Happy birthday to MLB's lone Netherlander, Didi Gregorius
Mariekson Julius Gregorius -- you may know him as Didi -- turns 24 today, which is cause for celebration from Amsterdam to Eindhoven.
The D-backs shortstop is from the Netherlands, and is the only current MLB player born in the European nation.*
He's more than just a geographical quirk, however -- dude's a really fun player too.
Take, for instance, his flashy defense at shortstop:
He has a well-travelled Dutch fanbase:
And some pretty passionate American fans too:
Plus, he's got an incredible sense for Halloween fashion:
Happy Halloween pic.twitter.com/3ymWbTGZsd
- Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) November 1, 2013Happy birthday, Didi!
*Gregorius isn't the only Dutch player in the Majors, as the Kingdom of the Netherlands includes the Caribbean nations of Aruba (birthplace of Xander Bogaerts) and Curacao (Jurickson Profar, Andrelton Simmons, Kenley Jansen and several others). But Gregorius was the only active player born in the nation of the Netherlands to appear in an MLB game in 2013.