David Bergman (baseball)

Bergman started his career at Haarlem Nicols [nl] and later at DSS. He was first selected for the Netherlands youth team in 1997, playing for the team for three years and winning three consecutive European championships. In 1999, he won the Roel de Mon Award, a trophy for the best junior pitcher in de Honkbal Hoofdklasse. A year later, he won the 2000 Triple Crown Tournament in Belgium with the Dutch national B-team.

Bergman was first selected for the Netherlands national team in 2003. There, he joined Pioniers teammates Robin van Doornspeek and Roger Kops, who are also both pitchers. That year, Bergman took part in the World Port Tournament, the European Baseball Championships, and the 2004 Olympics qualification tournament. With Pioniers, he won the 2003 European Cup Winners' Cup and the 2004 European Super Cup. He did not make the 2004 Olympics team, but he rejoined the national squad for the 2005 European championships in the Czech Republic, where they won the title. After the European title, Bergman and the Dutch team finished fourth in the 2005 World Cup, held in the Netherlands. Bergman won one of his two games and finished with a 1.00 earned run average.^[1]

Bergman was part of the Dutch squad for the 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) in Puerto Rico. The Netherlands won one of their three games in the tournament. He pitched 11⁄3 inning against Puerto Rico, allowing one run and four hits.^[2] Later that year, he took part in the Dutch squad that played at the European Baseball Series,^[3] Haarlem Baseball Week, and Intercontintental Cup, where the Netherlands finished second.^[1]

2006 was also one of Bergman's best years with his club. In his first season with Kinheim, he went 12–2.^[4] Kinheim were regular league champions and defeated Pioniers in the Holland Series.^[1][5]

Bergman pitched 7 shutout innings in the 2007 European Championship to qualify the Dutch for the 2008 Olympics.^[6] At the Olympics, he earned a save in a win over China but was 0–1 with a 13.52 ERA.^[7]

In March 2009, Bergman took part in the 2009 WBC. He allowed 3 runs in five innings of relief over three games.^[8] Bergman was on the 2011 World Cup-champion team,^[9] which received the knighthood in the order of Orange-Nassau.^[10]

In 2012, Kinheim finished fourth in the Hoofdklasse regular season yet made it to the Holland Series where they won the national title when they defeated Neptunus in a 4–0 sweep. Bergman got 13 strikeouts in 8 innings in the decisive Game 4 and was named the series MVP.^[11]

Bergman pitched in the 2013 WBC. He took the loss in a seeding game against Japan after allowing 7 runs in 1+2⁄3 inning.^[12]

Bergman retired from the national team in October 2014.^[13] He continued to pitch in the Dutch league regularly through 2016.^[4]

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)