Amsterdam Pirates | ||||
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Information | ||||
League | Honkbal Hoofdklasse | |||
Location | Osdorp, Amsterdam | |||
Ballpark | Loek Loevendie Ballpark (2,000 capacity) | |||
Founded | 1959 | |||
Holland Series championships | 7 (1987, 1990, 2008, 2011, 2019, 2021, 2023) | |||
Colors | Black, gold, white | |||
Manager | Mervin Gario | |||
Website | AmsterdamPirates.nl | |||
Uniforms | ||||
SV Amsterdam Pirates, commonly referred to as Amsterdam Pirates, is a Dutch baseball and softball organization based in Amsterdam that plays in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. It was founded as an expansion of the football club SV Rap on 17 February 1959 by Loek Loevendie. In the first years, it was known as the RAP Pirates, but after a few years the club changed its name according to American tradition (first city name, then franchise name) and became the Amsterdam Pirates.
The club celebrated a Dutch Championship in 1987 and 1990. The next few years, it was at the lower end of the Hoofdklasse, which was dominated by Neptunus from Rotterdam. The club returned to prominence in the 21st century, winning five national titles between 2008 and 2023.
In earlier years, there were competing baseball teams in Amsterdam, including the Amstel Tijgers and Ajax, both of which earned multiple national titles.
Amsterdam Pirates is the second-largest baseball club of the Netherlands (after Almere).[citation needed]
For sponsorship reasons, the baseball team played under the name L&D Amsterdam.