Haarlem, Netherlands · Friday, June 26, 2026 · Matt Tallarini, Chief Correspondent
Honkbalweek Haarlem Opens in Record Heat — and the First Game Is Already Postponed
HAARLEM, Netherlands — The 32nd Honkbalweek Haarlem was supposed to start this afternoon with Italy against the Czech Republic. It won’t. The Netherlands is baking under the first Code Red heat warning ever issued in this country for hot weather — the Dutch meteorological service KNMI has never triggered its highest alert for heat before, not even in the record summer of 2019 — and the mayor of Haarlem, Jos Wienen, pulled the plug on the 3:00 PM game on Thursday. Temperatures here are headed for 40 degrees Celsius. That’s 104 in American.
So the tournament opener moves to Tuesday, June 30, at 11:30 AM local time (5:30 AM ET). If you bought a Friday day ticket, the organizers say it gets you into the Tuesday makeup game — just grab any open seat in your section.
But Honkbalweek is not canceled. Not even close.
Tonight: Netherlands vs. the Globetrotters
The evening game is on. At 7:30 PM local (1:30 PM ET), once the worst of the heat breaks, the host Kingdom of the Netherlands opens its tournament against the International Globetrotters — and that’s a better opener for this tournament than the one we lost, if you ask me.
The Globetrotters are the team without a flag: a barnstorming all-star club affiliated with Baseball Jobs Overseas, in the field as a replacement for the Dominican Republic. Here’s the thing most people miss about them — the majority of their roster plays professionally in European federation leagues. These aren’t tourists. They spend their seasons in the German Bundesliga, the Czech Extraliga, the Dutch and Italian and Austrian leagues, against many of the same players they’ll face this week. When they line up across from the Netherlands tonight, it’s a bunch of guys who play European pro ball all year facing the European program that does it best. They won the 2022 Prague Baseball Week as the Hakusah Globetrotters, beating Spain in the final. They are not here to make up the numbers.
The Netherlands, for its part, brings seven players back from its 2026 World Baseball Classic roster, including Kevin Kelly, Shairon Martis, and Sharlon Schoop. They’re chasing a sixth Honkbalweek title in front of a home crowd, and as host they get the prime-time slot every single night.
The Heat Is the Story Across the Country
This is not a baseball problem. It’s a national one. KNMI put eight of the country’s twelve provinces — including Noord-Holland, where Haarlem sits — under Code Red starting at midnight. Schools closed. The national rail company cut service because the double-decker trains overheat. The highways authority told people to stay off the roads unless they absolutely had to drive. The last time conditions like this hit, the country didn’t even reach this alert level.
And in the middle of all of it, the Dutch were up at 1 AM watching their national soccer team play Tunisia at the World Cup. A sleepless, sweating country, baseball in the afternoon, fútbol in the dead of night. That’s the Netherlands this week.t
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Gilmer Lampe of The Netherlands is out on second base in the group match between The Netherlands and Taiwan during the baseball Haarlem Honkbal Week in Haarlem, The Netherlands on 13 July. On the right Hsiao Po Ting of Taiwan. AFP PHOTO / ANP / KOEN SUYK netherlands out (Credit: KOEN SUYK/AFP via Getty Images)
How to Watch from the U.S.
Every game streams on Honkbalsoftbal.tv, and — this is the part that matters for American viewers — there’s English commentary this year, with a broadcast team that includes Tyler Maun, who’s called the World Baseball Classic and the WBSC Premier12. Pricing:
- Tournament pass: €19.99 — every game, live and on demand
- Single game: €5.99
- Championship game: €7.99
Live stats and box scores are free at the KNBSB portal.
What’s Next
The revised schedule has the Netherlands and Globetrotters tonight, then a full slate Saturday with Chinese Taipei–Curaçao in the morning and Italy–Netherlands under the lights. The Italy–Czech Republic makeup lands Tuesday morning. The championship is still set for July 4.
I’m on the ground here all week. Recaps, interviews, and whatever else this tournament throws at us — heat and all.
WBN’s Matt Tallarini is reporting from Haarlem throughout Honkbalweek 2026. For the full team rosters, see our Honkbalweek Haarlem roster preview, and for everything else, visit worldbaseball.com.
