The Dutch baseball community is in mourning this week as legendary Netherlands national team catcher and coach Sidney de Jong passed away unexpectedly at the age of 46.
de Jong, who represented the national team 200 times during his playing career, was a crucial player and captain for some of the team's greatest successes. He helped the Netherlands win European Baseball Championships in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007, represented the Netherlands at the 2004 Sydney Olympics and played on the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic teams -- even lacing the lead-off double in the 11th inning and scoring the tying run in the Netherlands' remarkable upset of the Dominican Republic.
"I had surgery on my wrist earlier that winter and actually had not yet recovered 100 percent," de Jong said, "but because of the adrenaline I felt no pain. I hit the ball perfectly and thought for a moment it would be a home run, but the wind was not good that day. Hanley Ramirez had previously hit a few balls that would normally have been home runs. Maybe it was good [for us], too. In any case, it turned out well for us.”
de Jong's double stood out to Felipe Alou, who managed the Dominican Republic in 2009. When de Jong and Netherlands press officer Seb Visser were in Giants camp with former Netherlands manager Hensley Meulens, Alou -- then working with the Giants -- recognized de Jong and approached him in the dugout.
“When you hit that ball, I really thought it was flying out!" Alou said. "You killed us!”
de Jong was also behind the plate at the 2011 Baseball World Cup (a precursor to today's Premier12 tournament), when the Netherlands upset powerhouse Cuba.
“Inside the team there was great respect for each other, respect to listen to each other," de Jong said about the 2011 World Cup win in a retrospective a decade later. "Despite our different backgrounds, we were able to create a bond. There was chemistry, because we had our love of baseball in common. The will to win. But also because we had a connection off the field. We granted it to each other and then you can grow faster as a team. The love for the sport brought out, and still brings out, the best in us. And we were just a group with really good players, we complemented each other perfectly.”
That championship -- the Kingdom of the Netherlands' first in the World Cup -- earned de Jong and the entire team, including former Major Leaguers Robert Eenhorn and Didi Gregorius, knighthood in the order of Orange-Nassau.
de Jong, who has been a coach in the national team system since retiring following the 2011 tournament, was expected to join Andruw Jones' coaching staff at the upcoming World Baseball Classic. He was beloved for his attitude on and off the field and the treatment he gave to veterans and rookies alike.
"We're definitely crushed by the loss of such a legend and a great all around person," Visser wrote in an email.