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A r u ba
Baseball:
The Great Aruban Pastime
Aruba has a surprising affinity for the American sport of baseball, all the more remarkable considering its connection to the soccer-crazed Netherlands. On average, more people watch baseball on TV in Aruba, and neighboring Curaçao, than anywhere else in the world. Baseball in Aruba dates back decades. Its amateur baseball federation was established in 1950 and today has a number of teams from each of its four largest cities: Oranjestad, Noord, Santa Cruz and San Nicolas. Even before 1950, baseball was played on the sandlots and dirt fields of the island. One theory says the sport was introduced by American oilmen based here in the 1920s and 1930s as they formed an informal league of several teams and passed the finer points of the game to curious locals. However baseball got its start here, the results include an active Little League system that regularly competes internationally. Aruba represented the Caribbean region in the 2011 Little League Baseball World Series, and in 2010, a team from San Nicolas won the Senior League Baseball World Series for 13- to 16-year-olds. Some of these Little Leaguers have gone on to represent the Aruba national
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baseball team, which is now combined with Curaçao’s team. They also play for the Kingdom of the Netherlands during the annual World Baseball Classic, a tournament they nearly won in 2013. A number of Arubans have signed with professional teams in the minor league system in the United States. Xander Bogaerts, a rangy shortstop from San Nicolas, starred for the national team as a youngster and went on to become a top prospect for the Boston Red Sox in 2013, while his twin brother, Jair Bogaerts, was a minor leaguer with the Chicago Cubs in the same year. The list of past Aruban stars includes Sidney Ponson, a pitcher with a blazing fastball for the Baltimore Orioles and other teams until 2009. Calvin Maduro pitched for Baltimore until 2002, while Gene Kingsale was an outfielder for several big league teams until 2002. — John Anderson
PRINCESS CRUISES DISCOVERY
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