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Dutch pitcher finds a home with Marlins

JUPITER, Fla. –- According to an old proverb, if you shout in Dutch that you are lost, a Dutchman will pop up from behind a tree to help you.

For Marlins pitcher Rick VandenHurk, the Dutchmen answered from inside a Publix supermarket on U.S. 1.

That's how some transplanted natives of the Netherlands came to adopt VandenHurk just weeks after he left his native land to start a baseball career in 2003 at age 17.

But the story doesn't start with VandenHurk. It begins with two other Marlins minor leaguers from the Netherlands, Kenny Berkenbosch and Jeffrey DeVrieze, who couldn't decide what to buy at the grocery store one day five years ago.

"There they were in the candy aisle, discussing which chocolate they should take,'' recalled Elly Van Schaffelaar. "I heard Dutch, and I always interfere when I hear Dutch.''

Standing with the players over the shelves of sweets, Elly remembered how lonely she and her husband felt when they first arrived in the United States from Holland in 1980.

"We met an old Dutch couple who took care of us,'' she said. "I think you need that when you are in a new country."

Now, it was her turn to help her countrymen. She recommended the Dove chocolates, then invited the players over for dinner.

Soon, Elly and her husband C.J., who run a catering business, were cooking potato stamppot, smoked sausage and other favorite Dutch meals for the players.

At one dinner, the boys mentioned a third Dutch teammate on the Gulf Coast League Marlins — VandenHurk.

"They always called up. They were always hungry,'' C.J. recalled. "One day I said, 'Why don't you bring the other guy?'"

VandenHurk joined the dinner gatherings, and soon a close friendship started to bloom among the players, the Van Schaffelaars and another Dutch couple, Peter and Peggy DeBilt.

A couple of years later, the careers of Berkenbosch and DeVrieze stalled, and they returned to Holland after the Marlins released them. But VandenHurk was promoted to the Class A Jupiter Hammerheads, where he excelled before his career was interrupted in late 2005 by a sore right elbow. He underwent reconstructive ligament surgery and returned to his apartment to recuperate.

A few weeks later, the DeBilts called to ask VandenHurk a favor: Could "Ricky," as they call him, house-sit and take care of their bassett hound while they returned to Europe for a week?

"That went so smooth that (when) we had to go to Europe again, we asked Ricky, 'Would it be possible for you to move in?'" DeBilt recalled.

VandenHurk became more than a mere boarder. He even helped with the Van Schaffelaars' catering business. At their Palm Beach banquet hall, he wore a tuxedo to serve meals and park cars. He baked cookies, too.

"He's like a son,'' Elly said with a smile. "He even watches Oprah with me."

Last spring, he had to say good-bye to his Dutch friends when he was promoted to Class AA. But he didn't stay long in Zebulon, N.C. The Marlins quickly promoted him to the majors to help shore up a pitching rotation hobbled by injuries.

When he made his first appearance April 10, he became the first player from the Netherlands to pitch in the majors since Bert Blyleven concluded his 22-year career in 1992.

VandenHurk moved to an apartment in Hallandale during the season, but the Van Schaffelaars and the DeBilts weren't far behind — they drive to Dolphin Stadium with their Dutch friends to watch VandenHurk pitch.

"We like soccer but now we like the Marlins,'' Elly said.

VandenHurk, 22, is living with the DeBilts again this month, as he hopes to do every spring while he plays for Marlins.

"This is right behind the fields,'' he said of his room at the DeBilts' Abacoa house, just a long home run from Roger Dean Stadium. "It's probably the best set-up in baseball."

VandeHurk showed promise last year, finishing 4-6 with a 6.83 ERA. Monday, he allowed three runs on four hits in three innings to take the loss in a 4-2 victory by Minnesota. Overall this spring he has pitched eight innings with a 4.50 ERA and 1-1 record.

VandenHurk has a good chance to win a spot in the rotation. He said some credit goes to the hospitality he has enjoyed over the last five years from the Dutch couples who befriended him.

"It feels like home," he said.

Joe Capozzi writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: joe_capozzi AT pbpost.com. Researchers Niels Heimeriks, Sammy Alzofon and Melanie Mena contributed to this story.