Kris De Coninck

Kris De Coninck

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Biographical Information

Kris De Coninck played in the First Division and for the Belgian national team.

He debuted in 1999 with the champion Brasschaat Braves, going 3-2 despite a 11.17 ERA; he was 4 for 26 with a double, four walks and a hit-by-pitch. In 2000, he hit .343/.415/.543 in 41 plate appearances and posted a 1-0, 4.91 record. The next year, he batted .354/.404/.476 and fielded .965 as a regular at 1B for the champs. During 2002, he fell to .286 but with a better OBP (.439) and slugging (.633) thanks to 15 walks and 5 homers in 67 plate appearances. He also pitched two scoreless innings and the Braves repeated as titlists. He tied for 5th in the league in dingers.

De Coninck moved to the Antwerp Royal Greys in 2003 and batted .345/.473/.571 while fielding .974. He allowed six runs (four earned) in his last two innings as a pitcher. He hit 10 doubles and 3 triples while delivering four sacrifice flies. He tied for the league lead in doubles and triples and tied Robby Verhaert and Kim Wybo for the most sac flies. He hit .227/.320/.227 for Belgium in the 2003 European Championship and fielded .980 as their main first baseman.

Kris hit .302/.377/.453 in 2004. He batted .327/.442/.548 in '05 and fielded .997 as he won his first title with Antwerp and 4th overall. He tied Verhaert for 5th in HR (6) and was 6th in times plunked (5). In 2006, he went 11 for 33 with 12 walks, two doubles and a triple and remained a part-timer in his final season (2007), going 5 for 20 with 8 walks and a homer.

Sources: Belgian Baseball and Softball Federation, Wayback Archive, 2003 European Championship stats