SARASOTA, Fla. — The last time Sharlon Schoop played on this field, he wore an Orioles uniform and replaced his brother, Jonathan, at second base in the eighth inning of a spring training game. It was 2018, Schoop’s final year playing minor league baseball. It would also be his brother’s final year playing for Baltimore.

Almost a decade later, Schoop stood at first base with a Netherlands uniform on at Ed Smith Stadium. The Curaçao-born infielder is now 38, and he hasn’t played for a professional team in a few years. But a love for the sport brought Schoop to the World Baseball Classic for one last ride.

As fate would have it, this exhibition game against the Orioles also brought Schoop down memory lane.

“This is something special,” Schoop said. “Representing the country is something special, and especially for me, I played professional for 16, 17 years, so coming back where I played a little bit, it means a lot to me.”

Before Tuesday’s game, Schoop said hello to a few minor league coaches he remembers, and he was especially excited to see bullpen catcher Joel Polanco, one of his closest friends from their time in the organization. He waved to Buck Britton, Schoop’s former teammate and the Orioles’ current third base coach, then prepared for another game as he has for two decades.

Schoop said he was “for sure” sad to not be sharing this World Baseball Classic experience with his brother.

Jonathan Schoop, the former Orioles infielder, was held in a detention center for almost a month in Curaçao. He was recently released, but local media reports indicate that Schoop remains a suspect in a firearms investigation, which made the 34-year-old unable to participate for Team Netherlands.

But being at Ed Smith Stadium brought up memories for Sharlon Schoop from his time in the same organization as Jonathan. One particular spring training game in 2015 stands out, when the Schoop brothers momentarily manned both middle infield positions.

“I played a game where he played second, I played short,” Sharlon Schoop said. “I remember [then-manager] Buck Showalter said, ‘You guys should switch every batter and no one would know.’ One batter at short, one batter at second, and then we switch.”

At least according to the box score from that game, the Schoop brothers actually didn’t follow Showalter’s suggestion.

Schoop is one of several Curaçao-born players with minor league or major league experience on the roster. Ceddanne Rafaela, who plays for the Boston Red Sox, smacked a three-run home run off left-hander Trevor Rogers. Xander Bogaerts and Ozzie Albies, two major league regulars, also started. Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar was supposed to lead off but was a late scratch after ESPN reported he was set to receive a 162-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Even without a current club team, Schoop said he stays ready by working out in Curaçao. Plus, to him, his years count for a lot. Just how much remains to be seen; his team begins its run on Friday against Venezuela.

“We have a lot of big leaguers, or even ex-big leaguers, who have experience,” Schoop said. “In a tournament, experience makes a big difference, you know what I mean? It’s not a long season, it’s a short tournament, so for us, we have guys with experience in the WBC, I think it’s going to be huge for us.”