Not since Hans Brinker and his Silver Skates put his finger in some Amsterdam dyke has Holland's sportsmen distinguished themselves as much as they have in their double defeat of the formidable major league all-star millionaire team from third world Dominican Republic.
The Nether Region Lowlanders entered the World Baseball Classic expected to get an early flight home aboard the Humiliation Shuttle. To the surprise of the whole windmilling world, the Lowlanders have proven to be the beer drinkers to beat.
Amsterdam sports newswriter Blackie Haarlem told me that the secret to the Dutch team's success has been their skill at negotiations. Once the DR agreed to playing ball on the frozen canals on skates we knew we had a chance. Dominican stars admitted that they probably shouldn't have agreed to the outlandish scheme.
But one former banana picker, now MLB tycoon said: "Netherlands baseball!? I would have agreed to play without steroids!"
