(Story & Photos by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Former baseball-umpire/commissioner André Schrijber passed away
Nederlands
IN MEMORIAM 
...André Schrijber...
(1934 - 2016)
|
 HAARLEM (Neth.) -
Former (international) baseball-umpire André Schrijber has passed away on April 26 at the age of 81.
The cremation has taken place in a closed, private ceremony.
André Henri Frans Schrijber, who was born in Haarlem, had a long career in baseball.
He is most known as an umpire and commissioner, but he has done much more through the years.
He has been active as a regional board executive and has been a member of several committees.
In the eighties, Schrijber was the Team Manager of the big league-team of Haarlem Nicols and in 2000, he briefly was the Business Manager of the Netherlands National Baseball Team.
In recent years, André Schrijber was a technical commissioner at international baseball tournaments.
For his longtime activities, Schrijber was named Member of Merit by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB).
Schrijber started his umpiring career around 1967 in the Haarlem-region.
He immediately showed talent and leadership, which led to his promotion to the Dutch big league in the early seventies.
In that period, some of the older umpires of the fifties and sixties were joined by new umpires.
After a few years officiating at the highest level, Schrijber himself became a core member of a legendary umpire corps, which included other wellknown umpires, such as Cor Blitterswijk, Bertus Caldenhove, Hans Corpeleijn, Henk van Dalen, Piet van Deenen, Paul Goode, André Haring, Ton Hout, Dick van der Klaauw, Gerard van Klingeren, Bram Klijnsmit, Bert Lauer, Chris Mast, Lou Meyer, Jan Pauwels, Henk Ronnenbergh, Gerard Scholte, Hans Schotel, Bert Staller, Evert van Tuyl and Aart Wedemeijer.
Through the seventies, some of the older umpires retired.
Schrijber then was one of the veterans and new umpires started to make their debut, including Fred van Groningen Schinkel, Fred de Kramer, Jan Janszen, Chris Pieters, Guus Slauerhof, Willem Visser and Piet Vorst.
...André Schrijber as umpire during the...
...Haarlem Baseball Week in 1976...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
Schrijber became a well-respected umpire, who was liked by players and coaches.
He was also known for his rule-knowledge and no-nonsense approach, which created a good atmosphere during a game.
When a player or coach said something, Schrijber was one of those umpires who not only reacted correctly, but also mostly did that with some humor, which always broke the tension.
But when needed, he ejected players and coaches when they went too far.
He was righteous and said what he thought.
André Schrijber sometimes appeared grumpy, but in reality, he had a lot of humor and showed that on and off the field.
Schrijber, who also was a music-lover, retired as an umpire after the 1982 season.
In his umpiring career, André Schrijber officiated at several international tournaments, including five Haarlem Baseball Weeks, as well as European Championships and European Cup-tournaments.
In the seventies, Schrijber also had been a member of the Youth Committee and Competition Committee in the Haarlem-region.
In 1980-1988, he was the chairman of the Baseball Umpiring Committee in Haarlem.
In that same period (1986-1988), Schrijber was a member of the KNBSB-Protest Committee.
He also led the Haarlem Region Board as its chairman in these years (1986-1988).
Hereafter, a period on non-baseball activities followed, as he lived for several years in Spain with his wife Rita.
After returning to the Netherlands, Schrijber rejoined the Protest Committee of the Dutch Federation in 1998 and remained a member of that committee for more than ten years.
In 2000, Schrijber became a Technical Commissioner, who judges baseball umpires.
He then went on to become the Baseball Umpires Commissioner in 2002, which he did for several years.
Since 2002, Schrijber also was a Technical Commissioner for the European Baseball Confederation (CEB).
In that position, he was assigned to several international tournaments, including the World Championship in 2005 and 2009 when the global event was held in the Netherlands.
But he also was a Technical Commissioner at European Cup-tournaments, European Championships (Seniors and Youth), the Haarlem Baseball Week and the World Port Tournament.
Other highlights were his assignments as TC to the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in 2003 (Netherlands) and 2006 (Cuba).
Schrijber retired as Technical Commissioner after the 2009 season.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to André's wife Rita, children and other family-members and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(May 3)
|
