Rudi Brouwers

• Born May 24, 1962

Biographical Information

Rudi Brouwers was a mainstay of the Belgian national team.

He won Bronze Medals with Belgium in the 1983 European Championship and 1985 European Championship. He was with them for the 1986 Amateur World Series. Belgian First Division stats prior to 1988 are unavailable online (as of 12/24/2020). In 1988, he hit .389/.533/.566 with 36 walks, 50 runs and 20 steals in 23 tries for the Antwerp Royal Greys, fielding .910. He was second in the league in runs (4 behind Paul Spoelders), tied for first in triples (3), first in steals (by 3), tied for 2nd in walks (two behind Norman Caes) and probably in the top 10 in OBP.

When the Greys won the title in 1989, he batted .394/.503/.667 with 8 homers, 52 runs and 21 swipes while only being nabbed once. He was 3rd in runs (after Spoelders and Oswald Boermans), tied for 7th in doubles (10), tied Boermans for 4th in dingers, 4th in total bases (88, between Frank Van Droogenbroeck and Boermans), first in steals (by nine), second in walks (three behind Boermans), 10th in average, 7th in slugging and in the top 10 in OBP and OPS. He put up similar stats (.382/.481/.632) in '90 as Antwerp repeated. He was 8th in the league in runs (29) and 3rd in swipes (9).

In 1991, he produced at a .380/.508/.580 clip with 22 stolen bases. He tied for first with 11 doubles, led in steals (four ahead of Van Droogenbroeck and Roberto De Boey) and tied for 4th with 25 walks. His playing time dropped in 1992; the 30-year-old hit .419/.486/.581. A year later, he scored 41 runs, stole 18 bases in 21 attempts and batted .402/.476/.607. He placed 5th in runs, tied Leslie Segers and Roger De Saedeleer for 4th in doubles (11) and was 3rd in steals (behind Spoelders and Ronald Tiliakos).

He hit .375/.459/.469 with 10 runs in 8 games in the 1993 European Championship, fielding .796. He easily led the event with 10 errors (4 ahead of teammate Boermans), but tied Johnny Balentina for 10th in average, tied for 7th in hits (12), tied for 7th in steals (4) and tied Jeffrey Cranston and David Meurant for 8th in runs. In 1994, he was at .417/.507/.661 for the Greys with 43 runs, 14 steals (caught twice) and 21 walks. He fielded .881. He tied for 5th in runs, tied for 3rd with 3 triples, tied for 5th in stolen bases and was 10th in average (between Joeri Loykens and Van Droogenbroeck).

Brouwers batted .341/.492/.473 for Antwerp during 1995. He tied for 10th in runs (39) and his 28 walks were second, two shy of Segers. In the 1995 European Championship, he hit .273/.468/.273 and fielded .844; he had 13 walks and 10 runs in 10 games. He tied Raul Perez for 2nd in the Euros in walks (one behind Eric de Bruin) and tied Magnus Jönsson for the most errors but also led in assists (one ahead of Perez) while Belgium won the Bronze. Despite all the errors, he was 7th among the 11 regular shortstops in fielding percentage, thanks to his high range factor.

Rudi moved to the Brasschaat Braves in 1996 and was at .358/.469/.617 with 12 steals in 12 tries, while the Braves won the title. He was 6th in steals. The Braves repeated in '97 and he did better than the prior year - .438/.542/.677, 45 R, 21 BB. He was among the league leaders in runs (6th) and steals (10, tied for 3rd). He was with Belgium for the 1997 European Championship. He hit .362/.500/.483 for the 1998 Braves.

Switching to the Borgerhout Squirrels in 1999, he batted .427/.530/.612 with 49 runs, 26 walks and 26 steals (not caught once!). The old-timer was second in the league in runs, easily led in steals (second was Andrey Selivanov at 12) and third in walks. He made his final Belgian national team appearance in the 1999 European Championship. Starting at second, he hit .263/.364/.368 in the round-robin and fielded .905; he led Belgium with three runs. He later coached for Xanthos in the Netherlands.