(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by USA Baseball, Pawtucket Red Sox, Rob Brink & Marco Stoovelaar)
IN MEMORIAM
...Win Remmerswaal...
(1954 - 2022)
(1981 Baseball-card) |
 Former pitcher Win Remmerswaal, first Dutch-raised Major Leaguer, passed away
Nederlands
 THE HAGUE (Neth.) -
Win Remmerswaal, who in 1979 became the first Dutch-born and raised player to reach the American Major League, passed away on Sunday, July 24 at the age of 68.
Remmerswaal was one of the best Dutch pitchers who wrote history in 1979 when he made his debut in the Major League after he already had become the first European to sign a contract with a Major League-club in 1974.
Unfortunately, the righthander's life and career sadly were affected by health problems and tragic circumstances.
Wilhelmus Abraham (Win) Remmerswaal was born on March 8, 1954 in The Hague, but he grew up in nearby Wassenaar.
There, he lived almost his entire life and also started his baseball-career.
From an early age on, he was known under several names, as he was either called Winneke, Winnie or Win.
But it was Win that stuck with him the most of his career after he had turned professional.
Win Remmerswaal had three brothers, who also played baseball.
His older brothers Harry and Hans both played baseball at a lower level.
Harry mostly played soccer, but Hans briefly played in the highest league as an infielder and was a teammate of Win at Storks, but he then became a talented baseball-umpire.
Win's younger brother Jerry pitched in the Dutch big league for ADO and also in the Netherlands National Baseball Team.
All played baseball at Wassenaar, whose home-field was located just besides the family-home in the city of the same name.
Unfortunately, tragedy and health problems struck the Remmerswaal-family since the nineties and all three of Win's brothers died at a much too young age in a 4-year period, while Win himself ended up in a coma.
Harry committed suicide in April 1993 at age 40, Jerry passed away in August 1995 at age 35 due to a heart problems and Hans passed away in July 1997 at age 46 due to cancer.
In December 1997, Win's drinking led to health problems of its own.
He suffered severe pneumonia, was in a coma for some three weeks and as a result, he sustained brain damage, as well as to his central nervous system.
After he had come out of the coma, Win never fully recovered and since then, he lived in a nursing home in The Hague, while moving around in a wheelchair.
Win started playing baseball at Wassenaar when he was eight years old after being taken to the baseball-field by his brothers Harry and Hans.
Initially, Win's first acquaintances with baseball didn't went well and he almost stopped playing.
However, after awhile he started to like the sport and developed into a very talented pitcher.
That Win Remmerswaal clearly was a talented player was underscored in 1969 when won the Ron Fraser Award.
This award is handed out annually to the most talented youth-player and is named after the first American coach that led the Netherlands National Team.
In 1971, at age seventeen, Win made his debut in the main-squad of Wassenaar, which then played in the Second Division, which back then was the third highest league.
In the following season, Remmerswaal made his debut in the Dutch big league when he was pitching for Storks in The Hague.
In his debut-season 1972, the righthander started in 14 games and was 7-7 with a 2.87 ERA.
He struckout 125 batters in 116 innings pitched.
After the 1971 season, Storks had lost some powerhitters, as Hudson John, Herbert Ramlal and Harrie Blijden had left and Simon Arrindell had retired.
Despite that, Storks, which was led by coach Wim van Sorge, belonged to the top-3 alongside Sparta and Feyenoord.
Amongst Win's teammates this year were Ton Bodaan, Rudi Dom, Roy van den Dungen Gronovius, Raf Gibbs, Dick de Goede, Kor John, Roy Mulder, Ron Renooy and his brother Hans Remmerswaal, who had also transfered to Storks together with Win.
In most games, Bodaan was Remmerswaal's catcher.
...Win Remmerswaal pitching...
...for the Netherlands during the...
...1973 European Championship...
...in Haarlem (Netherlands)...
(© Photo: Unknown photographer) |
Win Remmerswaal's first games in the Dutch big league were memorable.
Opening Weekend of April 29-30 was bothered with a lot of rain, which resulted in several cancellations.
Except for the games of Storks which played against Ajax from Amsterdam.
On April 29, in Amsterdam, it was raining heavily and both Head Coaches argued with Home Plate Umpire Hans Corpeleijn that it was irresponsible to play.
However, Corpeleijn started the game and Ajax won with a 6-0 score under very poor weather conditions.
The next day, April 30, there were more cancellations, but the game between Storks and Ajax in The Hague was kept on schedule by the league-commissioner, who wanted to keep the two games together.
Although the weather conditions were somewhat better, all other games had been cancelled again.
Probably because it was not really clear whether or not the game was to be played, the three assigned umpires didn't show up in The Hague.
Nowadays, a game would not be played in case that there were no umpires.
But not back then and the game was played with two fill-in umpires who happened to be at the Storks-site to watch the game.
One was Bram Klijnsmit, who then was an umpire in a lower division, but later became a big league-umpire.
The other was Cor Jonker, who was in The Hague to cover the game for a newspaper, but also happened to be a lower-level umpire.
It was in this game that Win Remmerswaal made his pitching-debut in the highest league.
Storks was leading 3-0 after four innings, but Ajax came alongside thanks to a 2-run homerun by Ben Richardson in the fifth, who added an RBI-hit in the seventh.
In the bottom of the seventh, Storks re-took the lead when pinch-hitter Jonne van Soelen hit a 2-run homerun.
Remmerswaal threw a complete game, struckout twelve batters and gave up five basehits.
As a hitter, he batted 2-for-4.
And with that, the righthander made a memorable debut in the highest league.
While pitching for Wassenaar in 1971, Remmerswaal was over-used as a pitcher.
This led to some arm-complaints during the 1972 season.
However, he had a fine first season in the highest league.
A highlight came towards the end of the season when Remmerswaal threw all ten innings in a 4-2 win against OVVO in Amsterdam.
Henk Boeren threw all innings for OVVO and gave up eight basehits.
But Remmerswaal dominated, gave up only six hits and struckout sixteen batters, which was the highest total by any pitcher in one game during the 1972 season.
After the season, Remmerswaal finished in second place for the Most Valuable Player Award behind Hamilton Richardson of Sparta.
In 1973, Remmerswaal was back on the mound for Storks, which was coached again by Wim van Sorge.
Most players of the year before were back and Herbert Ramlal also had returned to the club, while Frank van Rest also played for the team.
However, Storks had a tough season and relegated.
The team ended up short several times due to some errors or lack of hitting at the right time.
Remmerswaal was 4-10 with a 3.20 ERA, pitching in 16 games.
Despite ending up losing ten games, Remmerswaal was the pitching-ace of Storks and struckout 118 batters in 115 1/3 inning.
During the 1973 season, Remmerswaal had a first big highlight in his career, as he threw a No-Hitter, barely missing a Perfect Game.
On May 19, 1973, Storks played an away-game against ADO, which also was from The Hague.
Both teams played their home-games at the same site, which was Escamp III.
Storks won 4-0 and Remmerswaal faced only 28 batters, one above the minimum.
In nine innings, the righthander struckout seven batters.
In the seventh inning, the Perfect Game ended when a error was made on a routine pop-fly.
American John Barrett was the lead-off hitter for ADO and hit a pop-fly towards the mound.
There, Remmerswaal had a chance to make the catch, but first baseman Raf Gibbs yelled for the ball.
Remmerswaal stepped aside and Gibbs dropped the ball, which resulted in Barrett becoming the lone baserunner for ADO.
The next day, Storks wins with a 7-3 score and Remmerswaal contributed with a solo-homerun.
On March 21 of this year, John Barrett (who later became a coach and umpire) passed away at age 83.
In those early seventies, Win Remmerswaal also was selected for the Netherlands National Baseball Team.
Overall, he appeared in six official international games for the Orange Team in 1972-1974.
In May 1972, Remmerswaal was invited for the Netherlands B-Team, but a month later, he was added to the main-squad for the upcoming Haarlem Baseball Week.
...Ron Fraser...
...Netherlands Team Manager...
(© Photo: USA Baseball) |
Win Remmerswaal made his debut on June 30 when the Netherlands Team played the opening-game of the Baseball Week against the National Team of the Netherlands Antilles.
American coach Ron Fraser had returned to the Netherlands Team as its Manager after already having led the team in the early sixties.
Although the 18-year old Remmerswaal was a rookie in both the National Team as well as the Dutch big league and the Netherlands Antilles was in Haarlem with a strong team, Fraser named him the starting pitcher for the opening-game.
Fraser always liked the pitching of Remmerswaal and gave him the ball on the first day of the international event.
The American was assisted by Dutch coaches Cees de Bruin and Dolf de Zwart.
Remmerswaal threw 5 2/3 inning and struckout four batters.
But he also gave up four runs and nine basehits, including homeruns to powerhitters Alvin Fleming and Rafael Josefa.
Remmerswaal was the losing pitcher, but in his first at bat, he singled.
This was one of only three Orange-basehits in the game.
Five days later, Remmerswaal was the closer for the Netherlands in a 10-0 win against Italy.
He then took over from starter Nol Beenders and pitched the ninth inning.
Towards the end of January 1973, the Netherlands Team made a two-week trip to Sarasota in Florida (USA).
The team was a mix of some veteran players, but also several young players who got an opportunity to gain some international experience.
Win's teammates on this trip were Hans Augustinus, Fred Beckers, Henk Boeren, Wim Crouwel, Berry Eijgendaal, Ade Fijth, Bertil Haage, Wim Hageman, Harrie Heikoop, Henny Jenken, Hamilton Richardson, Jim Sieval, Frank Smit, Paul Smit, Arnold Smith, Charles Urbanus and Carel de Vries.
For Win Remmerswaal, this was the first time he got acquainted with living and playing baseball in the USA.
His stay in stay in Florida even got an extension, as he was selected by the Sportfonds Leo van der Kar to practice for four weeks at the University of Miami, where Ron Fraser was the Head Coach.
The Leo van der Kar Sports Foundation annually selected talented Dutch athletes in different sports to enable them to follow practices or play on different sites worldwide to learn more and gain more experience in their respective sports.
In 1973, Remmerswaal was one of the pitching-aces of the Netherlands Team during the European Championship, which then was organized in Haarlem (Netherlands) at the historic Pim Mulier Stadium.
Again, Fraser was the Manager.
In the final game of the preliminary round, Remmerswaal made a name for himself.
The Netherlands was playing against Italy and the European arch-rival was leading 6-4 in the third inning.
Initially, the Orange Team had taken an early 4-0 lead, but in the third inning, Italy rallied for six runs off of starter Nol Beenders.
Remmerswaal took over the pitching with two outs in the third inning and from then on, he dominated.
The righthander threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings, gave up only two more basehits and struckout nine batters.
Besides that, the Netherlands turned the game around in the sixth inning.
Trailing 6-5, Charles Urbanus scored the tying run on a triple by Hamilton Richardson, who then scored the go-ahead run on a double by Fred Beckers.
With the Netherlands leading 7-6, the suspense rose in the top of the ninth inning, as Remmerswaal appeared to be in some problems.
With two outs, Alberto Rinaldi doubled and Giorgio Castelli walked.
The two moved to second and third base on a wild pitch.
But the 19-year old Remmerswaal kept his calm and struckout next batter Angelo Petrone to end the game.
The Netherlands won 7-6 and Remmerswaal was the winning pitcher.
After his strong outing, Remmerswaal answered a question from reporter Hans Reismann in Het Vrije Volk how he looked back to the game.
,,I can't say yet'', Remmerswaal said.
,,I have to think about that first, I'm still living in a daze''.
With this answer, Remmerswaal underscored something else, namely that he never really was a big talker.
During his playing days, he even was somewhat modest.
He simply wanted to perform on the field and not talk about it.
Some days later, the Netherlands defeated Italy 6-2 in the Final to capture the European title.
Remmerswaal was named Best Pitcher of the tournament.
In the following weeks, it was clearly that he didn't liked the attention regarding his performance during the Championship.
It bothered him and his performances for Storks even suffered from it.
However, in those weeks, Remmerswaal also started to get bothered by a mysterious hand problem in his pitching arm, which also contributed to his performances.
That Nol Beenders, whom Remmerswaal relieved in the Italy-game, also was a dominating pitcher was underscored later in the 1973 season.
In July, Beenders also almost threw a Perfect Game, just as Remmerswaal had done in May.
Beenders went the distance for Haarlem Nicols in a 2-0 home-win against Giants Diemen.
Like Remmerswaal, Beenders got only one baserunner, which was Leo van Wijk, who was hit by a pitch in the third inning.
Did Remmerswaal face 28 batters, Beenders faced only 27, as Van Wijk later was eliminated when a squeeze failed.
...Win Remmerswaal...
...Baseball-card 1981... |
Halfway the 1973 season, it is announced that Win Remmerswaal gets the opportunity to study and play at the University of Miami in Florida, thanks to Ron Fraser.
At that moment, Win is studying mechanical engineering at the Technical University in Delft, but he immediately accepts the invitation to go to the USA.
In an interview with Haro Hielkema in Trouw-newspaper in July 1973, Win said about the invitation:
,,I would later kick myself if I didn't accept this offer.
I get a sports and study scholarship of 70,000 guilders for four years.
After a year I can decide if I like it or not.
But after what Fraser has told me now, it should be great.
A varied way of living.
Attending college in the morning, playing baseball in the afternoon.
And it seems strong to me if there is no opportunity to go out now and then''.
With this last statement, Remmerswaal showed that he also liked to go out with friends to drink somewhat.
It was expected that Remmerswaal would leave for Florida somewhere in September.
With that, he not only would not be available to play for the Netherlands Team in a 2-game series against the National Team of Taiwan, but also, he would miss the important relegation-games of Storks.
With that, at Storks, of course not everyone was happy with Fraser's offer.
The club's chairman at that time was Hans Dijkstal, who later became the Dutch Minister of Internal Affairs as well as the Vice Prime Minister (1994-1998).
Dijkstal wanted to give Remmerswaal this chance, but he was not happy and wrote a letter to the Dutch Federation to object against the way Fraser invited Remmerswaal to come to Florida, as Storks never was informed about it.
Especially now that the season is on the line for Storks.
But things changed in September of that year, as Remmerswaal received no further news from Miami, which later was attributed to communication problems regarding letters that were or were not written or received.
With that, Remmerswaal remained in the Netherlands and pitches in three innings for the Orange Team in the second game against Taiwan.
Other players in the National Team during these games include Fred Beckers, Wim Hageman, Harm Horeman, Bart Seidel, Frank Smit, Charles Urbanus and Bouke Vakkers.
And so, Remmerswaal also was available to play for Storks in the relegation-series against HCAW.
However, the pitcher is unable to play due to the aforementioned mysterious injury to his right-hand, which bothered him in the final weeks of the season.
He suddenly got white fingers, resulting in numbness and a loss of control of the ball.
At the hospital, it is diagnosed that Remmerswaal had problems with his blood flow to his fingers.
In November 1973, special photos were taken, more research was done and it was determined that he suffered from Raynaud's disease.
During surgery, a nerve was cut off to enable a better blood supply.
Also, a rib that was pressing on another nerve, was removed.
Initially, recovery went fine, but after a few days, due to a reaction to a medicine, Remmerswaal sustained an internal bleeding near a lung.
For a few days, Remmerswaal's condition was even critital and although he suffered from some phychological breakdowns because of his health, he recovered.
In the winter-months, the pitcher starts to work steadily at his recovery to regain strength in his pitching-hand, including conducting weight-practices, running and swimming to prepare for the 1974 season.
Win Remmerswaal becomes more ambitious as ever, as he sets a goal for himself to reach the top in baseball.
Besides that, he wants to pitch again for the Netherlands Team during the Haarlem Baseball Week in 1974.
In the meantime, in January 1974, there is a renewed contact with Ron Fraser to go to Miami, this time from September on.
But four months later, it is announced that Remmerswaal will not go to Miami, as he was rejected due to insufficient grades for admission.
And so, in 1974, Remmerswaal is back on the mound for Storks, which now plays in First Division, the second highest league.
Remmerswaal's pitching abilities return and he again is the ace for Storks.
In a game against Neptunus, Remmerswaal strikes out 19 batters in a 6-4 victory.
In July, Remmerswaal strikes out twelve batters for Storks which wins 12-5 against Euro Stars to capture the title and with that, it will return to the highest league in 1975.
In that season, Storks will move to its own new site at Sportpark 'Ockenburg'.
Halfway the season in 1974, Remmerswaal again pitches during the Haarlem Baseball Week for the Orange Team, which is now led by American Manager Ernie Myers.
He is assisted by Cees de Bruin, while Hamilton Richardson is a playing-coach.
Added to the Netherlands Team for the tournament is American pitcher Ray Peloquin, who plays in the Dutch big league for Schoten.
Remmerswaal has another good tourrnament after having recovered from his mysterious 'white fingers'.
During the Baseball Week, Dick O'Connell, the General Manager of Major League-club Boston Red Sox, attends the games.
O'Connell is staying at the home of Cees Herkemij, who back then was the coach of Sparta, but also was one of the coaches/instructors in the development program of the Dutch Federation.
...Win Remmerswaal when he was...
...with Pawtucket Red Sox in 1978...
(© Photo: Publicity Photo) |
During his three years (1972-1974) in Netherlands Team, Remmerswaal's teammates were Hans Augustinus, Fred Beckers, Nol Beenders, Harry van der Berg, Arnoud Blom, Herman Beidschat, Henk Boeren, Wim Crouwel, Roy van den Dungen Gronovius, Berry Eijgendaal, Ade Fijth, Bertil Haage, Wim Hageman, Simon Heemskerk, Harrie Heikoop, Harm Horeman, Ton de Jager, Henny Jenken, Paul Koster, Jan Dick Leurs, Boudewijn Maat, Robert Maat, Leo Naaktgeboren, Ferry Neuteboom, Ray Peloquin, Dassy Rasmijn, Ben Richardson, Hamilton Richardson, Bart Seidel, Jim Sieval, Steef van der Sluis, Frank Smit, Paul Smit, Arnold Smith, Alfio Troeman, Charles Urbanus, Harry van der Vaart, Bouke Vakkers, Carel de Vries and John van Westrenen.
Through these early seventies, Remmerswaal's first name mostly was known as Winneke, but after he had regained the strength in his fingers and had recovered, he became more known as Win.
Thanks to O'Connell and Herkemij and of course his performances during the Haarlem Baseball Week, Remmerswaal was invited for a try-out at Boston Red Sox in Florida in November 1974.
Two weeks later, at age 20, on November 22, he signed a professional contract!
Win Remmerswaal already had the ambition to go for the top at a young age.
After he almost had quit baseball at age eight, he started to love the sport and more or less got obsessed to raise his level of play.
He even liked the sport that much that his technical study suffered from it, as he was unable to combine study and playing baseball.
And so, in November 1974, when he was offered a contract, Remmerswaal immediately quit his study to start his professional career in the USA.
A dream has come true.
Win Remmerswaal has become the first European baseball-player who signed a professional contract with a Major League-club.
In 1975, Remmerswaal made his professional debut, pitching for Winter Haven Red Sox, the Single-A affiliate of Boston Red Sox.
And he made a good impression, which resulted in promotion to Triple-A within three years.
Remmerswaal played in Single-A and Double-A in 1976, then promoted to Triple-A in 1977.
In his first season, Remmerswaal was 8-7, appearing in 27 games (16 starts).
The following year, 1976, the righthander had a strong season when he again pitched for Winter Haven.
He pitched in 39 games (seven starts) and was 7-6 with an 1.74 ERA, which was the best ERA in the league that season.
Although Remmerswaal was not really a strikeout-pitcher, he had great control and he struckout 119 batters in the 1976 season.
However, in his first professional seasons, Remmerswaal also encountered some problems adjusting to the professional life style, which sometimes resulted to drinking.
After having pitched in Double-A and Triple-A in 1977, Remmerswaal participated for the first time in Major League Spring Training with Boston Red Sox in 1978.
Again, he made a good impression.
Remmerswaal played the entire season for Pawtucket Red Sox in Triple-A in what was his final season in which he was used as both starting pitcher and reliever.
In the 1978 season, Remmerswaal pitched in 34 games, twenty of them as a starter.
He was 8-6 with 108 strikeouts.
Following the 1978 season, Remmerswaal pitched for Leones de Ponce in the Puerto Rican Winter League.
Remmerswaal was back in Spring Training in 1979, but started the season again with Pawtucket in Triple-A.
There, former Major Leaguer Johnny Podres was the Pitching Coach and worked closely with Remmerswaal, who had another fine season.
He pitched in 39 games (including his final start), earned seven saves and got a 2.05 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 92 innings, being the winning pitcher in four games.
Remmerswaal always has been know for having a so-called 'rubber arm' and was able to throw almost daily.
He knew that himself and maybe because of that, he probably threw too much, which later led to arm problems.
...Win Remmerswaal receives the Golden...
...Honorary Medal of the KNBSB from secretary...
...Theo Vleeshhouwer (left) in September 1979...
...in Fenway Park (Boston) after he had made...
...his debut in the Major League...
(© Photo: Rob Brink) |
Early August 1979, Win Remmerswaal was recalled to the Major League-team of Boston Red Sox.
On August 3, he made his debut in an away-game against Milwaukee Brewers in County Stadium.
When he took the mound, Wilhelmus Abraham Remmerswaal had the longest full name in professional baseball.
According to American author Tom Boswell, Remmerswaal's debut was memorable.
When then-Manager Don Zimmer made the call to the bullpen to get Remmerswaal ready for the game, he was told that the pitcher wasn't there, as he was in the bleachers to buy peanuts.
With Milwaukee leading 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Cecil Cooper led off for the home-team with a homerun and Sixto Lezcano followed with a single.
Remmerswaal then took over the pitching from starter Steve Renko and got a double-play grounder from Ben Oglivie.
He then gave up a homerun to Gorman Thomas, which put Milwaukee ahead 5-1.
Remmerswaal completed the game and threw the final three innings.
He struckout four batters, including future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor.
Remmerswaal also struckout Thomas when he faced him for the second time.
When Remmerswaal entered the game, he was on the same field and in the same line-up with some of the best players in Boston-history: catcher Carlton Fisk, first baseman Bob Watson, second baseman Jack Brohamer, third baseman Butch Hobson, short stop Rick Burleson, leftfielder Carl Yastrzemski, centerfielder Fred Lynn, rightfielder Dwight Evans and designated hitter Jim Rice.
Fisk and Yastrzemski later were elected into the Hall of Fame.
Amongst his other teammates in 1979 were Gary Allenson, Jim Dwyer, Tom Poquette, Jerry Remy, Ted Sizemore and pitchers Tom Burgmeier, Joel Finch, Allen Ripley, Bob Stanley, Mike Torrez, John Tudor and another future Hall of Famer, Dennis Eckersley.
Remmerswaal pitched in eight games for Boston in his first Major League-season, striking out sixteen batters in twenty innings.
In his second appearance, on August 5, also against Milwaukee, Remmerswaal entered the game in the fourth inning with an 8-0 lead.
He pitched the next three innings and was credited with his first Major League-victory.
And he struckout another future Hall of Famer, Robin Yount.
In September 1979, baseball/softball-magazine Inside organized its third USA-trip.
During that tour, at Fenway Park in Boston, Win Remmerswaal was presented the Golden Honorary Medal of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) by then-secretary Theo Vleeshhouwer.
With this medal, the KNBSB honors persons for special accomplishments.
Marco Stoovelaar, the author of this article, was on the field when the Award was handed out to Remmerswaal and filmed the honoring.
The pitcher appeared to be somewhat overwhelmed and didn't say that much, but of course, he thanked the KNBSB for the Medal.
Later, Remmerswaal said that at that moment, he just wanted to continue his game-preparations and didn't really liked all the attention.
When Win Remmerswaal made his debut on August 3, 1979, he became the first Dutch-born and raised player who reached the Major League.
Remmerswaal was the fifth Dutch-born player in the Majors, but the other four all grew up in America.
The first was John Houseman, who played in the Majors in 1894-1897.
Next were Bill Lelivelt and Jack Lelivelt, who both made their debut in 1909.
The first played through 1910, the second through 1914.
It then took until 1970 before the next Dutch-born player made his debut and that is most wellknown of all.
That of course was pitcher Bert Blyleven, who was born in Zeist, but moved to the States with his parents when he was two years old.
Blyleven played 23 seasons in the Majors (1970-1992) and was elected into the Hall of Fame.
...Marco Stoovelaar interviews Win's...
...former Manager Don Zimmer...
...on Opening Day 1993...
(© Photo: Coen/Marco Stoovelaar) |
After Remmerswaal's debut, it would take until 1993 before the second Dutch-born and raised-player would reach the Major League.
That was outfielder Rikkert Faneyte, who in 1994 was followed by infielder Robert Eenhoorn.
In the following years, only three more Dutch-born players would follow.
First, pitcher Rick van den Hurk in 2007 and then outfielder Greg Halman in 2010.
In 2012, short stop Didi Gregorius made his Major League-debut.
Gregorius was born in Amsterdam, lived in the Dutch capital for some years, but then eventually grew up on Curaçao.
Since 2020, Gregorius plays for Philadelphia Phillies.
In 1980, Remmerswaal began the new season again with Pawtucket in Triple-A.
But in June of that year, he was back in the Majors.
On June 21, he made his comeback, throwing the final five innings against California Angels.
In the 1980 season, Remmerswaal pitched in fourteen games for Boston and was 2-1 with 20 strikeouts.
On July 3, Remmerswaal had a great outing against Baltimore Orioles.
Boston-starter Chuck Rainey left the game with an injury while facing his second batter in the first inning.
Remmerswaal took over and gave up only two basehits in six innings, striking out five batters.
Boston won 5-2 and Remmerswaal was the winner.
Amongst his five strikeouts was another future Hall of Famer, Eddie Murray.
He struckout Doug DeCinces and Pat Kelly twice.
Amongst Remmerswaal's new teammates in 1980 were Glenn Hoffman, Bob Ojeda, Dick Drago, Bruce Hurst and another future Hall of Famer, Tony Perez.
Overall, Win Remmerswaal pitched in 22 Major League-games in 1979-1980, striking out 36 batters in 55 innings.
In his professional career (Majors and Minors combined), Remmerswaal was the winning pitcher in 44 games.
As mentioned, when Remmerswaal pitched for Boston Red Sox, the Manager of the team was wellknown Don Zimmer.
Years later, in 1993, Zimmer was the Bench Coach in the inaugural season of Colorado Rockies.
On Opening Day 1993, Colorado played its first game against New York Mets in Shea Stadium.
Before that game, the author of this article spoke with Zimmer about Remmerswaal.
,,Oh yeah, I remember Win very well'', Zimmer then said.
,,Win was throwing real hard and had great control.
He impressed me, but he also had some problems with himself sometimes.
And he liked to joke around.
He was a special character, but I liked him.
It's very unfortunate that he encountered health problems later and after his career''.
Win Remmerswaal always had been somewhat eccentric.
Also when he played in the Major League, as he often put on some pranks while sitting in the bullpen at Fenway Park.
There, he ordered pizzas and had talks with fans.
But he also missed bus rides or plane flights.
In 1981, Remmerswaal arrived late in the USA due to visa-problems.
He started the season again with Pawtucket, pitching in twenty games.
Due to shoulder problems (tendinitis), Remmerswaal ended up on the disabled list a few times.
During those moments, he drinking problems grew and his American career was about to end prematurely.
...Win Remmerswaal as Head Coach of Amsterdam Pirates...
...in 1989 having fun with his assistant Jaap Muts...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
However, in the 1981 season, Remmerswaal was part of some history, as he pitched in the longest professional baseball-game ever.
On April 18, Pawtucket played at home against Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A team of Baltimore Orioles.
The game started 30 minutes later than scheduled due to problems with the stadium lights.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Pawtucket came alongside, 1-1.
The curfew-rule for this league was 12:50 AM, but that rule was not mentioned in te rule book of the Home Plate Umpire and so, the game was not suspended.
Remmerswaal entered the game in the 18th inning and threw 4 1/3 inning.
He gave up a run in the top of the 21st, but Pawtucket immediately came alongside and the game continued.
Finally, the league-president could be reached by phone and he ordered that the game had to stop at the end of the current inning.
And so, at 4:07 AM, after completion of the 32nd inning, the game was halted due to exhaustion of some of the players.
For instance, Rochester-catcher Dave Huppert had been the catcher in the first 31 innings.
It was suggested that the game was to be completed later that day (April 19), but instead, it was completed on June 23.
On that day, only one more inning (and 18 minutes) was played and Pawtucket won 3-2.
Overall, the game took eight hours and 25 minutes to complete.
27 former or future Major League-players played in this game, including Bruce Hurst, >Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken, Jr. and of course, Remmerswaal.
Win Remmerswaal returned to the Boston-organization for the 1982 season, but he was still bothered by arm-problems.
He was assigned to the Single-A team in Winter Haven, then the Double-A team in Bristol.
But due to his health problems, he didn't pitch and was released.
Remmerswaal returned home to the Netherlands and went on to play in Italy in 1983.
There, he regained somewhat of his pitching form en became one of the aces for Parma Angels, which back then was the most dominating and successful team in the Italian Baseball League.
It also was the club of wellknown players as Salvatore Varriale and Giorgio Castelli and was led by administrators such as Aldo Notari.
While playing for Parma, Win met Clotilde Zangarini, with whom he married and got a daughter.
Unfortunately, the marriage ended after a few years, but in later years, they remained in contact with each other.
Despite his problems and sometimes eccentric behavior, Remmerswaal again played for Parma in 1984 and 1985.
In both 1983 and 1984, Parma won the European Cup-tournament.
Remmerswaal showed that he still had good pitching-stuff during the tournament in 1984.
He led Parma to the tournament-win and won the Award for Best Pitcher.
But after the 1985 season, Remmerswaal was released by Parma.
He did play in parts of two more seasons in the Italian Baseball League thereafter.
In 1986, he pitched for Nettuno and in 1987, he played for San Marino.
...Win Remmerswaal accompanies his...
...daughter after she had thrown the...
...ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day...
...1989.before the first home-game of...
...the season of Amsterdam Pirates...
...At right is catcher Ronald Stoovelaar...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
In 1989, Win Remmerswaal started another career in baseball, as he was the Head Coach of Amsterdam Pirates in the Dutch big league.
This was to be his lone season as Head Coach.
It cannot be denied that Remmerswaal had a lot of baseball-knowledge, especially in pitching.
He knew what he was talking about and was a great instructor during practice-sessions.
However, while being the Head Coach of Pirates, Remmerswaal again showed some of his eccentric behavior.
In an away-game at HCAW in Bussum, he showed up late, just before game-time.
When he arrived in the dug-out, he immediately started changing the starting line-up that had been made up by his Assistant Coach Jaap Muts.
However, as the starting line-up already had been handed in to the Home Plate Umpire, it was official and so, it became changes and the players who Remmerswaal had replaced could not be used anymore in the game.
In another game during the 1989 season, at ADO in The Hague, Win Remmerswaal argued balls-and-strikes with veteran Home Plate Umpire Fred de Kramer.
At one moment, somewhere in the fourth inning, Remmerswaal again criticized the strike-zone of De Kramer.
This time, he did something to underscore his words.
While discussing his decisions, Remmerswaal emptied a big bag of baseballs and rolled some 30-40 balls towards De Kramer in the home plate-area.
,,This is how many balls you've missed'', Remmerswaal yelled across the field.
De Kramer halted the game, which was later declared a forfeit for Pirates.
The club had to pay a fine and Remmerswaal received a suspension.
Althought the season and the cooperation with Remmerswaal didn't went that smoothly, Amsterdam Pirates finished in second place in the regular season with a 24-12 record and qualified for the Play-Offs.
In the post-season, Pirates was eliminated for the Holland Series and finished in fourth place.
After the season, Pirates and Remmerswaal separated.
Playing for Amsterdam Pirates that season were Wismar Ansjeliena, Reggie Barringer, Hans Bodemann, Peter Boon, Marcel Bijvank, Tonny Cohen, Peter van Erk, Martijn Faneyte, Rikkert Faneyte, Jan van Gorkum, Didi Gregorius, Frank Koot, Geza Kovacs, Peter Meijers, Hans van Renselaar and Ronald Stoovelaar.
And so, Remmerswaal led an experienced team that included the second Dutch-born and raised Major Leaguer (Faneyte) as well as the father of a future Major Leaguer (Gregorius).
Remmerswaal was assisted as coach by Jaap Muts.
Coen Stoovelaar was the Team Manager, Marco Stoovelaar (the author of this article) was the Team Scorer, Bas Spanger was the Equipment Manager and Ed Joustra was the Physical Therapist.
The following year, Ted Arnold succeeded Remmerswaal as Head Coach and led the team to its second-ever Dutch Championship-title.
Remmerswaal returned to Italy where he was the Pitching Coach of Nettuno in 1990.
Thereafter, in 1991 and 1992, Remmerswaal was a pitching instructor in Italy in the Rimini-area.
Shortly thereafter, tragedy struck the Remmerswaal-family.
Win's brothers Harry, Jerry and Hans all passed away in a four-year period (1993-1997).
Their mother Truus passed away in 2001.
In the meantime, Win still was having alcohol problems.
In December 1997, he was stricken by severe pneunomia, got into a coma and was in critical condition for some three weeks.
As a result, he suffered brain damage, as well as damage to his central nervous system.
Remmerswaal came out of his coma, but never fully recovered from this health problems.
Unfortunately, since then, the former pitcher could move around only in a wheelchair and lived in a nursing-home in The Hague, where he was visited and attended daily by his elderly father Jaap (who passed away in 2018).
In the past years, Remmerswaal had good and bad days,.
On good days, he could tell for hours about his professional career and about baseball.
He then could look at you with his famous piercing, bright light blue eyes, recognized everyone and showed that baseball was still his most favorite passion.
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...TV-West documentary 'An Almost Perfect Game' (2010)... |
During the Haarlem Baseball Week of 2006, Remmerswaal was visited by his former teammate Bruce Hurst, with whom he played in both the Minors and Majors for Boston Red Sox.
In the Minors, the two pitchers also had been room-mates.
During the Baseball Week, Hurst was the Pitching Coach of the National Team of China, which then participated in the international event in Haarlem.
Hurst wanted to visit his Red Sox-friend and thanks to De Telegraaf-newspaper, the meeting was set up.
Remmerswaal had a great day and the two were able to bring back many memories and talk to each other for an extended period.
Hurst then also recalled that when both were sitting in the bullpen, Remmerswaal could tell all kind of technical stories, because of his technical studies.
The author of this article accompanied Hurst and interviewed both pitchers for both De Telegraaf, as well as the daily magazine of the Baseball Week, Leesvoer.
Hurst said that Remmerswaal always had been a good friend during their professional seasons together and that they share many memorable moments while being in the bullpen and in hotel rooms.
,,We were both trying to get to the Major League'', Hurst said.
,,Win was a great guy.
I knew that he was having health problems and I'm sad that he has to live in a nursing home and was sitting in a wheelchair.
But I loved to visit him when I got this opportunity.
It was great to see him again and have a talk with him.''
During the visit at the nursing home in The Hague, Win was all smiles when he saw Hurst and immediately recognized him.
,,We laughed a lot together and sometimes, you have to do some special things when you get bored in the bullpen'', Win then said.
Bruce Hurst pitched in the Major League for fifteen seasons (1980-1994) for four clubs, including the first nine seasons with Boston Red Sox.
Remmerswaal also was visited by former Italian pitching legend Giulio Glorioso, who was the Italian ace in the fifties and sixties.
That meeting was set up by Pim van Nes when Glorioso was visiting the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam.
Throughout his career, Win Remmerswaal has been very driven and passionate about baseball.
He always wanted to improve his accomplishments, wanted to play in a competitive team and wanted to reach the highest possible.
He succeeded in doing so, becoming not a pitching-ace in the Dutch big league and in the Netherlands National Team, but also becoming the first Dutch-born and raised player, as well as from Europe, to reach the Major League.
Unfortunately, throughout his career and life, Win suffered frequent setbacks, tragedies and health problems.
But no one can deny that Wilhelmus Abraham Remmerswaal has been one of the best Dutch pitchers ever.
In November 2010, local TV-station TV West (The Hague) made a 20-minute documentary about Win Remmerswaal, titled 'An Almost Perfect Game', made by Jan Hermsen.
In 2012, his former club Storks retired uniform number 49.
It was with that number, that Remmerswaal played in the Major League for Boston Red Sox.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to Win's family and friends and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(July 27)
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