THE NETHERLANDS – The 12th edition of the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam gets underway on July 2 with Cuba seeking their fourth consecutive tournament title. The international baseball tournament is held every two years on a rotating basis with the Haarlem Baseball Week competition.

The Dutch National Team, led by former Tennessee Volunteers skipper Rod Delmonico, will join the Taiwanese National Team and a youthful roster of promising Japanese prospects in an effort to wrestle away the championship from the Cubans. The Big Red Machine has walked away with seven of the 11 titles in the 24-year history of the tournament.

PAST CHAMPIONS
1985 – Cuba
1987 – Cuba
1989 – Netherlands
1991 – United States
1993 – United States
1995 – Cuba
1997 – Cuba
1999 – Netherlands
2001 – Cuba
2003 – Cuba
2007 – Cuba

Some of the top players from the 2007 tourney will not be in action this time around. Cuba’s roster will be missing Alfredo Despaigne (.448), Carlos Tabares (15), José J. Ruíz (4) and Yosvany Peraza (18). The talented group finished first in batting average, hits, home runs and RBIs, respectively.

2007 WORLD PORT TOURNAMENT ALL-STAR TEAM

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Yosvani Peraza (Cuba)

C – Yosvani Peraza (Cuba)
1B – José Julio Ruíz (Cuba)
2B – Ming-Chue Tsai (Taiwan)
SS – Han Lin (Taiwan)
3B – Donald Duarte (Cuba)
OF – Alfredo Despaígne (Cuba)
OF – Jordan Danks (USA)
OF – Alexei Bell (Cuba)
DH – Pedro Alvarez (USA)
RHP- Leon Boyd (Netherlands)
LHP- Wei-Hua Lee (Taiwan)

The Dutch will also be missing a key player from two years ago. Former DOOR Neptunus right-hander Leon Boyd, who won two games and finished with a 0.00 ERA in the 2007 WPT, signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays organization after an impressive stint at the World Baseball Classic this past March.

2009 WORLD PORT TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, July 2
Japan vs. Taiwan
Netherlands vs. Cuba

Friday, July 3
Cuba vs. Japan
Taiwan vs. Netherlands

Saturday, July 4
Cuba vs. Taiwan
Netherlands vs. Japan

Sunday, July 5
Cuba vs. Netherlands
Taiwan vs. Japan

Monday, July 6
Japan vs. Netherlands

Tuesday, July 7
Cuba vs. Taiwan

Wednesday, July 8
Cuba vs. Japan
Netherlands vs. Taiwan

Thursday, July 9
Taiwan vs. Cuba
Netherlands vs. Japan

Friday, July 10
Japan vs. Taiwan
Netherlands vs. Cuba

Saturday, July 11
Cuba vs. Japan
Taiwan vs. Netherlands

Sunday, July 12
Championship Game

Photo courtesy of netssa.com

Tags: World Port Tournament