Michael Duursma
Encyclopedia
Michael "Mike" Duursma (born February 26, 1978 in Heiloo
) is a Dutch
baseball
player who currently plays for Pioniers
and the Dutch national team
. He is the brother of Mark Duursma and was one of the few Dutch players to play in NCAA Division I.
Duursma hit .343/.414 in 1999 as a sophomore
for Cypress Community College; he had started at shortstop and as a freshman as well. Also in 1999, Duursma played for the Dutch team in the European Championship and was rated the best defensive player. He also was with HCAW
in the Hoofdklasse
and went 5 for 9 with 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2 doubles and a steal in a valiant effort in a losing cause in the 1999 Holland Series
.
In 2000, he transferred to Purdue University
. As a junior, he fielded .942 and hit .267/.367/.331. He was hit by a pitch 13 times, which at the time ranked second in school history behind Sean Helsel. He played for the Dutch team in the preliminary games for the 2000 Summer Olympics
, but was not selected for the final squad that represented the nation in Sydney
.
In his senior year, he started every game for Purdue at shortstop, usually hitting 9th. He fielded .938 and was called by the Purdue website arguably the best defensive shortstop in the Big Ten. He batted .298/.378/.416 and went 3 for 7 in the Big Ten Conference tournament. He made the All-Conference team as the top shortstop. Overall, he had hit .283/.351/.374 with Purdue.
Undrafted in the 2001 amateur draft, Duursma returned to the Netherlands with the Minolta Pioniers
. He hit .340 in 2002 but did not qualify for the batting championship; he would have tied Percy Isenia
for 4th in Hoofdklasse. He did tie for sixth with two triples. Duursma replaced Ralph Milliard
on the Dutch national team for the 2003 World Port Tournament
but saw limited action, going 0 for 2 with 3 runs, presumably used as a pinch-runner. He also was on the European Cup winners with Pioniers. In the Hoofdklasse he led in runs (43, 6 more than runner-up Milliard) and tied for 9th with 10 steals.
Duursma hit .328 in 2004, fifth in Hoofdklasse. He again led in runs (39, four more than René Cremer) and tied Johnny Balentina
for sixth in hits (45) and led in steals (20 in 21 tries, two more SB than Milliard). He also went 0 for 4 against Japan
in the 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week
. He failed to make the final cut for the 2004 Summer Olympics
as the Dutch team went with Evert-Jan 't Hoen
, Milliard and Reily Legito
on the middle infield.
In 2005, Duursma batted .307/.439/.346 and fielded .964. He was 10th in Hoofdklasse in average, fifth with 47 hits (one behind brother Mark), 6th with 24 RBI and tied for 7th with 9 steals. He led the 2005 European Championship with 14 walks in 10 contests; no one else had more than 9. He also played error-free ball at second base. In the 2005 Baseball World Cup, Duursma hit .302/.412/.395 with 12 runs in 11 games. During the 2006 World Baseball Classic
, Duursma had the best average on the Dutch team, though he played in just one game. He went 2 for 4 with two strikeouts in the contest against Panama
.
Duursma slipped a bit in 2006, hitting .274/.433/.306 with 12 steals in 13 tries and a .952 fielding percentage. He was still second in Hoofdklasse in runs, with 38, only two behind leader Balentina. He was 4th in the circuit in stolen bases. He led the league with 11 times hit by pitch and his 33 walks tied brother Mark for the lead. In the 2006 Holland Series
, he hit .278/.409/.333 in a losing cause, leading the Series with two steals.
He was 4 for 15 with 4 walks and 3 runs in the 2006 Haarlem Baseball Week as the Netherlands took the title. In the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, Duursma batted .323/.432/.323. In the Gold Medal game, with the Netherlands down 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th, Duursma singled off of Frank Montieth
, then scored on a double by Dirk van 't Klooster
. The Dutch team got no closer but still won the silver medal.
Duursma batted .319/.440/.333 in 2007 Hoofdklasse, scoring 37 runs in 38 games. He tied for 10th in the league in OBP, was 4th in runs and tied for fifth with 25 walks. He hit .231/.286/.231 in the 2007 Holland Series; his 3 hits came in game one, in which he also had a crucial run-costing error. The Pioniers lost the Series to Kinheim
. Duursma hit .143/.208/.286 and made two errors as the worst Dutch starting position player in the 2007 European Baseball Championship
. The team still won the Gold and qualified the 2008 Summer Olympics
. He was 3 for 16 with 4 walks in the 2007 World Port Tournament
. Duursma struggled again in the 2007 Baseball World Cup
, going 1 for 7 with a run and an error in three games as Roel Koolen
took over as the main second baseman.
Duursma was selected by coach Robert Eenhoorn
in the team that represents the Netherlands at the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing
.
Heiloo
Heiloo is a municipality and town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The community is part of the cooperation region Kennemerland and is located in the historical region of West Friesland....
) 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 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....
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....
. He is the brother of Mark Duursma and was one of the few Dutch players to play in NCAA Division I.
Duursma hit .343/.414 in 1999 as a sophomore
Sophomore
Sophomore is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the second year of study at high school or university.The word is also used as a synonym for "second", for the second album or EP released by a musician or group, the second movie of a director, or the second season of a...
for Cypress Community College; he had started at shortstop and as a freshman as well. Also in 1999, Duursma played for the Dutch team in the European Championship and was rated the best defensive player. He also was with 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 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...
and went 5 for 9 with 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2 doubles and a steal in a valiant effort in a losing cause in the 1999 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...
.
In 2000, he transferred to Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
. As a junior, he fielded .942 and hit .267/.367/.331. He was hit by a pitch 13 times, which at the time ranked second in school history behind Sean Helsel. He played for the Dutch team in the preliminary games for the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, but was not selected for the final squad that represented the nation in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
In his senior year, he started every game for Purdue at shortstop, usually hitting 9th. He fielded .938 and was called by the Purdue website arguably the best defensive shortstop in the Big Ten. He batted .298/.378/.416 and went 3 for 7 in the Big Ten Conference tournament. He made the All-Conference team as the top shortstop. Overall, he had hit .283/.351/.374 with Purdue.
Undrafted in the 2001 amateur draft, Duursma returned to the Netherlands with the Minolta 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....
. He hit .340 in 2002 but did not qualify for the batting championship; he would have tied Percy Isenia
Percy Isenia
Percy Isenia is a Dutch baseball player who currently plays for SV ADO and the Dutch national team....
for 4th in Hoofdklasse. He did tie for sixth with two triples. Duursma replaced Ralph Milliard
Ralph Milliard
Ralph Gregory Milliard is a Dutch baseball player.Milliard represented the Netherlands at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where he and his team became fifth...
on the Dutch national team for the 2003 World Port Tournament
World Port Tournament
The World Port Tournament is an international baseball tournament held at the Neptunus Familiestadion in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The tournament has been held every other year in uneven-numbered years since , alternating with the Haarlem Baseball Week....
but saw limited action, going 0 for 2 with 3 runs, presumably used as a pinch-runner. He also was on the European Cup winners with Pioniers. In the Hoofdklasse he led in runs (43, 6 more than runner-up Milliard) and tied for 9th with 10 steals.
Duursma hit .328 in 2004, fifth in Hoofdklasse. He again led in runs (39, four more than René Cremer) and tied 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:...
for sixth in hits (45) and led in steals (20 in 21 tries, two more SB than Milliard). He also went 0 for 4 against Japan
Japan national baseball team
The Japan national baseball team is the national baseball team representing Japan in international competitions. They are one of the more successful baseball teams in the world, having won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009...
in the 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week
Haarlem Baseball Week
The Haarlemse Honkbalweek is an international invitation baseball tournament at the Pim Mulier Stadium in Haarlem, Netherlands...
. He failed to make the final cut for the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
as the Dutch team went with Evert-Jan 't Hoen
Evert-Jan 't Hoen
Evert-Jan Axel Charles 't Hoen is a Dutch baseball player.'t Hoen represented the Netherlands at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, in which the Dutch finished sixth...
, Milliard and 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:*...
on the middle infield.
In 2005, Duursma batted .307/.439/.346 and fielded .964. He was 10th in Hoofdklasse in average, fifth with 47 hits (one behind brother Mark), 6th with 24 RBI and tied for 7th with 9 steals. He led the 2005 European Championship with 14 walks in 10 contests; no one else had more than 9. He also played error-free ball at second base. In the 2005 Baseball World Cup, Duursma hit .302/.412/.395 with 12 runs in 11 games. During the 2006 World Baseball Classic
2006 World Baseball Classic
---------Pool B:-------------Pool C:-------------Pool D:-------------Pool 1:-----------------Pool 2:-------------Finals:-Semifinals:-Final:-Final standings:...
, Duursma had the best average on the Dutch team, though he played in just one game. He went 2 for 4 with two strikeouts in the contest against Panama
Panama national baseball team
The Panama national baseball team is the national team of Panama. They are currently the 16th ranked baseball team in the world.- Roster :PitchersManuel Acosta,Albenis Castillo,Bienvenido Cedeno,Bruce Chen,Manuel Corpas,Jorge Cortez,...
.
Duursma slipped a bit in 2006, hitting .274/.433/.306 with 12 steals in 13 tries and a .952 fielding percentage. He was still second in Hoofdklasse in runs, with 38, only two behind leader Balentina. He was 4th in the circuit in stolen bases. He led the league with 11 times hit by pitch and his 33 walks tied brother Mark for the lead. In the 2006 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...
, he hit .278/.409/.333 in a losing cause, leading the Series with two steals.
He was 4 for 15 with 4 walks and 3 runs in the 2006 Haarlem Baseball Week as the Netherlands took the title. In the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, Duursma batted .323/.432/.323. In the Gold Medal game, with the Netherlands down 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th, Duursma singled off of Frank Montieth
Frank Montieth
Frank Andy Montieth Herrera is a right-handed baseball pitcher for Industriales of the Cuban National Series. He has also competed extensively for the Cuban national baseball team, winning a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.During the regular season of the 2005-06 Cuban National...
, then scored on a double by Dirk van 't Klooster
Dirk van 't Klooster
Dirk Gijsbertus van 't Klooster is a Dutch baseball player.Van 't Klooster 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:*...
. The Dutch team got no closer but still won the silver medal.
Duursma batted .319/.440/.333 in 2007 Hoofdklasse, scoring 37 runs in 38 games. He tied for 10th in the league in OBP, was 4th in runs and tied for fifth with 25 walks. He hit .231/.286/.231 in the 2007 Holland Series; his 3 hits came in game one, in which he also had a crucial run-costing error. The Pioniers lost the Series to 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....
. Duursma hit .143/.208/.286 and made two errors as the worst Dutch starting position player in the 2007 European Baseball Championship
2007 European Baseball Championship
The 2007 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament held from September 7 to 16, between national baseball teams of the Confederation of European Baseball. The tournament was held in Barcelona, Spain and served as the qualifying competition for the 2008 Summer Olympic...
. The team still won the Gold and qualified 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...
. He was 3 for 16 with 4 walks 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...
. Duursma struggled again in 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...
, going 1 for 7 with a run and an error in three games as Roel Koolen
Roel Koolen
Roel Koolen is a Dutch baseball player who currently plays for Kinheim and the Dutch national team.Koolen made his Hoofdklasse debut at the Twins Sporting Club in 1998. He played for the Dutch junior team in the 1999 World Junior Championship and 2000 World Junior Championship...
took over as the main second baseman.
Duursma 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...
.