Rob "Robbie" Cordemans (born October 31, 1974, in Schiedam) is a Dutch

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. He bats and throws righthanded. Cordemans is best known for representing the Dutch national team at the Olympics and other international competitions. He has pitched in 107 games in his career in the Dutch Major League through 2015, and had a record of 63–12 with an ERA of 1.00. He attended

Indian River State College Indian River State College (IRSC) is a public college with a main campus in Fort Pierce, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and serves the counties of Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie on the Treasure Coast region ...

, where he was the 1997 Florida Junior College pitcher of the year, but he was not drafted out of college. He is a finesse pitcher, and he throws a mid- to upper-80s

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

and an upper-70s

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

. He played for Team Netherlands in the 2019 European Baseball Championship, and competed for it at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament, in Italy in September 2019.

Career

Olympics

Cordemans has been a fixture on Dutch baseball teams in international competitions over a decade. Most notably, he has competed in four consecutive

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

for the Netherlands. He began his Olympic career as a 21-year-old pitcher for the Netherlands at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Despite his lofty 6.94 ERA, Cordemans was the winning pitcher in both of the club's games during the preliminary round of the tournament. At the 2000 Olympics 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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, Cordemans was 1–1 with a 2.51 ERA. Cordemans participated in his third Olympic competition during the 2004 Summer Games in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece. His fourth appearance at the Olympic games would come during the 2008 Summer Games in

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 ...

, China.

Hoofdklasse

During his debut season in the

Honkbal Hoofdklasse 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 Softba ...

in , Cordemans won his first ''Pitcher of the Year'' award while playing for

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 ...

. His 14–2 win–loss record and 2.20 ERA led the league. Although Cordemans moved to perennial powerhouse

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 ...

for the season, he was not able to replicate his success from 1999 and his record declined to 8–4. However, his 94 strikeouts placed him fourth in the league, and an 11-strikeout complete game win over the Italians helped Neptunus to a European Cup title. In the season, Cordemans went 10–2 with a 0.47 ERA and earned his second ''Pitcher of the Year'' award.

2007: Taiwan

Cordemans' had a trial for the

Uni-President Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Ta ...

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

for 2007. Cordemans was released on 28 May 2007 and went 3–4 with 4.5 ERA.

2009: World Baseball Classic

Cordemans was selected once again to represent the Dutch national team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. During the first round of the tournament held at

Hiram Bithorn Stadium Hiram Bithorn Stadium (Spanish: Estadio Hiram Bithorn) is a baseball park in San Juan, Puerto Rico, built in 1962 and designed by Puerto Rican architect Pedro Miranda. It is operated by the municipal government of the city of San Juan. Its name ho ...

in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Cordemans entered two separate games against the Dominican Republic in middle relief. Cordemans pitched in three games, 6.2 innings pitched, 2 hits allowed, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts, 0.00 ERA. 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1BB, 1 SO in middle relief of 1st game vs. DR 2.0 IP, 0 H, 3BB, 0 SO in middle relief (6th, 6th) of 2nd game vs. DR 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0BB, 2 SO in middle relief (6th, 7th) of 1st game vs. Venezuela

Additional international career

Cordemans was also named to the Dutch roster for the 1995 European Baseball Championship, 1999 European Baseball Championship, 2001 European Baseball Championship, 2003 European Baseball Championship, 2005 European Baseball Championship, 2006 World Baseball Classic,

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 ...

, 2007 European Baseball Championship, 2010 European Baseball Championship, 2010 Intercontinental Cup, 2011 Baseball World Cup,

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike ...

, , 2014 European Baseball Championship,

2015 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 ...

, 2015 WBSC Premier12, , and the 2016 European Baseball Championship.Bernadina voor EK terug in nationale ploeg
''Honkbalsite , Honkbalnieuws uit Nederland'' He played for Team Netherlands in the 2019 European Baseball Championship, at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019, and at the 2019 WBSC Premier12.

References

External links

*
Dutch Olympic Committee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordemans, Rob 1974 births 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2013 World Baseball Classic players 2015 WBSC Premier12 players 2016 European Baseball Championship players 2017 World Baseball Classic players 2019 European Baseball Championship players Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Dutch baseball players Dutch expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Indian River State Pioneers baseball players Living people Olympic baseball players for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Schiedam Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions players L&D Amsterdam Pirates players DOOR Neptunus players