Eugene Humphrey Kingsale (born August 20, 1976) is an Aruban former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

, and Detroit Tigers from until . At six-foot-three, and his weight ranging from 170 to 194 pounds, Kingsale is known as a slick fielding, speedy switch-hitter who throws

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, he has played extensively for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

national team in international competition, including the

World Cup of Baseball The Baseball World Cup was an international tournament where national baseball teams from around the world competed. It was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). Along with the World Baseball Classic, it was one of two acti ...

, the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece as well as the

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Lea ...

tournaments in 2006 and 2009. Since 2008, he has played for perennial champions

Neptunus Neptunus is a baseball and softball club in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Following its 2014 championship season, the club signed a sponsorship contract for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons with Curaçao and competes under the name Curaçao Neptun ...

Rotterdam in the Dutch ''Hoofdklasse'', as well as being a key member of the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

national team, which played in Beijing Olympics.

Major League Baseball Transactions

Kingsale was signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on June 19, 1993. He made his debut with the Orioles on September 3, 1996. On July 10, 2001, he was selected off waivers by the Seattle Mariners. On June 14, 2002, he was selected off waivers by the San Diego Padres. On November 15, 2002, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Mike Rivera and became the Tigers' opening day center fielder. On September 29, 2003, he was granted free agency and signed with the San Diego Padres on November 9 of that year. Kingsale only had 134 hits in the major leagues but did collect a single off Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez on September 27, 1999. Since 2003, Kingsale has been out of the Major League Baseball and currently playing for Dutch baseball giants Neptunus as well as the Netherlands national baseball team where he is a key performer. Gene Kingsale currently lives in the Netherlands.

World Baseball Classic

In the qualifying round of the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference tie ...

, Kingsale drove in the tying run and scored the winning run in the 11th inning to lead the Netherlands to a 2–1 win over the Dominican Republic.

Career statistics

During Kingsale's 7 major league seasons, he played in 211 games with 533 career at bats. He scored 65 runs, had 134 hits with three

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 53 RBI. He had a career .251

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and had 15 stolen bases. In 2005, he played for the Double-A Bowie Baysox and Triple-A

Ottawa Lynx The Ottawa Lynx were a Minor League Baseball team that competed in the Triple-A International League (IL) from 1993 to 2007. The team's home field was Lynx Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. Over 15 seasons, the team was an affiliate of the Montreal ...

in the Orioles' farm system.

Interesting facts

*On September 3, 1996, Kingsale became the first ballplayer born in Aruba to appear in a major league game. He made his debut just five days earlier than fellow Aruban Calvin Maduro. * Was decorated with an

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

, in the grade Knight, in 2004 along with other major league players Calvin Maduro and

Sidney Ponson Sidney Alton Ponson (; born November 2, 1976) is an Aruban former Major League Baseball pitcher. As a player, Ponson stood at tall and weighed . He threw right-handed with a fastball that clocked out at 95 mph. When he made his major league ...

in a ceremony in Oranjestad, Aruba. * Was introduced while with the Bowie Baysox of the Eastern League as "Sir Eugene Kingsale". *Kingsale, along with several other players was a part of the "Aruba Mafia" that the Orioles scouted.

External links

Neptunus Honkbal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsale, Eugene 1976 births 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players Aberdeen IronBirds players Aruban expatriate baseball players in the United States Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Baltimore Orioles players Bluefield Orioles players Bowie Baysox players Gulf Coast Orioles players Detroit Tigers players Dutch people of Aruban descent Dutch expatriate baseball players in Canada Frederick Keys players Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Living people Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Aruba Olympic baseball players of the Netherlands Ottawa Lynx players Portland Beavers players Rochester Red Wings players San Diego Padres players Seattle Mariners players Tacoma Rainiers players Toledo Mud Hens players Aruban people of African descent