Our last stop for the tour was Antwerp Belgium.

It’s about a hour and a half drive from Amsterdam, and it’s the second biggest city in Belgium.
Antwerp is for baseball terms the biggest baseball city in Belgium and it ws good to see the turn out it had.
there were 200 kids and the Indoor sport facility was very nice.
we got a Big Welcome from all the kids and the Belgium baseball fans.
there were a lot of american kids present because there is a U.S Army base close to antwerp so that was really cool. they had a lot of talent and kept up with all baseball teams and stats from all players in the MLB as they were asking us a lot of questions about professional Baseball.

After we got introduced we had a special guest throw out the first pitch.
The U.S. General Consul came and visited our clinic and also participated in a couple drills. it was awesome.
The kids were excited they got to meet some Big League players and were asking for more tips to improve their game
the Clinic was a success and we finished up a great week were we had about 1200 kids participate in our 4 clinics.

When we finished up the Mayor of Antwerp invited us for some drinks and Belgium treats at the town hall. Antwerp is a city with a lot of history and beautiful old buildings. because it was raining we couldn’t do the tour true antwerp so we just went and met up with the mayor. we got some gifts from him and typical belgium delicates.
i think that everybody enjoyed it and had a good time.

we could stay to long because we had one last stop that night and that was the soccer game.
We got invited to my home town team PSV Eindhoven soccer match that night against excelsior.
I go to every home game when i’m back, and it was cool that we got invited with the whole group, i think it was the first time for everybody.
it’s so much different then a baseball game, the Philips Stadion holds about 35.000 seats and is sold out every home game.
The fans are really intense and its a electric atmosphere.
PSV won 4-2 and got back into first place after that win.

after the game we all went back to the hotel in Amsterdam and the next day everybody flew back to the U.S.A.

It’s was a great week and we got a lot done. and i want to thank of course Jeremy,Adam,Brady,John,Kyle and Gregory for participating in the
European Big League Tour.

This is huge for baseball in Europe!

Take Care,
Vandy

Our third clinic we held in Rotterdam, one of the Biggest Harbor’s in Holland.

The Indoor Facility is right next door to one of biggest soccer stadiums in Europe,
De Kuip. That’s were Feyenoord plays.

The Indoor facility is beautiful and brand new. A lot of fans were there and again
we had over 300 kids participating in our 3 hour clinic.

Jeremy Guthrie did the Q and A and I did a short throwing program with the kids,
John Baker did catching and Fielding, Brady Anderson the hitting and Adam Jones and
Gregory Halman did outfield drills as well as hitting.
Kyle Barbour the Strenght and Condition coach was teaching the kids some
coordination skills and important baseball exercises to keep strong and healthy on
the field.

The kids payed good attention and learned a lot they said and when we were done we
were all talking about the talent that we saw, this was a very good group with lot
of potential.

After every clinic we have a Autograph and photo session and again the kids could
not believe what was happening to them,haha it was great to see them so excited and
happy.

A huge shout out to all the cities we have been too so far they have been great and
it’s been really good organized, there have been so many fans and kids participating
in our clinics!

Yesterday we had a day off, everybody went sight seeing in Amsterdam, Jeremy went to
Paris with his wife for a couple days and today Adam and John And Kyle went as well
to Paris. It’s only a 3 hour train ride away so that’s definitely high on
everybody’s to do list!

Saturday will be the last stop in Antwerp, Belgium. And they have some special
guests coming to the clinic I heard! And after Saturdays clinic we will go to the
soccer game of my home town team PSV Eindhoven. None of the guys have ever been
there so i’m excited to see what they have to say and think about European Football!

Take Care and I’ll keep you posted,

Vandy

We had a awesome day yesterday in Haarlem,
that was our second stop of the tour and it was packed with Baseball Fans.
This clinic we had about 400 kids and they were ready to go as soon as we got introduced.
the introductions were Basketball style and the crowd went crazy once they all the players. The dutch national team players also helped out and the kids had a great time and learned a lot. Brady Anderson and Adam Jones were mainly in the Cage working and helping the young hitters and Me and Jeremy Guthrie were helping out the young pitchers. Baker and Gregory answered a lot of questions from the kids and helped them with their catching and Outfield Skills.
Haarlem is the City Were Gregory Grew up, and played before he went to the U.S and signed with the Mariners. It’s was packed with Fans and they were teaching the guys some dutch words and sentences. A great clinic and all the kids got their autographs and Photo’s taking.
When we got back to the hotel, we went and ate at a old school dutch restaurant and everybody got a taste of some very good dutch food.
Today we had a day off and everybody went and explored Amsterdam, there are very many museums here and there’s a lot to do such as, Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum, The Palace, and Canal Boat tours.
tomorrow we head to Rotterdam for the third Clinic it’s one of Hollands Biggest cities so its gonna be fun!
i’ll keep you updated.

Wauw! What can I say! Unbelievable!
European Baseball is a lot bigger then I tought, we had 300 kids today at our first
clinic in Eindhoven and you should have seen their faces! It was very good organized
and we had player introductions under a loud applause from the crowd! The kids were
stunned and looked so amazed of the group of guys we brought! We had question and
answer sessions with all the players and taught them about pitching fielding and how
to play the outfield. Also on the end we had a live hitting session with Brady
Anderson and Adam Jones which was great! A.J. Demonstrated his swing while Brady
explained all the things that are so important to be a Good Major League hitter,
they both hit balls of the Tee, and the kids couldn’t believe they were seeing their
stars live in Action! Gregory Halman and Jeremy Guthrie had to answer lots of
questions from the kids and John Baker was in full Gear teaching the catchers how to
block baseballs as a big league catcher.
We had a autograph session on the end of the clinic as well as pictures and the kids loved it!
We also were joined by Loek van Mil (Double A Angels,and who’s 7’1) and Alexander Smit (double A Reds) both Dutch guys and good friends of mine that I grew up with playing.
So that was great! After the clinic we had some Dutch foods for the guys some
Bitterballen en Appelflappen en stroppwafels for our trip back to Amsterdam.
I think they all liked it, at least I hope so! Lol.

Tomorrow we will stop in Haarlem, a Big Baseball City, so i’m very excited and I’ll
keep you Updated!

Have a good night and Take Care,
Vandy

Day 1 of the European Big League Tour was a great one! All the Guys and
wives/girlfriends arrived in the morning and they went and explored the city of
Amsterdam. The hotel is in a great location right Downtown Amsterdam so you can
pretty much walk every where! John Baker went and check out the Rijks Museum and
Jermey Guthrie walked out towards the Dam. Around 6 we all met for the VIP Dinner
and Auction that we held for Kika (Kids Cancer Free). It was a great night with
performances of Ali B, Laura Fygi and Raymond van Elburg, 3 of Hollands Biggest
Artist. Jeremey Guthrie also went on stage and preformed with Holland’s Best Rapper
Ali B.jumping up and down the stage,hahaha it was great, and We also had a Live Auction that was done by Mart Smeets, the Biggest
Dutch Sports journalist.We raised probably close to $6.000 for
KiKa!
I think it was a great start of the Week coming up!
Tomorrow is our first stop and that’s gonna be in Eindhoven, my home town.
I’ll keep you updated and post some pictures as well of our Charity Dinner and
Auction.
Take Care,
Vandy