1997 European Baseball Championship

none 1997 12 29 August – 7 September 1997 1995 France Netherlands Italy Netherlands Spain Russia NED Johnny Balentina 1999 Paris The 1997 European Baseball Championship was won by Italy. It was held in Paris, France. In a battle of undefeated teams, Italy defeated the defending champion, the Netherlands, 4–2 in the finale. It was the last European championship to feature aluminum bats. The field expanded from 10 teams at the 1995 championship to 12 teams and featured one first-time participant, the Czech Republic. Dutch catcher Johnny Balentina won his second consecutive tournament MVP award.Chetwynd Josh https://archive.org/details/baseballineurope0000chet/page/251/ Baseball in Europe : a country by country history 2008 McFarland & Co. 978-0-7864-3724-5 Jefferson, N.C. 233, 234, 251, 252 registration The Netherlands subsequently won every European championship until 2010, when the Italy again snapped the Dutch's title run.September 9, 2021 From Antwerp to Piemonte, 67 years of European Baseball Championship history http://www.fibs.it/en/news/da-anversa-al-piemonte-67-anni-di-storia-delleuropeo-seniores 2025-12-15 Federazione Italiana Baseball Softball en The French Federation of Baseball and Softball faced financial problems after hosting the tournament, with the Confederation of European Baseball temporarily suspending French teams from competitions, though France returned for the 1999 championship. Standings Pos. TeamRecord 1 Italy8–0 2 Netherlands7–1 3 Spain5–3 4 Russia4–4 5 France6–3 6 Belgium4–4 7 Czech Republic4–4 8 Sweden2–6 9 Great Britain2–5 10 Germany3–4 11 Ukraine2–5 12 Slovenia0–7 SourcesWedemeijer Harry 1997 European Championships Baseball 29 August - 7 September 1997, Paris http://home.wanadoo.nl:80/hwede/stats97/ek97/index.html https://web.archive.org/web/20080321110250/http://home.wanadoo.nl:80/hwede/stats97/ek97/index.html 2008-03-21 2025-11-25 home.wanadoo.nlArchief Europees kampioenschap https://www.honkbalsitearchief.nl/archief/ek_eindstanden/ek_1995.html 2025-12-15 Honkbalsite archief nl Awards Most valuable player: NED Johnny Balentina Best batter: Belgium Tonny Verhaert Best pitcher: Belgium Michael Leys Sources References External links Rosters of top three teams at the European Championship https://www.sport-komplett.de/sport-komplett/sportarten/b/baseball/hst/5.html 2025-12-15 sport-komplett.de de European Baseball Championship Category:European Baseball Championship Category:International baseball competitions hosted by France European Baseball Championship European Baseball Championship