Patrick de Lange

Patrick de Lange

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3"

• Born January 21, 1976

Patrick de Lange was a two-time Olympic pitcher and former Hoofdklasse Pitcher of the Year. He spent most of his Dutch career with HCAW.

De Lange drew attention from the Montréal Expos and New York Yankees but decided to remain an amateur; at the time, only amateur players could appear in international competitions and de Lange hoped to play in the Olympics. By the time he made it to the Olympics, pros were allowed to appear.

De Lange made his Dutch national team debut at age 21 in the 1997 European Championship, pitching four scoreless innings. In 1998, the tall right-hander had a .786 winning percentage to lead Hoofdklasse. In the 1998 Baseball World Cup, he had a 9.95 ERA in three relief appearances. He was even worse in the 1998 Haarlem Baseball Week, going 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA.

Patrick had a 1-1, 3.97 record in the 1999 World Port Tournament. He was 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA for the 1999 Intercontinental Cup. He struck out 7 in 4 scoreless frames in the 1999 European Championship. In the 2000 Hoofdklasse season, the HCAW hurler ranked 4th in the league in wins (9-4), 5th in ERA (2.27) and 9th in innings pitched (95 1/3). He had a 4.91 ERA in the 2000 Haarlem Baseball Week. In the 2000 Olympics, de Lange had a 2.45 ERA. He allowed one run in one inning in a 10-2 loss to Japan and one run in six and a third innings in a start against South Africa; unfortunately for him, the Netherlands could not muster much offense and lost 3-2 to Tim Harrell in a 10-inning upset.

De Lange went 12-3 with a 0.96 ERA in 2001 and threw a no-hitter against the Pioniers on June 3. He won Pitcher of the Year honors for his efforts. He was 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA in the 2001 World Port Tournament. Patrick was 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA in the 2001 Baseball World Cup despite only one strikeout in 9 2/3 innings. He did very well in the 2001 European Championship, going 1-0 with a save, a 0.00 ERA and one hit allowed in 6 1/3 innings pitched. He wrapped up the Gold Medal game against Russia in relief of Rob Cordemans.

De Lange injured his shoulder in January of 2002 and required surgery that June. He only threw one inning that year.

De Lange was 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in the 2003 World Port Tournament, allowing 6 hits and a walk in 13 innings. He lost the Gold Medal game to Cuba. In the 2003 European Championship, he allowed one run in two innings and got the win against the Czech national team. In the 2003 Baseball World Cup, de Lange was 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA and allowed five hits in nine innings.

De Lange was 6-1 for HCAW in 2004. He allowed one run in four innings in the 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week. In the 2004 Olympics, he was 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA and led the Dutch team with 8 1/3 innings pitched; he was the only pitcher on the team to not strike out a batter despite pitching their most innings. He got the win against Italy with 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Rob Cordemans. He got the start against the Taiwan national team and allowed 3 runs and 8 hits in 6 innings in a 5-1 loss against Wei-Lun Pan.

De Lange left HCAW for Almere '90 and went 3-95 with a 3.52 ERA in 2005, allowing 118 hits in 94 2/3 innings. He was 9th in Hoofdklasse with 53 strikeouts. In 2006, Patrick was 4-2 with a 2.98 ERA after returning to HCAW. In 2007, De Lange moved to Almere again and had a 3-5, 2.89 record. He was 8th in innings (74 2/3 IP).

Sources

• Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Federation
• Harry Wedemeijer's international tournament statistics
• Defunct IBAF site
• Marco Stoovelaar's Dutch baseball statistics
• Honkbalsite