2003 European Championship

From BR Bullpen

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The 2003 European Championship was held in The Netherlands from July 11 through July 19, 2003. The favored Dutch national team cruised to a title, outscoring opponents 60-3 thanks to a 0.40 staff ERA. Only two of their nine pitchers allowed a run. The top 7 teams advanced to a qualifier for the 2004 Olympics. The Greek national team won a medal for the first time, helped along by many American ringers including former major leaguers Erik Pappas, Sean Spencer and Kevin Pickford and future major leaguer Nick Markakis. The only major leaguer to appear for a team other than Greece was Dutch player Yurendell de Caster, one of their lighter performers. Two other Dutch performers, Evert-Jan 't Hoen and Sharnol Adriana, had played in AAA.

Standings[edit]

Final Ranking[edit]

Rank Nation
Gold Flag of Netherlands Netherlands
Silver Flag of Greece Greece
Bronze Flag of Spain Spain
4th Flag of Sweden Sweden
5th Flag of Italy Italy
6th Flag of Czech Republic Czech Republic
7th Flag of France France
8th Flag of Russia Russia
9th Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom
10th Croatia
11th Flag of Belgium Belgium
12th Flag of Germany Germany

The Greeks (6-2) outscored opponents 55-10 and Italy (6-2) had a 42-18 edge. Spain (6-2) had a 35-30 edge. Italy was the only non-medal team to outscore their opponents. Sweden (3-5) was outscored 48-27, the Czechs (4-4) 24-18, France (3-5) 27-23, Russia (2-6) 51-22, Great Britain (3-4) 40-30, Croatia (3-4) 29-23, Belgium (2-5) 38-18 and Germany (0-7) 51-16.

Awards[edit]

  • Outstanding Defensive Player - Vince Rooi, Netherlands

All-Star Team:

Source: Harry Wedemeijer's international tournaments statistics

See also 2003 European Championship (Rosters)