Andre De Wit

Andre De Wit

• Throws Right

• Born January 31, 1963

Biographical Information

Andre De Wit played in Belgium for many years and was on the Belgian national team in three decades.

He won Bronze with Belgium in the 1985 European Championship. He remained with them for the 1986 Amateur World Series, their last Amateur World Series. First Division stats are first available online for the 1988 season, when he was 5-8 with a 2.95 ERA for the Antwerp Royal Greys and hit .271/.425/.529. He tied for 8th in wins, was one loss behind leader Johnny Peerens, was second with 137 1/3 IP (well back of Peerens' 252 1/3) and was third with 92 whiffs. He was also third in ERA.

De Wit hit .311/.404/.489 in 1989 as the Greys won the title; he had an off-year on the hill at 2-2, 5.89. In '90, he produced at a .268/.392/.415 clip and went 4-1 with a 5.46 ERA as Antwerp repeated. He tied for 4th in victories. The next year, he had a 2-2, 5.10 record and batted .225/.423/.325. He was 4 for 26 for Antwerp in 1992 but his hits were a single, double, triple and a homer in a neat turn; he also drew six walks. As a pitcher, he was again 2-2 but with a 7.02 ERA. In '93, he rebounded to 7-2, 1.95; by this point, he was rarely batting, getting 14 AB (his high after that was 8). He tied Jerry Smits and Roger De Saedeleer for 5th in wins, was 8th with 64 strikeouts and 2nd in ERA< .17 behind former major leaguer Joel McKeon.

Andre was 4-0 with a 1.96 ERA in 1994, with a better ERA than leader Joeri Loykens; De Wit did not pitch enough to qualify. He did not have the best ERA of any non-qualifier, though, as McKeon had a better mark again and was closer to qualifying in innings. The next year, he was 3-1 with a 4.11 ERA. He pitched once for Belgium in the 1995 European Championship but it was forgettable. Facing Alex Amor and Spain, he allowed three hits, two walks and five runs (three earned) while retiring no one; De Saedeleer took over but it was too late and Andre got the loss.

In 1996, he was 5-4 with a 6.47 ERA. He tied for 8th in wins, was 5th with 61 K and was 8th in ERA (second-highest of any qualifier; only Kris Beeckmans was higher. He went 2-1 with a 6.18 ERA in 1997 and 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA in '98. The veteran was 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA in the 1999 season. In the 1999 European Championship, he had a 1-1, 1.54 record. He beat Robert Nichols and Germany and lost to Rob Cordemans and the Netherlands. Among pitchers with 10+ innings in the event, only Jimmy Summers had a better ERA.

At age 37, was 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in limited action in 2000, then 1-3 with a 5.90 ERA in '01. He still made Belgium's squad for the 2001 European Championship. He was seven years older than the next-oldest member of the team, Thierry Parduyns. He did not get into a game. He had a 8.83 ERA and no decisions for Antwerp in 2002 and 4.11 ERA in '03 to end his career.