Albert De Lannoy

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 198 lb.

• Born October 10, 1956 in Beveren-Waas Belgium

Biographical Information

Albert De Lannoy was a long-time star in Belgium. He played and coached for the Belgian national team. He is the father of Steven De Lannoy.

Albert won First Division Rookie of the Year at age 15 in 1973. He helped Belgium win Bronze in the 1977 European Championship. He advanced to the 1978 Amateur World Series with them, their first Amateur World Series. He had a rough tourney, going 0-for-25 with a walk and 17 strikeouts, fielding .952 in left with one assist; Belgium hit .126 as a team. He led the event in whiffs, five ahead of Frank Hardies and Ben Richardson. That year, the Borgerhout Squirrels star was named the MVP of the Belgian First Division and led with seven homers. He again won Bronze with Belgium in the 1979 European Championship.

He won another MVP in 1980, when he led in RBI (33), homers (8) and assists (71). Belgian awards and stats are missing from most of his pre-1988 career, his prime years, unfortunately. He again won Bronze in the 1983 European Championship and 1985 European Championship. He was named Belgium's top international player in 1985. He also was with Belgium for the 1986 Amateur World Series and 1987 European Championship, making the All-Star team in the latter event . He again was named the top international player for Belgium. Online stats for Belgium are first available (as of 3/26/2024) for the 1988 season, when he hit .412/.513/.718 for the Squirrels. He was 6th in average, tied for 3rd in homers (6), stole 10 bases in 11 tries and was 6th in slugging.

In '89, he batted .452/.531/.903 and was among the leaders in runs (45, 4th), hits (56, 2nd, 14 behind Paul Spoelders), RBI (47, 1st, 3 ahead of Spoelders and Frank Van Droogenbroeck), doubles (16, 1st one ahead of Spoelders), dingers (12, 1st), total bases (112, 1st, 14 ahead of Spoelders), steals (12, tied for 2nd, behind Rudi Brouwers), walks (20, tied for 4th), average (3rd) and slugging (.903, 1st by .006). He was with Belgium in the 1989 European Championship. He hit .361/.471/.747 in 1990, tying for 6th in home runs (7), being 6th in total bases (62), leading in swipes (14 in 15 attempts) and finishing 9th in slugging. The next year, he produced at a .403/.459/.745 clip and was 5th in homers (9), tied for 5th in total bases (70), tied Roger De Saedeleer for 5th in stolen bases (13) and was 5th in slugging. He played for Belgium in the 1991 European Championship. He was in the World All-Star Game in Los Angeles, CA in 1991. The veteran slipped to .225/.292/.463 in 1992 but still tied for 8th with five dingers.

The veteran rebounded to .336/.387/.509 in 1993 and was 7th in doubles (10). In the 1993 European Championship, at least 16 years since his national team debut, he was with Belgium but did not ba; he did coach for them. He did not play in 1994 and was 1-for-5 in 1995. He coached for Belgium when they won Bronze in the 1995 European Championship, his fifth European Championship medal. He was 7-for-28 with a homer in 1996 and 4-for-20 in '98. In 2000, the 41-year-old was again playing regularly, posting a .343/.395/.671 batting line and tying for 6th in doubles (10).

De Lannoy played in 585 games in Belgium and 120 international competitions. He made the Belgian Hall of Fame. He later ran a baseball equipment store in Belgium.