(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & Jan Kruijdenberg)
IN MEMORIAM
...Stanley Engelhardt...
(1952 - 2020)...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
 Longtime baseball-coach Stanley Engelhardt passed away
Nederlands
 ALMERE (Neth.) -
The Dutch baseball-world mourns the loss of veteran baseball-coach Stanley Engelhardt, who passed away on Friday, November 13 at age 68 after battling a severe illness since early this year.
Engelhardt was active as a coach in the Dutch big league for eight seasons and became a beloved coach throughout the Dutch big league by both players and coaching colleagues.
Stanley Engelhardt, who was nicknamed 'Tata', was born on October 11, 1952.
Stanley had a lot of baseball-knowledge, which became clear in his coaching, whether he was Bench Coach, Hitting Coach or Assistant Coach.
He had an eye for details and gave many players valuable advice,
His presence in the dug-out and the clubhouse was respected by the players and also on the field, he was much-liked by many.
Stanley was always very active on an off the field with the game-preparations, throwing batting practice and making sure everything was done for his players.
He mostly had a big smile on his face, but during a game, he defended his players and went into discussions with umpires when he felt that was needed.
Through the years, Stanley Engelhardt coached his sons Bryan and Rachid at two different clubs.
For many years, Stanley Engelhardt was active for Almere '90, coaching and training in both baseball and softball in both youth and seniors.
After being the team's Batting Practice Pitcher for two seasons, Engelhardt joined the coaching-staff of the main-squad of Almere '90 in 2009.
In that year, the team was coached by Marco Wels and Engelhardt became his Hitting Coach, besides being the Batting Practice Pitcher.
It was a successful season for the team, as it finished in first place in the First Division to qualify for the Promotion/Relegation Series.
In this best-of-five, Almere won 3-2 against RCH-Pinguïns to promote to the big league.
In a tough following 2010 season, when Almere '90 played in the highest division, the coaching-staff was the same and Engelhardt again was the team's Hitting Coach.
The team finished in last place and then faced UVV in the best-of-five Promotion/Relegation Series.
Almere swept UVV in three games to secure its spot for 2011.
However, a few weeks later, Almere withdraw its team due to financial reasons.
In 2012, Stanley Engelhardt became the Bench Coach of the big league-team of Kinheim, which in that season initially was led by Head Coach Eelco Jansen.
At Kinheim, Stanley's sons Bryan Engelhardt and Rachid Engelhardt were amongst the players.
Bryan already played for the team since 2008 after having played in four seasons for Almere '90.
For his younger brother Rachid, 2012 was his first season for Kinheim after having played one season for HCAW.
In 2012, Kinheim finished in third place in the regular season to reach the Play-Offs.
However, during the Play-Offs, Kinheim and Jansen separated.
1B Coach Hans Lemmink succeeded Jansen as Head Coach and Engelhardt became the new 1B Coach.
Kinheim qualified for the best-of-seven Holland Series and then swept Neptunus in four games to capture the Championship-title.
...Stanley Engelhardt with Hans Lemmink...
...at the 2012 All Star Game...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Following the 2012 season, the annual All Star Game was played at the site of UVV in Vleuten.
Stanley Engelhardt then was the 1B Coach in the coaching-staff of Team North, which was led by Kinheim's Head Coach Hans Lemmink.
The other members of the coaching-staff were Rudy Dirksen (HCAW), Robert Klaver (Hoofddorp Pioniers) and Al Morales Gomes (Pitching Coach, Amsterdam Pirates).
In the following four seasons (2013-2016), Stanley Engelhardt remained the 1B Coach of Kinheim, serving under three different Head Coaches, while also throwing batting practice.
Hans Lemmink stayed on as Head Coach for the 2013 season, then Wim Martinus was the Head Coach in 2014 and 2015.
Michael Crouwel, who was the 3B Coach in these two seasons, was the new Head Coach in 2016.
,,Stanley was a very modest, very good man'', reacted Michael Crouwel, who worked with Engelhardt for three seasons at Kinheim.
Crouwel, who is the team's Head Coach since 2016, added:
,,Stanley always was there when you needed him, was always ready to do something.
And of course throwing batting practice, he could do that for hours, for days.
Nothing was too much for him, always available for everyone, making time to have a talk, a very pleasant person.''
In Engelhardt's five seasons with Kinheim, the team qualified for the postseason each year, playing in the Top-4 Pool.
Besides winning the title in 2012, the Haarlem-based team also reached the Holland Series in 2015, but this time lost in five games to Neptunus.
After having qualified for the Top-4 Pool again in the 2016 season, a troublesome transfer-period followed.
Many players left the team and as a result, the club was unable to field a representative team in the 2017 season.
Shortly after the transfer-period ended in November 2016, Kinheim withdraw its team from the big league.
Instead, the team then played in the second highest league in 2017.
...Stanley Engelhardt has a discussion with Home Plate...
...Umpire Efrem Silvania during the 2017 season...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In 2017, Marco Wels was the Head Coach of Quick Amersfoort in the second highest league and after Kinheim had withdraw its team, he asked Stanley Engelhardt to re-join him in his coaching staff.
Engelhardt became his 1B Coach and of course the Batting Practice Pitcher in what was another successful season in his career.
First baseman/outfielder Bryan Engelhardt initially retired after Kinheim had withdraw its team, but some weeks later, he also transfered to Quick, joining his father.
Quick Amersfoort finished in second place to qualify for the Promotion/Relegation Pool.
In that 6-team Pool, Quick finished in a tie for third place to promote to the highest league.
Marco Wels worked together with Stanley Engelhardt for several seasons at both Almere '90 and Quick Amersfoort.
At Almere, Wels had been a coach of the main-team for some seasons when he added Engelhardt to his staff.
,,At that time, I of course knew he was the father of Bryan'', Wels said.
,,And I had seen him around on the field, he always was there, working and practicing with young players, with youth teams, in baseball and softball and always throwing balls.
I asked him to thrown batting practice for my team one day.
That proved to be a golden opportunity, as he kept on doing it from that moment on.
After a few seasons, we added him to the coaching-staff.
I think that Stanley was one of the best, if not the best Batting Practice Pitcher in the country.
I don't know anyone in the Netherlands who might do it better.
He had a rubber arm and threw 1.000-1.200 balls each session, without problems.
And the next day again and also during practice sessions.
Throwing batting practice is a crucial part of the preparations for a game.
Stanley was the ideal person to have in your staff.
He had a special connection with young players.
Stanley was a great human being.
Always smiling, but very passionate when he was on the field.
We will miss him a lot.
We will miss him having around the team.
And we will surely miss him throwing batting practice.
Yes, it's a very sad moment.''
In 2018, Quick made its comeback in the highest league and the team was led again by Wels, while Engelhardt returned as the 1B Coach.
In its first season back in the big league, Quick finished in seventh place in the regular season, but secured its spot for the 2019 season.
In 2018, Rachid Engelhardt also played for Quick for the first time after having played for HCAW the previous year.
Before that, the outfielder had played professionally for three seasons in the organization of he Baltimore Orioles.
Glenn Romney started the 2019 season as the new Head Coach of Quick Amersfoort with Engelhardt again as 1B Coach, René de Vries as Bench Coach/3B Coach and Cliff Foster as Pitching Coach.
However, after nine games, Quick and Romney separated.
In the remainder of the season, Engelhardt, De Vries and Foster shared the coaching duties with none of them being the Head Coach.
Besides serving as a coach, Engelhardt of course also was the Batting Practice Pitcher of the team.
...Stanley Engelhardt throws the ceremonial first pitch on...
...July 25 before Quick's first home-game of the 2020 season...
(© Photo: Jan Kruijdenberg) |
This year, René de Vries was the Head Coach of Quick Amersfoort with Stanley's son Bryan Engelhardt being the Hitting Coach, while also being a player himself.
Shortly after the start of the season, Marco Wels joined the staff as Bench Coach.
Stanley Engelhardt was to be the 1B Coach again this season, but unfortunately, due to his illness, he was unable to be in uniform.
However, he remained part of the coaching-staff and his name stayed on the roster, as he regularly offered his advice to the coaching-staff.
On July 25, before Quick Amersfoort played its first home-game of the belated (and shortened) 2020 season, Stanley Engelhardt threw the ceremonial first pitch to start the new season.
During the season, he attended the team's games as much as possible.
Not only to watch the games of Quick, but maybe more so to watch his sons Bryan and Rachid play for the team.
,,He was an enormous support for the team'', Quick's Head Coach René de Vries said.
,,Everyone liked him very much.
He always was there, working on hitting.
When you asked him to throw 800 balls during a batting practice, he did it.
That was terrific, he kept on throwing.
He was not clearly present on the field, never on the foreground, but he was there for his team.
Yes, sometimes arguing with umpires, defending his players.''
Quick Amersfoort published the following statement on its website:
,,With great dismay, we learned that on Friday November 13, Stanley Engelhardt passed away.
Stanley was associated with Quick in recent years as Assistant Coach of the main baseball-team, was a familiar face at our complex and a popular personality in the baseball world.
Stanley was proud of Bryan and Rachid.
In the last months of this season, Stanley loved to be at the park to watch his sons play.
We will miss Stanley, his commitment, his batting practice and his distinctive voice.
We wish Bryan, Rachid, family and friends much strength in these difficult times.''
Through the years, wherever he coached, Stanley Engelhardt always cheered for his players and stimulated them to play their best.
His presence on and off the field will surely be missed by many.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to Stanley's partner Paula, his sons Bryan, Rachid and Eugene and other family and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(November 15)
|
