1956 European Baseball Championship

none Italy 10–15 July 5 Spain Netherlands 1 Belgium Italy 10 1955 1957 Rome The 1956 European Baseball Championship was held in Rome, Italy and was won by the Netherlands, in its tournament debut. Belgium finished as runner-up. The games were played at the Motovelodromo Appio it, the former home stadium of AS Roma.1956 Second annual Global World Series baseball scorecard https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A133034 26 January 2025 Detroit Public Library 1824 June 2007 A.S. Roma http://albionroad.com/club-profiles/roma.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080414212915/http://albionroad.com/club-profiles/roma.html 14 April 2008 AlbionRoad.comArchief Europees kampioenschap Archive European Championship https://www.honkbalsitearchief.nl/archief/ek_eindstanden/ek_1956.html 2026-02-06 Honkbalsite Archief nl By winning tournament, the Netherlands qualified for the 1956 Global World Series, held in Milwaukee in the United States.1956-07-17 Holland team worrying all for nothing https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wichita-eagle-holland-team-worrying/188966150/ 2026-01-15 The Wichita Eagle 11 Associated PressChetwynd Josh https://archive.org/details/baseballineurope0000chet/ Baseball in Europe: A Country by Country History 2019 McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers 9780786437245 22–23 registration1956-07-16 Nederland greep de titel in Rome https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB15:000572065:mpeg21:a00069 2026-02-06 De Maasbode 7 nl Tournament summary The Netherlands, in its first championship, won all its games, though most were close contests. The only blowout was its victory against Italy, previously the continent's baseball powerhouse. Dutch ace Han Urbanus squared off against Italy's Giulio Glorioso it; Urbanus would later call the 1956 Netherlands–Italy game one of the best moments of his career.Chetwynd, pp. 250–51 Urbanus and Jan Smidt nl each won two games for the Dutch, with Smidt striking out 13 batters against West Germany and 16 against Belgium. Smidt was named the pitcher of the tournament, though the Dutch manager had scheduled Smidt to face weaker opponents.1956-07-20 De beste werper in Rome https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011208148:mpeg21:a0071 2026-02-06 De Tijd 3 nl France, which debuted in the 1955 tournament, did not participate, reportedly since many of its players were drafted to fight in the ongoing Algerian War. Pope Pius XII visited tournament participants on July 15, though Dutch and West German players missed the audience since they were playing a tournament game.1956-07-16 Honkballers misten Pauselijke audiëntie https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB15:000572065:mpeg21:a00071 2026-02-06 De Maasbode 8 Results main WL runs perc true complete NED, BEL, ITA, ESP, FRG W S B 4 0 23 8 3 1 27 8 2 2 17 24 H 1 3 17 30 0 4 11 25 NED BEL ITA ESP 1945 West Germany gold silver #cc9965 y FBR grey 1-0 13-2 6-4 3–2 0–1 3–2 14–3 10–2 2–13 2–3 7–5 7–3 4–6 3–14 5–7 5–4 2–3 2–10 3–7 4–5 References European Baseball Championship Category:European Baseball Championship 1956 Category:1956 in Italian sport Category:Sports competitions in Rome