Eric de Vries

Eric de Vries

• Throws Right

• Born December 3, 1960 in Apeldoorn Netherlands

Biographical Information

Eric de Vries was a star pitcher in the Netherlands and played in the Olympics.

De Vries debuted in the Hoofdklasse as teenager with HCAW in 1979; he would pitch for them through 1982.

Eric debuted for the Dutch national team in the 1980 Amateur World Series and would be with them through 1993, pitching in 39 games. He played in the European Championship six times, the Baseball World Cup or Amateur World Series five times and the Haarlem Baseball Week five times.

He was in the 1981 European Championship (Gold Medal), 1982 Amateur World Series, 1983 European Championship (Silver), 1983 Intercontinental Cup and 1987 European Championship (Gold). He was with the Giants Diemen from 1983-1985, then was with HCAW for 1986-1987. In the 1988 Baseball World Cup, the right-hander allowed 16 hits, 6 walks and 11 runs in 10 2/3 IP. He helped the Netherlands to Silver in the 1989 European Championship.

From 1988-1994, he played for Neptunus.

De Vries pitched in the 1988 Olympics. He was 9-0 with a league-best 1.80 ERA in the 1989 Hoofdklasse and was named Pitcher of the Year. In 1990, his 3.05 ERA led the circuit and he repeated as Pitcher of the Year.

In the 1990 Baseball World Cup, the right-hander surrendered 16 hits and 9 runs in 6 1/3 IP, going 0-1. He was with the Netherlands for a Silver Medal in the 1991 European Championship and a Gold in the 1993 European Championship. In the 1993 Euros, he was lit up for 7 hits, two walks and seven runs in two innings. His 31.50 ERA was easily the highest on a staff that otherwise was at 2.57; Dave Dusseau was next-highest at 19.29.

For his career in the Netherlands, De Vries pitched 258 games and went 105-80 with a 3.18 ERA. He had 1,217 strikeouts in 1,540 1/3 IP.

Through 2004, De Vries ranked 6th all-time in the Hoofdklasse in wins behind Bart Volkerijk, Herman Beidschat, Haitze de Vries, Orlando Stewart and Craig McGinnis.

De Vries was pitching coach for the Pioniers in 1995 and held that role when they won the Hoofdklasse pennant in 1997. He later coached for HCAW and opened a pitching academy. He coached for the Belgian national team at the 2003 European Championship. In October 2009, he became the pitching coach of the Amsterdam Pirates.

Sources

• 2000 Honkbalgids by Marco Stoovelaar
• Marco Stoovelaar's Dutch baseball site
• Defunct IBAF site