There is tragic news coming out of the Netherlands today. Greg Halman, the Seattle Mariners and Netherlands outfielder, reportedly has been killed in an incident in Rotterdam.
Full details are not yet known, but reports state that he was fatally stabbed.
Halman’s Major League debut came on 23 September 2010 and, as I wrote about at the time, it was a memorable game. Although Halman went 0-for-4, his teammate Ichiro set a Major League record by notching his 200th hit of the season for the tenth consecutive time. Additionally, Jose Bautista hit his 50th home run of the season in the same game.
I noted that “Bautista has now hit the fifty mark once and that alone puts him in the record books. Maybe someday Greg Halman will earn a mention in there too”.
Sadly he will never get the chance.
It is a sad day for all European baseball fans. Halman’s achievement at making it all the way to the Major Leagues was celebrated by many and it is a dreadful shame that he will never be able to fulfill his potential, both in baseball and in life in general.
The Netherlands Senior baseball team has turned what was already a positive year for European baseball into a great one.
We’re taking a slight diversion from baseball in America this week and turning our attention to the sport being played closer to home.