Philip Van Woensel

Philip Van Woensel

• Born ~1974

Biographical Information

Philip Van Woensel played in the First Division and for the Belgian national team.

Van Woensel debuted with the Antwerp Eagles as a teenager in 1991, going 3 for 9; the team won the title, the only time in his career. In 1992, he was 0 for 7 with two walks. In 1993, he hit .343/.425/.457 and fielded .908. He batted .366/.454/.462 in 1994 and fielded .880; he stole 13 bases in 14 tries. He tied Ronald Tiliakos for 7th in steals and tied for third with three triples. In 1995, he hit .408/.567/.535 with 29 steals in 30 attempts. Moving to the outfield, he fielded .949. He led in steals, 12 ahead of Roger De Saedeleer and Paul Spoelders. He also was third with 3 triples again. In a high-offense league, he did not make the top ten in average.

Playing for Belgium in the 1995 European Championship, he was 1 for 5 with a walk and a run as a backup corner outfielder and DH. He did not try to steal and had one putout and one error. Belgium won the Bronze Medal. He hit .379/.514/.425 in 1996 and stole 20 bases in 23 tries, while fielding .874 back on the infield. He was second in steals, one behind Tiliakos. In 1997, he hit .280/.392/.320 for Antwerp; he was back in the outfield, fielding .959. He hit .379/.481/.485 in 1998, his last big year; he stole 15 bases without being caught and scored 51 runs. He tied for 9th in steals but did not make the top 10 in runs.

Van Woensel slumped to .242/.342/.303 in 1999. He returned briefly with the Namur Angels, going 5 for 25 with 3 walks and 2 doubles in 2008 and hitting .152/.266/.190 in 2009 before retiring. He later was head coach of the Eagles.

Sources

• First Division stats
• 1995 stats courtesy of international statistician Harry Wedemeijer