SnakePit username
DBacksEurope or DBE. My avatar here is Torey Lovullo, dressed as a stereotypical Frenchman. That probably fits the username.
Real name
My real name is Ruurd (rare in my country) and my last name is Dekker (quite common). I’m not afraid to use it, but I like my nickname DBacksEurope and the abbreviation DBE here (I think Justin27 and AzDbackfaninDC made it popular) and I think it’s well known so I prefer to keep it.
Place of birth
I always say that I was born in Nijmegen in 1981, grew up in Middelburg and grew up in Arnhem. For those who don’t know, that’s the Netherlands. I’ve always been proud to be Dutch, but I’ve lived in the Spanish capital Madrid since 2008 (I think). I’m married to a Spanish woman who I met in 2002 during a European student exchange program, and since 2011 I’m a father of two now bilingual children who also speak pretty good English. I’ll always miss my home country, but Spain is also a great country to live in.
Other hobbies
I have many hobbies that come and go, but what always remains is an interest in history, especially the American Civil War and the European Golden Age, when the Dutch ruled the seas for a century and were the only ones to stand up to the world power Spain. This makes for many great discussions with my proud Spanish friends.
Until “modern football” came along (a term used in Europe to criticise teams that have risen to the top with a lot of (Arab oil) money), I breathed football. I followed my team all over Europe and watched three European Cup finals, which shows a little how much I was committed to it. Now I have a love/hate relationship with football.
Favorite food
At home, my wife and I complement each other perfectly in the kitchen: she cooks Spanish and Arabic (her father’s background), I cook Dutch, German and French, and have recently added oriental cuisine to the mix. I love cooking and one of my favorite dishes is actually all kinds of soups, especially vegetarian soups. My electric Weber grill in the apartment is great too. As for food, Spain is a great country where you can buy all the natural ingredients you need without having to resort to powders or other ready meals in packets or cans.
I think I had the best culinary experience in Athens day after day, but there is one dish I will never forget: the pasta with artichoke sauce I ate in a forgotten restaurant in Rome. Maybe this dish should become my new hobby.
Favorite movie/TV show
The movie Titanic motivated me to do a lot of research, reading and visiting exhibitions about the Titanic, so it would be unfair not to mention it. I am a huge fan of all the Rocky movies with Sylvester Stallone and Steven Seagal from the early 90s (“assumptions are the mother of all bullshit” is a phrase I have taken to heart). I laughed my head off at Scary Movies (the Japanese ghost boy is probably still the best scene: tempura sushi sashimiiiiiii) and I can still quote Eurotrip, Don’t be a menace and Kung Pow. Besides, what do you get when you cross an owl with a bungee cord?
This all sounds pretty simple, but I can also recommend films like Cinema Paradiso, The Belier Family or Sweet Bean (I also learned how to make dorayakis). Apart from (streaming) movies or documentaries, I don’t really watch TV and certainly not series. There are exceptions and I will specifically mention Tour of Duty (I have them all on my PC) and Band of Brothers.
What else should you know about me?
I think the answers about food and movies show that I have very broad tastes. The same goes for music, but I won’t go into that in detail. Twenty years ago I spent a few years in youth politics in the Netherlands and was national spokesperson for defense and foreign policy for the youth party of the political party that has led the Netherlands for the last decade or so. Those were fun years, I learned a lot and it opened my eyes to value everyone’s opinion.
I also love paintings, of course the Dutch Golden Century artists, but even more Tiziano, Velazquez and Sorolla, the latter a 20th century painter who basically painted himself to death. All three were able to master the light and the colors and therefore their paintings are beautiful.
Why am I a Diamondbacks fan?
After returning to baseball in the 2010s and motivated by the numbers game, I decided to become a Diamondbacks fan. Why? That the team is something of an underdog is important. Goldschmidt certainly had something to do with it, as did my first “baseball” cap in the early ’90s (one from the Phoenix Suns). And it seems I’m one of the few in the baseball world who has always liked the Diamondbacks uniforms. Perhaps the lack of a major story was also an easy transition. I didn’t take into account the large time difference between Arizona and the West Coast (MST), so I have to watch game recaps or finished live streams most days, but at least I’m not blanked out.
Who is my absolute favorite Diamondback?
Paul Goldschmidt. He was and is a great baseball player, but also a great role model. No weird stories about him, no antics, no attitude to complain about… a good example for kids. I hope he makes it into the Hall of Fame.
What is my best memory of the D-backs, other than the postseason?
Living abroad and being a late bloomer to baseball, my best memories of the Diamondbacks are pretty limited, but the one that has always stuck with me is when I was at this “American” restaurant in Madrid and they showed the opening game between the Diamondbacks and the Giants in 2017, where Bumgarner and Greinke started and Bumgarner hit two home runs but the Diamondbacks still prevailed in the 9th inning. The fact that it was opening day and there was that special atmosphere really added that extra something to an already remarkable game. It cemented my interest in the team. Of course, the broadcast was a finished live stream and I didn’t watch it in full at the restaurant, but at home I watched it twice.
How did I end up in the SnakePit?
Being one of the not so many baseball fans in Europe, after a while I started looking for ways to connect with the fans. And that’s how I ended up here. I’ve been hanging around on AZSnakePit for a while and I think I started writing commentary in 2017. I like writing about the “nobodies” in baseball and backstories, hence my Random D-Back articles and the urge to write end of season player reviews about guys who had a cup of coffee with the Diamondbacks. Although I had to step back from my regular weekly writing duties due to developments at home and at work and spending too much time on each article, I hope to be able to write more again in the near future. For now, the series previews will do because they keep me busy here. I’ve never been on a blog/site/forum for this long and hope to be a part of it for much longer.
I really appreciate Jim’s work. I used to run a website for my favorite football team, but couldn’t get any writers to join, so after 2-3 years I lost motivation and quit. It’s incredibly hard to do what he does, especially with so many baseball games, and it’s great that there are so many people writing and commenting. Many probably won’t stick around forever, but as long as we’re all having a good time together in the meantime, that’s great. Jim makes it all possible with this site.
What other MLB teams am I interested in – good or bad?
I love baseball and can watch any game with good matchups or one that is broadcast during European-friendly times. The Braves were the team that got me interested in baseball in the 90’s (Andruw Jones) so they will always have a special place in my heart as well. I usually watch a lot of Yankees games as well and find myself always looking for the results of both Chicago teams. I don’t hate either team because being so far away obviously eliminates the typical “hate” you might feel for a team, like the animosity you feel towards the Dodgers. I guess it’s probably the same for those of you who follow European soccer.
Why do I love baseball?
I have had an admiration for all things American since I was young. As for American sports, I was fascinated by Andruw Jones’ success with the Braves in the 90s. For some reason I can’t stand basketball and didn’t have the patience for those constant breaks in American football back then, so I watched baseball and ice hockey, even though there were no live games here, just recaps of some of the games (we actually had more WWF, drag racing and monster trucks on TV than the major American sports – I liked watching those too).
I think baseball is a great sport to watch in a relaxed way. You can just sit back on the couch, there is great sportsmanship and I love watching defensive games. Like many people, I love the numbers game. I actually liked the numbers more than any other team and eventually decided I needed a team to root for so I could focus on analyzing the numbers. So that was the first step to becoming a Diamondbacks fan!
