Michael Steven Duursma (born 26 February 1978,

Heiloo Heiloo () is a municipality and town in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland. The community is part of the cooperation region Kennemerland and is located in the historical region of West Friesland. Heiloo had a population o ...

) is a Dutch

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player who currently plays for

Pioniers Pioniers is a baseball and softball team based in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. The club is currently sponsored by Raamsdonkveer-based construction company ''Vaessen BV'' and the team is officially known as the Vaessen Pioniers. Pioniers baseball ...

and the Dutch national team. He is the brother of Mark Duursma and was one of the few Dutch players to play in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

Career

Duursma hit .343/.414 in 1999 as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

for Cypress Community College; he had started at shortstop and as a freshman as well. Also in 1999, Duursma played for the Dutch team in the European Championship and was rated the best defensive player. He also was with

HCAW HCAW (formerly known as Mr. Cocker HCAW ( sponsored name)), in full ''Honkbalclub Allen Weerbaar'', is a Dutch baseball and softball club from Bussum. As of 2021 the club numbers about 400 members, including 270 players, making it one of the lar ...

in the

Hoofdklasse The Vierde Divisie, formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league is divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunday. This is a result of ...

and went 5 for 9 with 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2 doubles and a steal in a valiant effort in a losing cause in the 1999

Holland Series The Holland Series has been the annual championship series of the highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands since 1987, concluding the postseason of Honkbal Hoofdklasse. It is played between the two winners of the playoffs. The Ho ...

. In 2000, he transferred to

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

. As a junior, he fielded .942 and hit .267/.367/.331. He was hit by a pitch 13 times, which at the time ranked second in school history behind Sean Helsel.He played for the Dutch team in the preliminary games for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, but was not selected for the final squad that represented the nation in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. In his senior year, he started every game for Purdue at shortstop, usually hitting 9th. He fielded .938 and was called by the Purdue website arguably the best defensive shortstop in the Big Ten. He batted .298/.378/.416 and went 3 for 7 in the Big Ten Conference tournament. He made the All-Conference team as the top shortstop. Overall, he had hit .283/.351/.374 with Purdue. Undrafted in the 2001 amateur draft, Duursma returned to the Netherlands with the Minolta Pioniers. He hit .340 in 2002 but did not qualify for the batting championship; he would have tied

Percy Isenia Percy Isenia (born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch former baseball player who played for SV ADO and the Dutch national team. Isenia batted .304/.385/.478 in the 1999 World Port Tournament to help the Netherlands to the title. He was 3 for 9 with a ...

for 4th in Hoofdklasse. He did tie for sixth with two triples. Duursma replaced

Ralph Milliard Ralph Gregory Milliard (born 30 December 1973 in Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles) is a former Dutch baseball player and current baseball coach. Milliard represented the Netherlands at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where he and his ...

on the Dutch national team for the 2003

World Port Tournament The World Port Tournament is an international baseball tournament held at the ''Neptunus Familiestadion'' in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The tournament has been held every other year ( excluded) in odd-numbered years since , alternating with the Ha ...

but saw limited action, going 0 for 2 with 3 runs, presumably used as a pinch-runner. He also was on the European Cup winners with Pioniers. In the Hoofdklasse he led in runs (43, 6 more than runner-up Milliard) and tied for 9th with 10 steals. Duursma hit .328 in 2004, fifth in Hoofdklasse. He again led in runs (39, four more than René Cremer) and tied

Johnny Balentina Randolph Benito ("Johnny") Balentina (born August 8, 1971, in Willemstad, Curaçao) is a Dutch baseball player, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for the Netherlands, starting in 1996 (Atlanta, Georgia). Twice he finished in sixth ...

for sixth in hits (45) and led in steals (20 in 21 tries, two more SB than Milliard). He also went 0 for 4 against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the 2004

Haarlem Baseball Week The Haarlem Baseball Week ( nl, Honkbalweek Haarlem, before 2016 known as ) is an international invitation baseball tournament at the in Haarlem, Netherlands. It was first held in and has been held every other year in even-numbered years sinc ...

. He failed to make the final cut for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

as the Dutch team went with

Evert-Jan 't Hoen Evert-Jan Axel Charles 't Hoen (born 8 November 1975 in Alphen aan den Rijn) is a Dutch baseball player. 't Hoen represented the Netherlands at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, in which the Dutch finished sixth. He also participated in ...

, Milliard and

Reily Legito Raylinos Joaquin 'Reily' Legito (born July 26, 1978 in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles) is a retired Dutch baseball player. Legito, a right-handed infielder, represented the Netherlands at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where he ...

on the middle infield. In 2005, Duursma batted .307/.439/.346 and fielded .964. He was 10th in Hoofdklasse in average, fifth with 47 hits (one behind brother Mark), 6th with 24 RBI and tied for 7th with 9 steals. He led the 2005 European Championship with 14 walks in 10 contests; no one else had more than 9. He also played error-free ball at second base. In the 2005 Baseball World Cup, Duursma hit .302/.412/.395 with 12 runs in 11 games. During the

2006 World Baseball Classic The 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. It was held from March 3 to 20 in stadiums that are in and around Tokyo, Japan; San Juan, Puerto ...

, Duursma had the best average on the Dutch team, though he played in just one game. He went 2 for 4 with two strikeouts in the contest against

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Duursma slipped a bit in 2006, hitting .274/.433/.306 with 12 steals in 13 tries and a .952 fielding percentage. He was still second in Hoofdklasse in runs, with 38, only two behind leader Balentina. He was 4th in the circuit in stolen bases. He led the league with 11 times hit by pitch and his 33 walks tied brother Mark for the lead.In the 2006

, he hit .278/.409/.333 in a losing cause, leading the Series with two steals. He was 4 for 15 with 4 walks and 3 runs in the 2006 Haarlem Baseball Week as the Netherlands took the title. In the

2006 Intercontinental Cup The 2006 IBAF Intercontinental Cup was held in Taichung, Taiwan from November 9 through the 19th. Eight countries contested the tournament, which was played at Taichung Baseball Field and the newly built Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium ...

, Duursma batted .323/.432/.323. In the gold medal game, with the Netherlands down 3–2 in the bottom of the 10th, Duursma singled off of

Frank Montieth Frank Andy Montieth Herrera (born 11 January 1985) is a Cuban baseball pitcher. He pitches for the Industriales of the Cuban National Series. He has also competed extensively for the Cuban national baseball team, winning a gold medal at the 2 ...

, then scored on a double by

Dirk van 't Klooster Dirk Gijsbertus van 't Klooster (born 23 April 1976 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch baseball player. Van 't Klooster represented the Netherlands national baseball team, Netherlands at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where he and his team became fifth ...

. The Dutch team got no closer but still won the silver medal. Duursma batted .319/.440/.333 in 2007 Hoofdklasse, scoring 37 runs in 38 games. He tied for 10th in the league in OBP, was 4th in runs and tied for fifth with 25 walks. He hit .231/.286/.231 in the 2007 Holland Series; his 3 hits came in game one, in which he also had a crucial run-costing error. The Pioniers lost the Series to

Kinheim Kinheim is a baseball and softball team based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The title sponsor of the club is currently ''Corendon'' so that the official name of the team is Corendon Kinheim. Kinheim baseball team plays in the Honkbal Hoofdklass ...

. Duursma hit .143/.208/.286 and made two errors as the worst Dutch starting position player in the

2007 European Baseball Championship The 2007 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament held from September 7 to 16, between national baseball teams of the Confederation of European Baseball. The tournament was held in Barcelona, Spain and served as the ...

. The team still won the Gold and qualified the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. He was 3 for 16 with 4 walks in the

2007 World Port Tournament The 2007 World Port Tournament was an international baseball competition held at the DOOR Neptunus Familiestadion in Rotterdam, the Netherlands from August 2–12, 2007. It was the 11th edition of the tournament and featured teams from Chinese Ta ...

. Duursma struggled again in the

2007 Baseball World Cup The 2007 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 37th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

, going 1 for 7 with a run and an error in three games as

Roel Koolen Roel Koolen (born April 20, 1982 in Mierlo) was a Dutch baseball player who used to play for Kinheim and the Dutch national team. Koolen made his Hoofdklasse debut at the Twins Sporting Club in 1998. He played for the Dutch junior team ...

took over as the main second baseman. Duursma played for Dutch national team at the

2008 Haarlem Baseball Week The 2008 Haarlem Baseball Week was an international baseball competition held at the Pim Mulier Stadium in Haarlem, the Netherlands from July 4–13, 2008. It was the 24th edition of the tournament and featured teams from Chinese Taipei, Cuba, J ...

and batted .200 and led the team with 5 walks. Duursma was selected by coach

Robert Eenhoorn Robert Franciscus Eenhoorn (born February 9, 1968) is a retired Dutch professional baseball player and manager. He played four seasons of Major League Baseball as a utility infielder for the New York Yankees and California/Anaheim Angels. On Sep ...

in the team that represents the Netherlands at the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

.Dutch Olympic Baseball squad 2008
, knbsb.nl, ret: August 5, 2008 During the 2008 season he batted .279 in Hoofdklasse and scored 34 runs in 38 games for Pioniers. In 2009, Duursma played for the Dutch national team which went on to upset the Dominican Republic at 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 ti ...

. Duursma batted .260 in Hoofdklasse and scored 31 runs in 33 games while playing shortstop for Pioniers. At the

2009 World Port Tournament The 2009 World Port Tournament is an international baseball competition held at the DOOR Neptunus Familiestadion in Rotterdam, The Netherlands from July 2–12, 2009. It was the 12th edition of the tournament and featured teams from Chinese Taipei, ...

he played shortstop and second base and led the tournament with 10 walks in 8 games. Duursma struggled in 2010 when he batted .203/.309/.258 but had a .957 fielding percentage for Pioniers in de Hoofdklasse. Playing at the

2010 Haarlem Baseball Week The 2010 Haarlem Baseball Week was an international baseball competition held at the Pim Mulier Stadium in Haarlem, the Netherlands from July 9–18, 2010. It was the 25th edition of the tournament. On July 17, the Netherlands won the tournamen ...

he batted .294 as the Dutch national team took the title. In Germany, At the

2010 European Baseball Championship The 2010 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball competition held in Germany from July 23 to August 1, 2010. The tournament was originally set to be held in 2009 with Russia as host. In March 2008, the Confederation of Europe ...

he batted .273 with a home run while playing shortstop and second base. The Dutch lost the final against Italy. In 2011, Duursma batted .301/.451/.368 in the Hoofdklasse. His .451 OBP was 3rd in the league and his 32 walks was tied for 3rd in the league. He ended up scoring 33 runs in 39 games for Pioniers. Shortstop, Duursma, had a .963 fielding percentage. Pioniers went on to win the play-offs as Duursma went 12 for 29 for a .414 average and had a .528 OBP before struggling in the Holland Series as Pioniers lost to Amsterdam. Duursma was selected by coach Brian Farley for the

2011 World Port Tournament The 2011 World Port Tournament was an international baseball competition held at the Neptunus Family Stadium in Rotterdam, the Netherlands from June 23 to July 3, 2011. It was the 13th edition of the tournament. In the end, Chinese Taipei won i ...

and started at shortstop all 8 games while batting .261 for the Dutch. In 2012, Duursma batted .333/.465/.389 in 2012 while playing for Pioniers in Hoofdklasse. His .333 average was tied for 9th in the league, while his .465 on-base percentage was 3rd highest. He scored 30 runs and had 28 runs batted in and had a .963 fielding percentage at shortstop. His 10 sac bunts led Hoofdklasse. During the

2012 Haarlem Baseball Week The 2012 Haarlem Baseball Week was an international baseball competition held at the Pim Mulier Stadium in Haarlem, the Netherlands from July 13–22, 2012. It was the 26th edition of the tournament. In the final Cuba won over Puerto Rico, be ...

he started all 7 games at shortstop for the Dutch national team. He led the tournament with a .429 average, going 9 for 21 and a tournament high .600 OBP. At the

2012 European Baseball Championship The 2012 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament being held from September 7 to September 16, 2012. The Confederation of European Baseball selected the Netherlands to host the tournament. Qualification The follow ...

Duursma played third base as Italy went on to beat the Netherlands in the final.

References

External links

Duursma's profile at honkbalsite.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duursma, Michael 1978 births Living people 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2006 World Baseball Classic players Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cypress Chargers baseball players Dutch expatriate baseball players in the United States Olympic baseball players for the Netherlands Purdue Boilermakers baseball players People from Heiloo Konica Minolta Pioniers players Vaessen Pioniers players L&D Amsterdam Pirates players Sportspeople from North Holland