Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season | |
Sport | Baseball |
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Founded | 1922 |
No. of teams | 9 |
Country | Netherlands |
Most recent champion(s) | Amsterdam Pirates (7th title) |
Most titles | Neptunus (19 titles) |
Related competitions | European Cup Overgangsklasse |
The Honkbal Hoofdklasse (Dutch for Major League Baseball) is the highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands. It is an eight-team league that plays a 42-game schedule and is overseen by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB).
Games are played principally on weekends. The season runs from April to September and is followed by the playoffs among the four best teams, which culminates in the Holland Series. Both of the playoff rounds are best-of-five. The league followed a promotion and relegation system with the Honkbal Overgangsklasse until 2022. Many of the official team nicknames contain the name of the club's corporate sponsor.
The two best teams participate in the European Cup.