Thomas Brood’s sporting moment: Bread and Games with baseball players Amsterdam Pirates

In sports journalism it can sometimes be like flogging a dead horse. Things that you want as a reporter, the other party often does not want. Some athletes often see interviews or reports as a necessary evil. Or they see obstacles on the road, and I think: ‘why are you being so difficult?’

Red carpet

That is not the case at all with Amsterdam Pirates. Of course baseball is a small sport in the Netherlands, but as a reporter it makes your job more fun and easier if they want to participate in everything. When I asked Amsterdam coach Mervin Gario if I could train for ‘Bread and Games’, Gario immediately responded enthusiastically.

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Remarkably, I was welcome on a Tuesday evening. While Amsterdam Pirates had a game two days later that they had to win, they still wanted to qualify for the play-offs (semi-finals of the national championship).

I walked into the Amsterdam Pirates sports park somewhat uncomfortably on that Tuesday evening. Are those Pirates baseball players looking forward to such a funny column a few days before such an important match?

Coach Gario was having a nice chat and welcomed me warmly. I introduced myself to the men and received a shirt and a cap. Everyone was super relaxed and not bothered at all by my arrival.

We started the warm-up. Then to the outfield with Roelie Henrique. While chatting pleasantly, he gave me some tips. I made a number of blunders, but baseball went well for me. “Your sunglasses are really swaggy. I like it. And to be honest, you’re doing a pretty good job for someone who has never done it before,” Henrique complimented me.

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After some exercises on the field. I went to the batting cage. Baseball icon Dirk van ‘t Klooster gave me some tips and tricks and was then quite impressed with my hitting skills. Overconfidently, I made a bet with player Kenny Berkenbosch. I would just hit the ball into the outfield in one go. If that didn’t work, I would do fifty push-ups.

Pushups

Miraculously, I managed to hit the ball into the outfield. After the training, Berkenbosch was allowed to do fifty push-ups. All in all a funny end to the evening in Amsterdam. Since then, Berkenbosch has been standardly referred to as a “slugger” (baseball player who can hit the ball hard and far).

I really remember the relaxed nature of those guys. On Thursday they won the important game and the following weeks they played in the play-offs against national champion HCAW.

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Amsterdam started the season with few expectations. The club saw the main sponsor and a number of important players leave. Still, they managed to beat HCAW in the play-offs. For example, the Amsterdam team faced strong Neptunus in the Holland Series (final national championship).

At the all-decisive seventh match in Rotterdam, everyone was as chill as a few weeks before. Berkenbosch came to me before the match. “Hey, are you okay slugger?” he said as usual. I also saw a few players eating a greasy meal before the start of the match.

Now or never

In the best-of-seven series the score was 3-3 and Amsterdam had to win that Sunday afternoon. The Amsterdam team won in a thrilling final and became national champions. “I knew this was possible,” Gario said with tears in his eyes.

Some people call it unprofessional, but I think you can achieve a lot with this chilled way of working. The baseball players of Amsterdam Pirates have proven that.

Thomas Brood