has progressed to the second round of competition in 2009, and achieved its highest finish, 4th, in both the 2013 and 2017 tournaments. Unusual for international competition in baseball, the squads selected in the World Baseball Classic tournaments featured players active in Major League Baseball in addition to Minor League, Nippon Professional Baseball, and local players. Generally players in the Major Leagues are unavailable due to their contracts with the respective clubs. The Netherlands team in the World Baseball Classic has featured several Major Leaguers: Andruw Jones, Sidney Ponson, Randall Simon, Roger Bernadina, Shairon Martis, Jonathan Schoop, Xander Bogaerts, Andrelton Simmons, Didi Gregorius, Jurickson Profar, and Kenley Jansen, most born in the Caribbean in either Aruba or Curaçao. 2006 Prior to the 2006 World Baseball Classic, the Netherlands played four exhibition games. They lost two games, against a college team from the University of Tampa and an Atlanta Braves squad, at Cracker Jack Stadium in Kissimmee, Florida. The Netherlands competed in Pool C—along with world champion Cuba, Panama, and Puerto Rico—in the first round at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Having failed to win against Cuba and Puerto Rico in their round-robin pool games, they finished third in their pool, and were eliminated along with Panama. 2009 Prior to the 2009 World Baseball Classic, the Netherlands played seven exhibition games, including three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and Minnesota Twins. The Netherlands team lost all three games against these MLB opponents. The Netherlands competed in Pool D, along with 2006 WBC semi-finalist Dominican Republic, Panama, and Puerto Rico, in the first round at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The team won both games against the strong Dominican Republic team. As result, the team made it through the first double-elimination round along with Puerto Rico. In the second round the Dutch lost both their games against Venezuela and the United States. Therefore, the team was eliminated and finished 7th in the final standings. 2013 The Netherlands competed in Pool B against Chinese Taipei, South Korea, and Australia at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan. The Dutch team won their first game against South Korea 5-0, but lost to the Chinese Taipei 8-3. However, the Netherlands won against Australia 4-1, thus securing their position for Round 1 in Tokyo Dome to face off against Japan and Cuba. The Dutch team defeated