egswanso
03-06-2005, 04:56 PM
The Oregonian
Sunday, May 6, 2021
COMING TO AMERICA
The Beavers new owner has a plan to radically change baseball in Portland. But will everyone benefit?
AMSTERDAM and PORTLAND - Eccentric Dutch billionaire Jan-Mies DeBlaes loves baseball, which makes him rather unique in this football-mad county. “People think the Netherlands only produces great footballers,” says DeBlaes from his Amsterdam offices, “they are wrong. My goal is to show the world the full abilities of the Dutch in the sport of baseball.”
It is not as if the Dutch have not demonstrated their skill: the Dutch National team is one of Europe’s strongest and won a surprise bronze metal at the 2016 Olympics in Delhi. The Dutch field strong teams in the EBL as well, with Ajax and Feyenoord perennial play-off contenders. Few Dutch, however, have made much of an impact in NABL, universally considered the strongest of the World leagues. DeBlaes aims to change that.
His controversial plan, recently made public, will become reality after the 2021 season. DeBlaes outbid two other consortiums for control of the Portland Beavers, one of NABL’s weakest franchises. His plan is to import the best young Dutch talent for the Beavers, turning the team essentially into a Dutch National all-star team. “People in North America think the Dutch are not good for anything. I will show them,” says DeBlaes, “How will they like it when their World Champion is Dutch?”
Reaction is mixed around the league. Some current Beaver players are worried about their future. Right-fielder Cuauhtemoc Garcia, a ten-year veteran summed it up: “Don’t get me wrong or nothing, I mean I like the Dutch and all, but what’s this mean for us? Are we gonna find ourselves traded, or released? Guys like Luke [Smith, the Beavers all-star outfielder] gonna find jobs no problem, but I’m 32, my knees are starting to go, I ain’t as fast as I used to be, and I’m due $8.8 million ‘til 2025. I’m facing a major pay-cut, if I can even find a team that wants me, and I got it way better then some of our reserves or young kids.” [NABL salaries are not guaranteed: ed]. Others see opportunity. Houston Dark Blues pitcher Aalbert Van Brabant, a native of Utrecht, star pitcher of the 2016 Dutch National team and a 20-game winner for Houston in 2020, is ecstatic. “I’m a free agent at the end of the season. Money is not really a factor, as I’m sure I’ll be well-compensated no matter where I play, but the chance to play with my country-men at the highest levels of the game is one that I, for one, would relish.” His countryman, San Antonio hurler Uba Vondergroeben, agreed. “2016 was a red-letter year for Dutch baseball, we showed the world we can compete with the best. I broke into the NABL that fall; Aalbert debuted the following year, but the rush of Dutch players that I, for one, expected, has failed to materialize. Perhaps this will change that.” Others see a problem with an ‘ethnically’ based team. Turk Conway, player-manager of the San Juan Tigres argued, “I’ve been in San Juan for fifteen years now, and I’ve seen first-hand the pressure to build a team on an ethnic philosophy, always, the media here asked why there aren’t more Puerto Rican playing for San Juan, why don’t Puerto Rican stars want to play for los Tigres? I mean there’s a lotta great players from Puerto Rico, but we can’t sign ‘em all. Heck, sometimes that kid from Georgia or Taipei is a better investment; you can’t just look at one group anymore. Baseball’s a world sport now-a-days.”
More controversial are DeBlaes’s plans to subsidize direct flights between Amsterdam and Portland and to play the Dutch anthem before all home games. Many Portlanders see him as hi-jacking their team. Beavers catcher Ben Ferrell, a native Portlander, said it best, “When Portland got a franchise in ’08, I couldn’t have been happier. All through college (at the University of Oregon) I wanted to play for the Beavers, the day they drafted me was the happiest day of my life. I wanted to make all Oregonians proud. But if this team’s just gonna be some Dutch play-thing, why should Portlanders care? Let them Dutch-folk come to games. Us Americans’ll watch the Pilots [the Seattle NABL team].”
That’s not stopping the Dutch. King Willem IV has already announced he will attend the 2022 home opener and at least 60,000 of his subjects are expected to join him. “It will be glorious,” says DeBlaes. “We shall show the World the power of the Dutch.”
Sunday, May 6, 2021
COMING TO AMERICA
The Beavers new owner has a plan to radically change baseball in Portland. But will everyone benefit?
AMSTERDAM and PORTLAND - Eccentric Dutch billionaire Jan-Mies DeBlaes loves baseball, which makes him rather unique in this football-mad county. “People think the Netherlands only produces great footballers,” says DeBlaes from his Amsterdam offices, “they are wrong. My goal is to show the world the full abilities of the Dutch in the sport of baseball.”
It is not as if the Dutch have not demonstrated their skill: the Dutch National team is one of Europe’s strongest and won a surprise bronze metal at the 2016 Olympics in Delhi. The Dutch field strong teams in the EBL as well, with Ajax and Feyenoord perennial play-off contenders. Few Dutch, however, have made much of an impact in NABL, universally considered the strongest of the World leagues. DeBlaes aims to change that.
His controversial plan, recently made public, will become reality after the 2021 season. DeBlaes outbid two other consortiums for control of the Portland Beavers, one of NABL’s weakest franchises. His plan is to import the best young Dutch talent for the Beavers, turning the team essentially into a Dutch National all-star team. “People in North America think the Dutch are not good for anything. I will show them,” says DeBlaes, “How will they like it when their World Champion is Dutch?”
Reaction is mixed around the league. Some current Beaver players are worried about their future. Right-fielder Cuauhtemoc Garcia, a ten-year veteran summed it up: “Don’t get me wrong or nothing, I mean I like the Dutch and all, but what’s this mean for us? Are we gonna find ourselves traded, or released? Guys like Luke [Smith, the Beavers all-star outfielder] gonna find jobs no problem, but I’m 32, my knees are starting to go, I ain’t as fast as I used to be, and I’m due $8.8 million ‘til 2025. I’m facing a major pay-cut, if I can even find a team that wants me, and I got it way better then some of our reserves or young kids.” [NABL salaries are not guaranteed: ed]. Others see opportunity. Houston Dark Blues pitcher Aalbert Van Brabant, a native of Utrecht, star pitcher of the 2016 Dutch National team and a 20-game winner for Houston in 2020, is ecstatic. “I’m a free agent at the end of the season. Money is not really a factor, as I’m sure I’ll be well-compensated no matter where I play, but the chance to play with my country-men at the highest levels of the game is one that I, for one, would relish.” His countryman, San Antonio hurler Uba Vondergroeben, agreed. “2016 was a red-letter year for Dutch baseball, we showed the world we can compete with the best. I broke into the NABL that fall; Aalbert debuted the following year, but the rush of Dutch players that I, for one, expected, has failed to materialize. Perhaps this will change that.” Others see a problem with an ‘ethnically’ based team. Turk Conway, player-manager of the San Juan Tigres argued, “I’ve been in San Juan for fifteen years now, and I’ve seen first-hand the pressure to build a team on an ethnic philosophy, always, the media here asked why there aren’t more Puerto Rican playing for San Juan, why don’t Puerto Rican stars want to play for los Tigres? I mean there’s a lotta great players from Puerto Rico, but we can’t sign ‘em all. Heck, sometimes that kid from Georgia or Taipei is a better investment; you can’t just look at one group anymore. Baseball’s a world sport now-a-days.”
More controversial are DeBlaes’s plans to subsidize direct flights between Amsterdam and Portland and to play the Dutch anthem before all home games. Many Portlanders see him as hi-jacking their team. Beavers catcher Ben Ferrell, a native Portlander, said it best, “When Portland got a franchise in ’08, I couldn’t have been happier. All through college (at the University of Oregon) I wanted to play for the Beavers, the day they drafted me was the happiest day of my life. I wanted to make all Oregonians proud. But if this team’s just gonna be some Dutch play-thing, why should Portlanders care? Let them Dutch-folk come to games. Us Americans’ll watch the Pilots [the Seattle NABL team].”
That’s not stopping the Dutch. King Willem IV has already announced he will attend the 2022 home opener and at least 60,000 of his subjects are expected to join him. “It will be glorious,” says DeBlaes. “We shall show the World the power of the Dutch.”