Kim Wybo

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• School Harvard University, University of Antwerp

• Born January 19, 1976

Biographical Information

Kim Wybo played in the First Division and for the Belgian national team.

He debuted in Belgium's top level in 1992, going 5-for-11 with a walk for the Antwerp Royal Greys, the only time he would play for in Belgium. He did not play in '93 then again was 5-for-11 in 1994, this time with a homer. He allowed two runs in 1 1/3 IP that season. In 1995, he went 2 for 13 with two walks and allowed 13 runs (5 earned) in 6 2/3 IP. He hit .389/.507/.667 in 1996 while posting a 11.45 ERA. In a high-octane aluminum-bat league, he was not among the top-ten in slugging. He followed with a .270/.357/.514 campaign in 1997, surrendering six runs in three innings.

In 1998, he hit .354/.402/.566 and did not pitch. The next summer, he improved to .449/.494/.928 with 8 homers in 69 AB. He was 7th in average, 4th in slugging (between Andrei Selivanov and Daniel De Sutter), while tying for 9th in dingers. He was 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA. He made Belgium's team for the 1999 European Championship but was used solely as a pitcher, going 0-1 with a 10.50 ERA; he lost to Manny Olivera and Spain. He hit .393/.509/.640 for the 2000 Greys and had a 1-2, 7.40 record.

Wybo had a career year in 2001: .490/.548/.857, 8 HR, 36 R, 53 RBI, 10 SB, 0 CS. He was third in average, tied Erwin Maes for 6th in slugging, was 10th in runs, placed 6th in hits, led in RBI (one ahead of Tonny Verhaert), tied for 10th in home runs, was 6th with 84 total bases, tied for 9th in steals and tied Roger de Saedeleer for 6th in walks (21). He was 1-2 with a career-best 4.24 ERA as well. The 25-year-old eked out a .167/.286/.167 line for Belgium in the 2001 European Championship; the outfielder went 3-for-3 in steal attempts. He was one swipe behind co-leaders Ralph Milliard, Michal Müller and Tomáš Ovesný.

The veteran hit .338/.456/.615 in 2002 and was 0-1, allowing two runs in two innings. The next summer, he batted .314/.411/.360 with 22 RBI, 6th in the league (offensive numbers were down - it seems probable that they had switched to wood bats by this point). In the 2003 European Championship, he struggled, going 2-for-22 with a walk, run and three RBI; he had six putouts, an assist and no errors. He fanned 14 times, the most in those Euros.

In 2004, he hit .357/.457/.554; he would have been in the top-ten in average had he qualified. The Greys won the first pennant of his career in 2005; he contributed a .277/.361/.394 line. They repeated in 2006 and he hit .370/.478/.609. He placed 6th in average, 6th in slugging (between Johnny Peerens and Joeri Loykens), 5th in runs (33), tied for 7th in hits (34), second in triples (4, two behind Steven De Lannoy) and tied for 10th in home runs (3). He helped them win a third title in 2007 as well as the European Cup Pool B. He hit .339/.393/.509 in the First Division and was 1-0 with a 10.80 ERA, his first time pitching in five years. He tied for 7th with 8 doubles. He closed out his career on a fine note in 2008 when he batted .370/.445/.570. He was among the leaders in average (6th), slugging (6th, between Kevin Knollenburg and De Lannoy), hits (37, 10th), RBI (9th), doubles (9, tied for 7th), home runs (3, tied for 10th),

Off the field, he has been a lawyer.

Sources

• Belgian Baseball and Softball Federation
• International scorekeeper Harry Wedemeijer
• 2003 European Championship via Wayback Archive
• Nieuwsblad
• LinkedIn