Evert-Jan 't Hoen

Evert-Jan Axel Charles 't Hoen
(E.J.)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 198 lb.
• School Indian River Community College

• Born November 8, 1975 in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Evert-Jan 't Hoen, pronounced ET-toon, played in the minor leagues for six years (reaching AAA) and has spent several years with the Dutch national team. Never a contact hitter, he has shown power in a few international tournaments and has won a Hoofdklasse home run crown.

't Hoen debuted with the Dutch national team at age 18. He hit .385/.429/.462 as their primary shortstop in the 1994 Baseball World Cup but had four errors in six games. Out of community college in the US, he was drafted in the 32nd round (872nd overall) of the 1995 amateur draft. In the 1995 Intercontinental Cup, he batted .273/.333/1.091 with three homers in four games. He tied for second in the Cup in homers with 8 others, including Omar Linares, Byung-kyu Lee, Nobuhiko Matsunaka and Yoshitomo Tani, one behind leader Juan Rodriguez. His three homers all came against Spain; it was the only 3-homer performance in the Intercontinental Cup from 1991-2006. In the 1995 European Championship, he went 2 for 7 with a walk as a backup for the Gold Medal-winning Netherlands team. He was 3 for 13 with two walks and a double for the Netherlands in the 1995 World Port Tournament as they finished second to Cuba.

E.J. made his professional debut in the USA with the 1996 Boise Hawks, hitting .200/~.250/.317 with 17 strikeouts in 60 AB. In the 1996 Olympics, 't Hoen hit .217/.217/.435 with three errors in seven games as the Dutch shortstop. In the 1996 Haarlem Baseball Week, he batted .353/~.421/.412 for the second-place Dutch outfit.

In 1997, 't Hoen eked out a .203/~.263/.292 batting line for the Cedar Rapids Kernels and fanned in 114 of 384 AB. The next year, he returned to Cedar Rapids and improved at the plate, hitting .218/~.297/.395 with a team-leading 18 home runs. He tied Pablo Ozuna for the most double plays by a Midwest League shortstop that year (80). He also tied Andy Bevins for fourth in the MWL in homers, one behind #3 Shea Hillenbrand.

't Hoen split 1999 between the AA Erie SeaWolves (.203/~.255/.311 in 56 games as a utility infielder) and the Edmonton Trappers (4 for 29, two walks, no extra-base hits in 9 games). He played in the first Futures Game, going 0 for 1 as the backup third baseman to Aramis Ramirez on the World team. In the 1999 European Championships, 't Hoen helped the Dutch team win by leading the tournament in home runs. He was named the All-Star third baseman. He hit .462/.632/.923 in the event and scored 7 runs in 5 games. In the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, he struggled with a .217/.308/.217 batting line, though he outperformed two of his infield teammates, major leaguers Robert Eenhoorn and Ralph Milliard.

In 2000, E.J. again was with Erie (.217/.307/.374 in 62 games) and Edmonton (.208/.264/.333 in 39 games). He was on the Dutch national team in the 2000 Olympics in a utility role, splitting third base with Raily Legito and also manning first and second. He was just 1 for 13 with a walk, one time caught stealing and five strikeouts while making one error afield.

He played in the 2001 Anaheim Angels spring training. He split a third straight year between AA and AAA, hitting .172/.278/.312 in 30 games for the Arkansas Travelers and .219/.254/.391 in 18 for the Salt Lake Stingers, as a utility infielder in both places. In the 2001 Baseball World Cup, 't Hoen produced at a .250/.317/.556 clip while playing second base for the Dutch team. His three homers were the most in the round-robin phase of the tourney and he tied Julio Mosquera for second overall in the Cup, one behind Chin-Feng Chen. 't Hoen also tied Akihiro Higashide and Tadahito Iguchi for third in RBI (10) behind Chen and Yohanny Valera. Antonio Pacheco was named as the tourney's All-Star 2B instead of 't Hoen.

Since 2001, he has been playing for DOOR Neptunus in Hoofdklasse. In 2002, he ranked among the Hoofdklasse leaders in runs (31, tied for 7th with Ronald Jaarsma), doubles (11, tied for 4th with Sidney de Jong), home runs (4, tied for 5th) and RBI (30, fifth) to help Neptunus to a title.

During 2002 Haarlem Baseball Week, 't Hoen hit .222/~.300/.389 for the Netherlands. In the 2002 Intercontinental Cup, Evert-Jan batted .200/.333/.333 as the Dutch second sacker.

In 2003, 't Hoen tied for 5th in Hoofdklasse in runs (29), tied for fourth in doubles (9), tied Glenn Romney for third in RBI (32) and led with five homers. He played for the Dutch team in the European Championship (winning a Gold), World Port Tournament and Olympic qualifier. He also appeared in the 2003 Baseball World Cup, but hit just .176/.300/.294 as the Dutch second base starter. In the 2003 European Championship, he had batted .250/~.500/.417 for the Dutch team. During the 2003 World Port Tournament, he hit .273/~.313/.545 with 7 extra-base hits and 8 runs in 9 games. He led the 2003 WPT in doubles (5), tied for the lead in triples (2) and was second in runs behind Raily Legito.

At age 28 in 2004, the veteran infielder helped Neptunus to a third straight title. He tied for 6th in Hoofdklasse with 9 doubles, tied for 6th with two homers and was 5th with 28 RBI. He played in his third Olympic tournament that year. In the 2004 Olympics, he backed up Milliard at second base and went 1 for 6, but that hit was a homer against Gold Medal-winning Cuba. He had an error in a loss to Taiwan. He was 1 for 16 with an error in 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week.

't Hoen produced at a .297/.379/.455 clip in 2005 with 35 RBI in 39 games as the Neptunus 2B as they won again. He was 5th in runs (31), tied for 10th in doubles (8), tied six others for the lead in triples (3) and tied 4 others for third with 3 homers, trailing only Ivanon Coffie and Dirk van 't Klooster. His 35 RBI led the league, one ahead of van 't Klooster. He drew 7 walks in the 2005 European Championship to tie for 4th; he fielded perfectly at first base. He hit .231/.412/.538 with 8 runs and 8 RBI in 9 games for the champs. He went 0 for 3 with a walk in 4 games as a backup infielder in the 2005 Baseball World Cup and only handled two chances. He subbed for Michael Duursma at second and Coffie at third base. It appears to have been his last appearance on the Dutch national team.

In 2006, Evert-Jan batted .209/.372/.270 for Neptunus as a corner infielder. Their run of titles ended. He tied for 8th in the league with 8 steals and his 27 walks were among the leaders. Moving to first base, he hit .315/.399/.457 in 2007. He was 9th in the league with 29 RBI. It was his final season as a player.

'T Hoen has been the Cincinnati Reds's scout for the Netherlands from at least 2009-2019, signing Arij Fransen. He also became head coach of DOOR Neptunus that year, leading them to first place (34-8) in the 2013 Hoofdklasse regular season and then a sweep in the 2013 Holland Series. He coached for the Netherlands in the 2014 European Championship. He led Neptunus to titles in the 2014 Holland Series, 2015 European Cup (their first European Cup title in 11 years) and 2015 Holland Series. Only one prior Hoofdklasse skipper had won a Holland Series in each of his first three seasons; Eenhoorn was the first. After he led them to the 2016 Holland Series title, he became the first to win a Series in each of his first four years and only the second skipper to win four straight titles, following Jan-Dick Leurs. Despite that run, Neptunus decided not to retain his services. He coached for the Netherlands in the 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup.

Sources: 1996-2005 Baseball Almanacs, Dutch stats since 2005, Marco Stoovelaar's Dutch baseball site, Old IBAF site, Harry Wedemeijer's international tourney stats, Honkbalsite.com, Wayback Archive of the 2005 European Championship site