It will come as no secret to loyal reader(s) of this column that I enjoy using the word “honkbal” whenever I can and I will go to great lengths to include the Dutch term for baseball at any and every opportunity.

And there can be no greater opportunity than the one which has recently presented itself as the Netherlands emerged victorious in this year’s Baseball World Cup held in Panama City, Panama by defeating Cuba 2-1 in the final.

It is the first time a European team has won the championship since 1938.

Well done Oranje!

Lefthander Cody Kukuk was drafted in the seventh round by the Boston Red Sox last month. If he makes it to the show then he will become one of a select number of MLBers, and the first Red Sox since Johnny Reder in the 1930s, whose last name constitutes a palindrome.

• Truck Hannah
• Toby Harrah
• Eddie Kazak
• Dick Nen
• Robb Nen
• Dave Otto
• Johnny Reder
• Juan Salas
• Marino Salas
• Mark Salas

Sources: Boston.com, All Experts, Wikipedia

A few weeks ago The New Yorker ran a long but compelling piece by Jeffrey Toobin about the close relationship between Bernie Madoff and the Mets’ principal owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, with the primary focus on Wilpon. The in-depth article leaves much for the reader to decide as to whether Wilpon and co. were complicit in Madoff’s “too good to be true returns” or whether they did indeed think they were investing in a legitimate fund and not a Ponzi scheme. Still, one does have to wonder how two people whose business acumen has enabled them to amass millions of dollars for themselves and their families, and who invested much of those millions back into Madoff’s funds, could not have spotted that something was a bit fishy.

Ironic, though, that the team might soon find itself in the hands of another hedge fund manager — albeit one with a much better reputation.

You can find the entire New Yorker piece here.

The ubiquitous Yankees insignia

Allow me to digress a bit: Several years ago, 1998 to be precise, I was the lowest man on the Sports Illustrated totem pole. I was a suggestion guy. A suggestion guy does what the title implies; he sends in suggestions to the news bureau which, if accepted, are then handed to a staff reporter to do a write-up. Everyone from the SI doorman on up has more editorial sway than the suggestion guy.

One day in said year of 1998 I was strolling around Budapest, Hungary and I noticed that one of the casual fashion trends among the locals was to have clothing tagged somewhere with the New York Yankees logo on it – mostly on caps, of course, but there was also jackets, tote bags, beach towels, and much more.

I asked some folks wearing Yankees caps if they knew what the “NY” stood for; the overwhelming majority did not. And thus a suggestion was born. After all, unlike soccer, basketball and even American football, baseball has yet to strike a chord with sports fans outside of the United States and pockets of Asia and Central America. In Europe, it has nary a following.

So why then was nearly everyone in Budapest wearing Yankees clothing?

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Here’s something that caught my eye this morning as I was browsing a job board — an actual chance to make money writing about baseball for Examiner.com:

Examiner.com is looking for freelance online writers to examine local baseball on our Top 100 website. Examiners are passionate local insiders who come from all backgrounds but have two main things in common – they have a lot of knowledge about a specific topic AND they are solid writers. Examiners often receive credentials to cover sporting events, opportunities to interview athletes and coaches, invitations to appear on other media outlets and more …

Local Baseball Examiners publish stories on individual teams and players, aiming for comprehensive coverage of local teams at any level of baseball (MLB, MiLB, College, or High School) – not just game reports, but also features, commentary, and any off-the-diamond news that might be relevant.