1971 European Baseball Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Italy |
| Dates | 5–12 September |
| Teams | 9 |
| Defending champions | Netherlands |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Netherlands (9th title) |
| Runners-up | Italy |
| Third place | Germany |
| Fourth place | Belgium |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 22 |
The 1971 European Baseball Championship was held in Parma and Bologna, Italy and was won by the Netherlands for the second time in a row. Italy finished second. The Netherlands lost the second game of the three-game championship to Italy, the Dutch team's first loss in tournament history. The Netherlands won the winner-take-all final game, which was delayed by rain.[1][2][3] In the second game of the championship series, 5,000 fans watched Italy win 1–0.[2]
San Marino, in its first tournament, defeated Great Britain and Spain.[1]
Italy began recruiting Italian-American players for international competitions in 1971.[4] The team had previously complained that the Netherlands had an unfair advantage by fielding players from the Netherlands Antilles.[5]
Format
The nine-team field was the largest yet in tournament history. Teams were split into two groups that played a single round-robin competition. The top two teams played a three-game championship series while the second-, third-, and fourth-place teams in each group faced each other in a one-game playoff to determine the final standings. The lone fifth-place team in group play, France, was determined to finish last in the competition without a playoff.[6][1]
Standings
| Pos. | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands | 6 | 1 |
| 2 | Italy | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | Germany | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Belgium | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | San Marino | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | Spain | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | Great Britain | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Sweden | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | France | 0 | 4 |
References
- ^ a b c d Chetwynd, Josh (2008). Baseball in Europe : a country by country history. McFarland & Co. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-7864-3724-5.
- ^ a b "Nederland vernedert Italië". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 1971-09-13. p. 23. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
- ^ "Honkbalteam kampioen van Europa". Het Rotterdamsch parool (in Dutch). 1971-09-13. p. 9. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
- ^ Hall, Stephen (July 10, 1977). "Baseball In Italy No Work Of Art". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Chetwynd 2008, p. 234-235.
- ^ a b "Baseball - European Championships 1971 - Calendar & Results". the-sports.org. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
- ^ "Archief Europees kampioenschap". Honkbalsite archief (in Dutch). Retrieved 2025-12-09.
External links
- "Rosters of top three teams at the European Championship". sport-komplett.de (in German). Retrieved 2026-01-26.