The Honkbal Hoofdklasse (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

for ''Major League Baseball'') is the highest level of

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is an eight-team

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

overseen by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB). Games are played principally on weekends with one game during the week. The season runs from April to September and is followed by the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

among the four best teams, which culminates in the

Holland Series The Holland Series is the annual championship series of the highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands. It is the conclusion of the postseason of Honkbal Hoofdklasse, played between the two winners of the league's playoffs. The serie ...

. Both of the playoff rounds are best-of-five. The league followed a

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

system with the

Honkbal Overgangsklasse The Honkbal Overgangsklasse ( Dutch for ''Baseball Transition League'') was the second highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands. It was a twelve-team league that played a 22-game schedule followed by two separate 15-game schedule ...

until 2022. Many of the official team nicknames have contained the name of the club's sponsor. The top two teams each year participated in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

until that tournament restructured in 2024.

History

The Honkbal Hoofdklasse has been the highest level of competitive baseball in the Netherlands since 1958, when it was elevated over the former Eerste Klasse by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Honkbal Bond, the forerunner of the KNBSB. The Eerste Klasse served as the top baseball competition in the Netherlands from its establishment in 1922 until 1957, excluding 1945 when play was suspended due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Hoofdklasse has been organized by the KNBSB since 1971. Until 1986, the winner of the season was also crowned the national champion, except for 1972 and 1973, when a

best-of-five There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

was held between the top two teams to determine the champion. The Holland Series returned in 1987 and has been held annually at the end of the season to determine the national champion. The championship series is currently held in a

best-of-seven There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

format. The top six teams qualify for the playoffs, with the top two teams earning a bye through the wild card round. In 2021, the Eerste Klasse was reinstated as the second level of Dutch professional baseball and the league to which teams from the Hoofdklasse are relegated at the end of the season. It previously was the second league in the Dutch baseball pyramid from 1958 to 1986 and 2001 to 2009. In the intervening years, from 1987 to 2000 and 2010 to 2020, the Overgangsklasse operated as the secondary baseball league in the Netherlands. Following the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, the KNBSB decided to end relegation and promotion and operate the Hoofdklasse with fixed teams. The reform was part of broader efforts to improve the league's quality of play and national visibility. The league expanded to nine teams for the 2022 season. The Silicon Storks, who were slated to be relegated, remained in the Hoofdklasse alongside , who had defeated the Storks in a playoff to earn promotion to the top league. The Storks were replaced in 2023 by UVV, which had been in the Hoofdklasse until 2017. The league saw more changes after the 2024 season, with

Kinheim Kinheim is a baseball and softball club based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. Kinheim's top baseball team plays in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse, the top level of professional baseball in the Netherlands. The club's most successful period was in the ...

replacing

DSS/Kinheim DSS/Kinheim was a baseball team in Haarlem, the Netherlands that competes in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. The team is a combination of two Haarlem sports clubs, DSS and Kinheim, which merged in 2020 after DSS had defeated Kinheim in a promotion/rel ...

in the top league and Quick Amersfoort voluntarily moving down to the Eerste Klasse.

Current clubs

2024 final standings

The final 2024 Honkbal Hoofdklasse standings:

Results

References

External links