SXM Daily

All news

Culture

Franklin van Gurp: the Philipsburg-born pitcher at the 2023 World Baseball Classic

Franklin van Gurp, a relief pitcher born in Philipsburg, was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2017 and pitched for the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

By SXM Daily ·

Franklin van Gurp is a right-handed relief pitcher born in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. Drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2017, he pitched for the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He grew up on the Dutch side of the island, HonkbalSoftbal.nl reported.

Franklin van Gurp pitching in Shizuoka, Japan, August 2024

Photo: HrkTwikiS, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Draft

Van Gurp was pitching for Florida International University when the San Francisco Giants drafted him in the 25th round of the 2017 MLB Draft on 14 June 2017, The Daily Herald, HonkbalSoftbal.nl and Baseball-Reference report. The Daily Herald's Weekender marked the moment with a story headlined "St. Maarten's own Franklin van Gurp turns pro".

Professional career

According to HonkbalSoftbal.nl, he spent three seasons in the Giants organisation and signed with the San Diego Padres the following year. MLB.com reported that he had a spell with the Seattle Mariners organisation in 2021.

Kingdom of the Netherlands

HonkbalSoftbal.nl reports that he first played for the Kingdom team in 2019. He pitched for the Kingdom at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, MLB.com and HonkbalSoftbal.nl report, and HonkbalSoftbal.nl noted that he was the only Sint Maarten player on the team. More island sport is in SXM Daily Sports.

Sources

  • https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=vangur000fra
  • https://www.thedailyherald.sx/supplements/weekender/st-maarten-s-own-franklin-van-gurp-turns-pro
  • https://honkbalsoftbal.nl/2023/03/05/franklin-van-gurp-hoopt-zich-tijdens-wbc-in-de-kijker-te-spelen/
  • https://www.mlb.com/news/netherlands-pitcher-franklin-van-gurp-set-for-classic
  • https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franklin_van_Gurp_on_August_4,2024(1).jpg

Source: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=vangur000fra

More in Culture