ELB pulls Amsterdam Baseball from schedule

In fact it was a formality after the Dutch baseball federation announced that the ban on participating in the Euro League Baseball would be uphold, but today the president of the European Association of Professional Baseball (EAPB), Wim van den Hurk, announced that Amsterdam Baseball was pulled from the ELB schedule.

Van den Hurk stated that the ELB believes that it is better to spend the energy on finishing the inaugural season on a positive note with the three remaining teams. Furthermore Van den Hurk wrote in a statement that the ELB will try to find a solution to cooperate with the Dutch baseball federation (KNBSB) and the CEB (Confederation of European Baseball).

“After all the preparations we’ve taken for Team Amsterdam (roster including a Japanese import, coaching staff, uniforms, a website, entertainment, ticketing, etc) it’s obviously a big disappointment for us to make this decision but we’re sure that with the results we’ve achieved so far the future of ELB is guaranteed and European baseball looks a little brighter.”

After the CEB, in person of Jan Esselman, warned L&D Amsterdam Pirates by text message about the eligibility of the players of L&D Amsterdam Pirates/Amsterdam Baseball in the (then) upcoming European Champions Cup, only three days before Amsterdam Baseball
would play its first game, L&D Amsterdam Pirates decided to pull back its players from team Amsterdam Baseball as the club did not want to endanger its participation in the ECC (eventually a wise decision, as the team won the cup last Saturday). After L&D Amsterdam Pirates pulled its players from ELB participation, the KNBSB came with a press release in which the federation withdrew the permission for individual players to participate in the ELB, with the note that they wanted to wait the result of the  confederation executive board meeting on the matter. Eventually not much changed in the stance of the CEB when the Germans and the Czechs opposed to further restrictions. So in fact the situation was the same as when the KNBSB permitted individual (non Dutch national team players) to participate. You can say it is weird that despite the same situation, the KNBSB does not withdraw the withdrawal.

Wim van den Hurk concluded the press release with the following statement: “The ELB schedule will be adjusted and published in the upcoming days. We are working on a conclusion of the 2016 ELB season with a special event to be destined.”

Irish American Baseball Society

Baseball from a Dutch point of view since 2014

Maritime Pro Ball

Blog advocating bringing minor league ball to the Maritime Provinces!

Milujeme Baseball

Nejlepší český web o baseballu

Dutch Baseball Hangout

Baseball from a Dutch point of view since 2014

DutchBaseballTraveler

Follow my trip in the USA during the 2016 summer!

Honkbal Op Zolder

Blog over bijzaken in Major League Baseball

The Ball Caps Blog

Baseball caps and beyond

The Negro Leagues Up Close

A blog about a century of African-American baseball history

Baseball History Daily

Heroes, Villains, Oddities and Minutia--The Forgotten History of the National Pastime

The Midwest League Traveler

Traveling & writing about the Midwest League, past & present, since 2011

Ben's Biz Blog

The Greatest Minor League Baseball Blog of All Time

B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful

Your guide to all things prospect, courtesy of Jonathan Mayo

Universo Béisbol

Hagamos del béisbol un deporte más universal.