
again until 2004, when he became a full-time player. When the Twins were relegated, Meeuwis moved to 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....
. In 2005, he hit .184/.266/.233 as a regular outfielder. In 2006, he was the club's regular center fielder, though he also filled in at second base. He hit .304/.377/.402 and led the league in triples (5). In 2007, Meeuwis really blossomed after joining DOOR 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....
. He hit .301/.394/.500 with 37 RBI in 39 games while returning to catcher, his original position. He threw out 19 of 35 would-be base-stealers. He was 7th in 2007 Hoofdklasse in batting average, third in home runs (6) and second in RBI (six behind leader Tjerk Smeets
Tjerk Smeets
Tjerk Smeets is a Dutch baseball player who currently plays for Kinheim and the Dutch national team. He is the son of Dutch radio and television personality, writer, and columnist Mart Smeets....
). He was named as one of the three finalists for the league MVP award alongside Fausto Álvarez and Danny Rombley
Danny Rombley
Danny Rombley is a Dutch baseball player who currently plays for Kinheim and the Dutch national team. He also played six years in the US minor leagues....
; Álvarez won.
Meeuwis joined the Dutch national team when Johnny Balentina
Johnny Balentina
Randolph Benito Balentina is a Dutch baseball player, who competed in three consequtive Summer Olympics for the Netherlands, starting in 1996 . Twice he finished in sixth place , once in fifth place .-Reference:...
, another C-OF, was injured. He was part of the team's historic first visit to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which included a win over the college edition of Team USA
United States national baseball team
The United States National Baseball team represents the United States in international baseball competition. The United States has won the previous two Baseball World Cups, having lost this title to the Netherlands in 2011, and is currently second in the IBAF World Rankings, behind Cuba.The team...
. He played also in the 2007 World Port Tournament
2007 World Port Tournament
The 2007 World Port Tournament was an international baseball competition held at the DOOR Neptunus Familiestadion in Rotterdam, The Netherlands from August 2–12, 2007...
, going 1 for 6. Balentina was back with the team for the 2007 European Championship but Meeuwis replaced him once more for the 2007 Baseball World Cup
2007 Baseball World Cup
The XXXVII International Baseball Federation Baseball World Cup was held in the Republic of China from November 6 through November 18, 2007. Four stadiums hosted...
. He was 3 for 10 with 2 walks and a double in the World Cup that year, helping fill in for CF Roger Bernadina
Roger Bernadina
Rogearvin Argelo "Roger" Bernadina is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Washington Nationals. He was signed at age 17 as a nondrafted free agent in 2001....
. He had a key role in the Dutch win over host Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals. En-Yu Lin
En-Yu Lin
Lin En-yu, , is a Taiwanese professional baseball pitcher. After serving in Chinese Taipei's National Training Team in 2003 and 2004, he was drafted by the Macoto Cobras of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Republic of China in early 2005 and stayed with the team until the end of 2006...
had retired 13 batters in a row and held a 2-0 lead when Meeuwis walked and came around to score on a hit by Reily Legito
Reily Legito
Raylinos Joaquin 'Reily' Legito is a Dutch baseball player.Legito, a right-handed infielder, represented the Netherlands at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where he and his team became fifth. Four years later at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens they were sixth.-External links:*...
. Gregory Halman later replaced Meeuwis in center in that game. Meeuwis hit .231/.375/.231 in the 2008 European Cup in Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
.
Meeuwis was selected by coach Robert Eenhoorn
Robert Eenhoorn
Robert Franciscus Eenhoorn is a retired Dutch professional baseball player and manager. He played four seasons of Major League Baseball as a utility infielder for the New York Yankees and California/Anaheim Angels.-Major League career:Robert Eenhoorn played four seasons in Major League Baseball as...
in the team that represents the Netherlands at the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
.