Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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One of the oldest baseball tournaments in Europe, the Haarlem Honkbalweek (Baseball Week in Haarlem) is underway. The tournament has been contested every every other year since 1961 (with one three year gap to switch the tournament to even-numbered years.)
This year's tournament is the last big international tournament before the Olympic Games in Beijing start next month.
Team USA won its first two games, besting Japan 5-2 and edging Cuba 1-0. The other three participants are Taiwan, Netherlands, and a team called "The Dutch Caribbean" (presumably the Netherlands Antilles and Curacao.)
The top four finishers after round robin play meet in single elimination games to determine the champion. The Dutch have won the last two Honkbalweek tournaments.
Haarlem is the only place in Europe where I have seen significant numbers of baseball diamonds in parks. And kids playing in them.
I also went to the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, where I had to check my camera. I put in a free locker, but failed to take the key with me. So it was pretty much just sitting out on display for everyone. I then went back to Amsterdam. And then I remembered where I had left my camera. And I went back and it was still there, sitting out on display for anyone to steal. Which no one did.
Haarlem > Cleveland.
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