Talk:Rick van den Hurk

Question from Holland
Hello there,

Last night (Wednesday 11th April 2007) there was an item on the Dutch television about Rick van den Hurk (or, as I read here on the English Wikipedia; Rick Vanden Hurk). I felt really proud when I heard about a fellow Dutchman playing in the Major League. Now, I have several questions. First about his qualities as a baseball player: I understood he has a great potential, do you agree? I really hope he will make it in the MLB! Second question is about is name. As I noticed before, I have read here that you Americans write his name like Rick Vanden Hurk. Why is that? That's not common for a Dutch name, usually it's Rick van den Hurk. Besides, he was born like Henricus van den Hurk. Now my final question: which other Dutch players have played in the MLB? I believe Win Remmerswaal and Robert Eenhoorn are two of them. Am I correct?

That was it. I hope someone can answer these questions for me. Already thanks a lot!

Greets from the Netherlands, Maarten Inc. 22:44, 11 April 2007 (UTC) (00:44 CET)

P.S. I guess they said on the Dutch television that Van den Hurk was born in Veldhoven, a city just outside Eindhoven, but I am not quite sure. Does anyone know which one is the correct?

I think it's best to just stick to the official info given in his Marlins bio.Chris Nelson 21:14, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I would also prefer 'official Marlins info' to the name in his passport. Nice argument... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.45.105.41 (talk) 18:46, 2 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I rather go by what VandenHurk says his name is tha some newspaper in Eindhoven. Also, what do you know about his passport? -- Rab bethan  21:34, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

"born Henricus van den Hurk on May 22, 1985 in Eindhoven, Netherlands". If he is born as such, that is the name in his passport. Being Dutch, I have also heard and seen a lot of 'van', 'de', and 'van der' names in my life, but never a 'VanderLastname'. Additionally, the Dutch site refers to him as 'Van den Hurk'. Yes, a capital V; there is no first name, letter, or title of nobility preceding his last name. Also it is "the Netherlands", not "Netherlands". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.45.105.41 (talk) 18:46, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Just because he was born with that name doesn't mean that's his name, it means that he was born with it. He very well could have changed his name. -- Rab bethan  23:02, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

I find that to be very unlikely. I wouldn't go further than to say he agreed to use 'VandenHurk' as his 'baseball-name'. However, to state that he "could [well] have changed his name", is two or more bridges to far. Why would he change his name? And more importantly, he would have to deal with Dutch laws. I don't know about America, but in the Netherlands one can not just change his or her last name. One has to have legit reasons for a change. Even if he changed his last name, which I very much doubt to be possible, why does the Dutch wikipedia site refer to him as "Rick van den Hurk"? Most likely scenario: someone made a mistake, and it didn't bother Van den Hurk as much as it bothers me. Nonetheless his name still is Rick van den Hurk. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.45.105.41 (talk) 22:15, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, in this country you can change your name for whatever reason. But moving on to the point. MLB actually DID make a mistake, making his name Rick Vanden Hurk. This misspelling apparently did bother Rick, and he filed all the paperwork and such to get it corrected to Rick VandenHurk. According to VandenHurk himself, this is the correct spelling of his name, not Henricus van den Hurk. If you can find any definitive proof otherwise, please come forward with it.-- Rab bethan  22:36, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

If your explanation is correct, then I have to say that you're right and that his name is VandenHurk. I assumed this version was wrong, being very unusual in Dutch language. When prefixes are written attached to the core of the last name, the core is generally not capitalized (resulting in e.g. Vandenhurk; these versions are common in Flanders). Normally a name written as VandenHurk's points to a Americanized name, like that of hockey player VanRiemsdyk. As this is not the case here, I apologize for wasting your time.

About his name..this is the way they write it in America. I've put a redirect on Rick_van_den_Hurk Japa 12:43, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

About his nickname, isn't it actually his curveball that is nicknamed the Holland Hammer? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.170.232.34 (talk) 20:21, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I've heard it for both. When he first came up they were using it for him, but then started calling his curveball "the Holland Hammer" a couple months in. -- Rab bethan  22:53, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Name
Hi, this person never changed its family name, the name should be Rick van den Hurk and not as given. Kind regards, MoiraMoira (talk) 17:36, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I verified this - I am from The Netherlands - and will change it and leave the name without the spaces alive as redirect MoiraMoira (talk) 15:03, 10 February 2010 (UTC)