While baseball only maintains a niche following throughout Europe, the Netherlands and Italy are the two European countries where the sport's popularity is strongest.

The Netherlands national team played its first international on August 26, 1934 in Heemstede; the Dutch side lost to Belgium by a score of 21–12.

Throughout the 1930s, the Netherlands would play regular games against Belgium and France, accumulating a record of 7–2 against the two opponents between 1937 and 1939, and emerging as the strongest European baseball power.

The European Baseball Federation ruled in favor of the Dutch, allowing Caribbean players to make up an integral part of its squad going forward.

They lost two games, against the University of Tampa college team and an Atlanta Braves squad at Cracker Jack Stadium in Kissimmee, Florida.

However, the Netherlands won against Australia 4–1, thus securing their position for Round 1 in Tokyo Dome to face off against Japan and Cuba.

The Dutch team defeated Cuba 6–2 before facing two-time defending champion Japan and earned a humiliating loss 16–4 at the end of 7th inning due to mercy rule .

The Dutch narrowly clinched their win against the Cuban team 7–6 to secure their position in the semi-finals, where they lost again to Japan, 10–6.

[7][8][9] Sports Illustrated opined that the Dutch team "boasts arguably the most talented infield in the entire tournament.

In what NBC reported was thought to be the tallest batter-pitcher matchup in baseball history, the Dutch team's 7-foot-1-inch (2.16 m) pitcher Loek van Mil walked Israel's 6-foot-8-inch (2.03 m) first baseman Nate Freiman.

Reigning All-Star and NL Reliever of the Year Kenley Jansen joined the Dutch team for the championship round.

The Netherlands semifinal match against Puerto Rico ended with an 11th inning walk-off sacrifice fly by Eddie Rosario.

Dutch outfielder Wladimir Balentien was chosen in the All-WBC team after leading the tournament in hits, home runs, and RBI.

[14] Win Lose Void or postponed Fixture 1B – Jean-Paul Jacobs, 3B – Andreas Danielzick Ray-Patrick Didder (1) Juremi Profar (1) Ademar Rifaela (1) 1B – Gabor Erdos, 3B – Alessandro Spera 1B – Jean-Paul Jacobs, 3B – David Kulhanek 1B – Sergii Bolilyi, 3B – Gabor Erdos Juremi Profar (1) 1B – Christopher Feuerecker, 2B – Mojmír Jankovič, 3B – Jiri Kroupa Juremi Profar (1) 1B – Gabor Erdos, 2B – Alessandro Spera, 3B – Fabien Carrette-Legrand Infielders Outfielders Coaches Roster

Generally, major league players are unavailable for international tournaments due to their contracts with the respective clubs.

The Netherlands teams in the WBC have featured many major leaguers:[16] Wladimir Balentien, Roger Bernadina, Xander Bogaerts, Didi Gregorius, Greg Halman, Kenley Jansen, Andruw Jones, Shairon Martis,[17] Sidney Ponson, Jurickson Profar, Jonathan Schoop, Andrelton Simmons, Randall Simon, most of whom are from Aruba or Curaçao.

Among the players competing for it were Roger Bernadina, Mike Bolsenbroek, Donny Breek, Rob Cordemans, Tom de Blok, Yurendell DeCaster, Lars Huijer, Kevin Kelly, Dwayne Kemp, Diego Markwell, Randolph Oduber, Dashenko Ricardo, Shairon Martis, Kalian Sams, Sharlon Schoop, Curt Smith, Tom Stuifbergen, JC Sulbaran, and Orlando Yntema.

Each territory has its own baseball federation and in the past, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba have fielded its own team in international competitions.