(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Marco Stoovelaar, Alfred Cop, Henk Seppen & Janneke Louisa-van der Ploeg)
IN MEMORIAM
...Willem Broertjes...
(1945 - 2023)
(© Photo: Alfred Cop) |
 Former umpire, commissioner and administrator Willem Broertjes passed away
Nederlands
 AMSTERDAM (Neth.) -
Willem Broertjes, who has been an umpire-observer for almost 30 years and has been active in baseball for over 50 years, has passed away on Wednesday-evening, August 2.
He would have turned 78 next month.
Although Willem had some health-problems in the past two years, for which he was hospitalized, his passing came unexpectely and was a big shock for most of us in Dutch baseball.
Some two weeks ago, he was hospitalized again after a fall.
Willem Broertjes was a much-liked and respected personality, always full of humor, and was a welcome guest at many fields across Dutch baseball.
Besides being an umpire and a longtime observer/commissioner, Willem also served in several committtees.
Broertjes, who was a colorful person, also has been a boardmember of the BUBS (which represents the interest of game-officials) as well as alumni-organization De Kieviten.
We all will have to remember Willem Broertjes in our own way and on our own manner, as there will be no funeral or cremation ceremony, since Willem had donated his body to science.
Willem Broertjes was born on September 9, 1945 in Amsterdam.
There, he joined multi-sports Blauw-Wit, where he went on to play baseball and soccer.
But his sportive career didn't take long, as he developed more qualities as an administrator.
Willem was in his twenties when he went on to handle the adiministration for the youth baseball-section.
He also became the baseball-secretary of Blauw-Wit, which was one of the oldest baseball-clubs in the country, being founded in 1921.
In later years, Broertjes became the longtime chairman of the overall multi-sportclub of which he was an Honorary Member.
He was the baseball-secretary in 1971 when the club withdraw from participating in baseball-competitions.
For some five years, Blauw-Wit was a so-called 'sleeping club', but then, its baseball-section was dissolved.
At that time, the club had its home-field at Sportpark 'Sloten', but in the early years, the baseball-games were played behind the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, which was also was the site of several early games played by the Netherlands Baseball Team.
It was halfway the seventies that Willem Broertjes became an umpire in what then was the Rayon Amsterdam.
It was as an umpire and thereafter as an observer/commissioner that Willem became a frequent visitor of many playing sites.
He retired as commissioner in 2017, having been active as a game-official for some 45 years.
In that span, Willem not only became a very recognizable personality, but also a much-liked one.
...Willem's close friend...
...Rinus Onderwater...
(© Photo: Archives De Meer) |
It was his very characteristic voice, his way of talking, the way he walked, his infectious humor and his comments that made Willem Broertjes a very colorful person on a baseball-field, mostly wearing shorts and a hat.
And although his interest in general was for baseball, he sometimes also attended (and liked) softball-games.
After his baseball-years at Blauw-Wit, Willem Broertjes became a regular visitor of the home-games of other Amsterdam-based clubs De Meer, ABC and OVVO.
Since the nineties, Willem was closely involved with Amsterdam Pirates.
At De Meer, he met Rinus Onderwater, who became a close friend.
For many years, the two were a very recognizable duo who visited many games and tournaments, including abroad.
Willem always called Rinus 'that round one' and when you were in the company of these two, you surely would have a more than pleasant afternoon with a lot of laughs and juicy remarks.
Like Willem, Rinus also was very recognizable and had the same humor.
And they both enjoyed having a drink.
Rinus, who had been active for over 50 years for De Meer (soccer and baseball), passed away in 2003.
Another acquaintance from De Meer was Nico Meijers, who later became a coach at Amsterdam Pirates.
And talking of Pirates, someone who played in youth-teams at Blauw-Wit when Willem also was involved there, is Kees van Vegten.
He transfered to Rap, the predecessor of Pirates, in the late sixties and became very active for his new club.
At Rap/Pirates, Van Vegten played and coached youth-teams and still is active for the club as the softball-secretary.
From 1977 on, Van Vegten also compiled the club-bullettin together with Marco Stoovelaar.
For seventeen consecutive years, the two put together a weekly edition.
Later, they were joined by Ger Lange.
In the seventies and eighties, Willem Broertjes and Rinus Onderwater mostly were at the home-site of ABC, a club with a rich history which unfortunately no longer exists.
ABC was the baseball-section of soccer-club AFC, which is still playing at the same site where the baseball-team also played.
At ABC, Willem and Rinus became part of an illustrious group of people, which also included Wim Ascherman, Hans de Bie, Johan de Bie Sr., Johan de Bie Jr., Frans Bridië, Henk Clemens, Henk Dorenbos, Jogriet Endel, Wim Endel, Jaap Kuggeleijn, Jan Meijer, Simon Mossel, Frans van Rooij and Ed van Wersch.
They frequently met in the clubhouse of ABC/AFC, which was called a society, to not only talk about the baseball-games, but also to socialize and have a drink together.
On other occasions, after games, they also met at nearby Café-Restaurant Frankendael to 'analyse' the games.
During these meetings, there always was room for a lot of what is called 'Amsterdam-humor'.
In following years, Broertjes not only had regular get-togethers with these colorful characters, he also went on to work together with some of them in commitees, the BUBS or De Kieviten.
...Willem checks the field during...
...a rain-delay during the 2011...
...Holland Series in Amsterdam...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
As mentioned, Willem became an umpire somewhere around 1974 in the Rayon Amsterdam.
There, he officiated games for some five years.
Other baseball/softball-umpires in these years in Amsterdam included Erick Barkhuis, Rob Brink, Nico Dalmulder, Cor van Elst-Water, Wim Fagel, Ben Goorts, Wim Griebling, Dirk Jong, Joke Lammen, Jos Loogman, Karel Rebel, Gerrit Sluijters, Wil Soolsma, Herman Spilker, Coen Stoovelaar and Co van de Wateringen.
They all went on to officiate games at the national level.
From this group, Ben Goorts is still active as a softball-umpire at the national level.
Goorts also is one of the three active record-holders as official scorer with 47 seasons, a record he shares with Feiko Drost and Marco Stoovelaar.
Co van de Wateringen's son Roy is a current longtime umpire in the Dutch big league.
In 1977, Broertjes made his debut at the national level.
He officiated games through 1990.
In those years, he led games with several of the above mentioned umpires, but he also went on to officiate games with many other umpires.
It is simply impossible to name all those umpires.
Back then, opposite to nowadays, there were a lot of umpires.
To get a view who were active at the national levels in Willem's first few years at the national level (1977-1981), amongst the umpires then were:
Wim Baas, John Barrett, Paul Barts, Cor Blitterswijk, Ton Bodaan, Paul Bokern, Robert Bos, Jos de Champs, Hans Corpeleijn, Nico Dalmulder, Hans van Deursen, Feiko Drost, Jos Gieskens, Paul Goode, Fred van Groningen Schinkel, Vincent Hazel, Ton Hout, Gerard Inden, Jan Janszen, Bram Klijnsmit, Fred de Kramer, Jaap Kuggeleijn, Bert Lauer, Jaap Lind, Jos Loogman, Christ Mast, Aad Mooldijk, Jan Pauwels, Chris Pieters, Ede Pool, André Prins, Ada Reymer, Lex Rimini, Henk Ronnenbergh, Piet van Rijswijk, André Schrijber, Jan Schut, Guus Slauerhof, Bert Staller, Coen Stoovelaar, Evert van Tuyl, Karel van Veen, Theo van der Velden, Franklin Victor, Wim Visser, Piet Vorst, Aad de Vos, Aad Vuik, Jan van der Wardt, Aart Wedemeijer, Henk Wolffenbutttel, Karel Zadelhoff and Leen Zuur.
They were the early umpiring colleagues of Willem Broertjes.
One of them was the only female baseball-umpire at the national level, Ada Reymer.
Many others followed throughout the eighties, until he retired as an umpire after the 1990 season, which was due to some knee-problems.
In his fourteen years at the national level, Broertjes mostly led games in the First and Second Division.
He only led a few games at the big league-level as a fill-in, including one postseason-game.
Many more umpires with whom he would cross paths would follow thereafter, as Willem Broertjes, as he became an umpire observer (or commissioner) in 1991.
Willem became one of the most experienced officials in this position, as he served in this role for 27 years.
The only other observer with this kind of seniority is Paul Bokern, who is still active.
Another longtime current observer, with whom Willem closely worked together for many years in the Amsterdam-region and befriended, is Piet Sterk.
He had started his umpiring-career in the early eighties, but officiated his first game in the Rayon North Holland.
In his 27 seasons as commissioner, WIllem observed hundreds of umpires, including almost all umpires who are active nowadays.
They all learned a lot from the experience, the tips and advices Broertjes gave them after sharing his thoughts with the umpires after a game.
Although he had to write reports afterwards, Willem liked it more to talk directly to the umpire to tell what they did right or wrong.
And although he was known for his cheerful character, he could also speak sternly to an umpire if he had done something wrong.
As a commissioner, Willem also was assigned to many postseason-games, including the Holland Series.
But he also served as commissioner during the Haarlem Baseball Week and the World Port Tournament.
In some years, Willem judged candidate-umpires for these two international tournaments, together with Paul Bokern and (umpire-commissioner) Johan Brandsma.
...The crew of officials at the farewell-game of...
...Fred van Groningen Schinkel in 2017 in Amsterdam...
...From left: Marco Stoovelaar, Stenar van Groningen Schinkel,...
...Fred, Francis Speters, Peter Brink and Willem...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Willem Broertjes retired as an observer/commissioner after completion of the 2017 season.
In July of that year, Willem was involved in the farewell-game of veteran umpire Fred van Groningen Schinkel, who then retired after having been a big league-umpire for 46 years.
For that game in Amsterdam, between Amsterdam Pirates and HCAW, Fred was given the opportunity to compile his own crew of game-officials.
Fred invited Willem to be he commissioner.
The other members of that crew were Fred's son and Home Plate Umpire Stenar van Groningen Schinkel, 3B Umpire Peter Brink and official scorers Francis Speters and Marco Stoovelaar.
For some years in the nineties, Willem was one of the lecturers/instructors during the annual BUBS-weekend, where umpires and official scorers come together to have their annual meetings, but also have clinics, got over the (new) rules and look ahead to the upcoming season.
Through the years, Willem always has been at the BUBS-weekend, either as an umpire, commissioner or lecturer.
It was in 1980 that Willem Broertjes first served on a committtee.
In that year, he was a member of the umpiring-commitee in the Rayon Amsterdam, a position he held for six years.
The other members in those years were Jaap Kuggeleijn (chairman), Nico Dalmulder and Gerrit Sluijters.
Willem also was good in overlooking finances and so, he was a member of the audit-committee of Rayon Amsterdam in 1986-1990.
Other members were Wim Ascherman, Dirk-Jan Bode, Hennie Brands, Henk Dorenbos, Miel van Heuven, Jannie Koot, Wim Kwekkeboom, Jan Meijer and Lex Weeber.
Through the years, Willem Broertjes has been very active for De Kieviten.
In 1938, this association was founded by some baseball-enthusiasts and former players with the goal to do promote baseball as much as possible by organizing exhibition games or lectures and having a supporting role for youth- or school-baseball.
It was then also decided that only persons who had made significant contributions to baseball could become a member by invitiation only.
The wellknown baseball-pioneer Maarten Bakker became the first chairman.
Bakker, who was mainly known with his initials as M.C. Bakker, led De Kieviten through 1971, which is a period of 34 years!
After the merger of the Royal Netherlands Baseball Association with the Netherlands Amateur Softball Association in December 1970, more and more softball-personalities were invited to become a member.
...Willem and Piet Sterk (left) are the bartenders at the...
...end-of-the-season officials-get-together in 2008...
...Looking on are Hans van Deursen and Fred de Kramer...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
It was in the early seventies that De Kieviten were present for the time with a stand during the Haarlem Baseball Week.
Many memorabilia-items were sold there in order to gain finances which would be used to support its goals.
Since somewhere in the late seventies, Willem Broertjes frequently assisted in the stand, as did Rinus Onderwater, Jan Meijer, Wim Endel, Jogriet Endel and Henk Dorenbos to name a few.
They always had a lot of fun and the stand of De Kieviten attracted a lot of baseball-fans.
During the tournament, this illustrous group of people always stayed at the same hotel, De Rusthoek in Bloemendaal, which was their Baseball Week-home for many years.
After the evening-game had ended, it frequently took some additional hours for the to look back to the day and the games.
Willem Broertjes joined the board of De Kieviten in 1991 and was a boardmember through 2004.
In these fourteen years, Johan de Bie, Jr. was the chairman and Wim Oosterhof was the vice-chairman.
Also being boardmembers in all these years were Wim Ascherman and Wim Endel, who both served as treasurer.
In nine of these years, Piet van Rijswijk also was a member.
In the fourteen years that Willem was a boardmember, there were four different secretaries, Maartje Nierop Groot (five years), Tiny van der Poel (two), Wim Oosterhof (one) and Dries de Zwaan (five).
In 1998 and 1999, Willem Broertjes was the acting secretary.
Other members in Willem's years in De Kieviten-board were Rob van Tuyl, Gerard Moolenaars and Kitty van Gilst.
In 2013-2015, Willem was a member of the audit-committee with Feiko Drost, Olga Lablans and Samuel de Leeuw.
In 1999, Willem Broertjes was elected to the board of the BUBS.
This association was founded in 1974 to represent the interests of baseball- and softball-umpires.
Later, official scorers and observers (or commissioners) were also included.
In 1999, Willem was elected as new chairman of the BUBS, succeeding Hennie de Roos.
Willem led the BUBS through 2004 and was named Member of Merit.
He then stepped down and was succeeded by Karel van Veen.
The other members in the board led by Broertjes were Hans van Deursen (vice-chairman), Frank de Neling (secretary), Carolien Stadhouders (treasurer), Ger van Dongen and Peter van Geijlswijk.
In 2009-2010, Willem also was a member of the audit-committee of the BUBS, together with Peter Brink, Hans van Deursen, René Fischer and Ruud van Houten.
As chairman of the BUBS, Willem Broertjes also was a member of the Dutch Federation's committee for game-officials, which oversaw all activities and contacts with officials at both the national and regional levels, but also the assignments and educational courses, as well as recruiting new officials.
The members of this committee represented several other group of officials.
Dick Bliek and Leo Smallegange were chairman, while Rinus Paardekooper (who worked a the head office of the KNBSB) handled the administration as secretary.
Other members included André Schrijber (as commissioner baseball-umpires), Ruud van Houten and Rob Kerkman (as commissioner softball-umpires), Huub Nelissen and Linda Steijger (as scoring commissioner), Paul Paul (baseball-umpire observers) and Wim Drullman (softball-umpire observers), Paul Bokern (clinics) and Dick Mos (recruiting).
...Willem and Wes act as 'doorman' at the clubhouse of...
...Amsterdam Pirates at a reunion during the club's...
...festivities of its 60th anniversary in February 2019...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
Having been an umpire and then a longtime commissioner, Willem Broertjes had a lot of rules-knowledge.
And so, in 2015, he became a member of the protest-committee for baseball, a position he held through 2022.
In these eight years, the committtee was chaired by Fred van Groningen Schinkel.
Initially, Kjell Brandenburg also was a member, but he was succeeded by Sten Wessel in 2017.
On behalf of the head office, the administration of the committee was handled by Ruud Verhoef.
As mentioned, it must have been in the early nineties, maybe late eighties, that Willem Broertjes became a more frequent visitor at the site of Amsterdam Pirates.
He went on to come that much to the site, that be became 'part of the furniture'.
At Pirates, he was a financial contributor in several ways.
For many visitors, Willem was very recognizable, not only because of his characteristic voice, but also his humor, his laugh and his remarks.
And he always had a talk with the assigned umpires.
At the Pirates-site, Willem had his own spots to sit, either in the stands or in the clubhouse, mostly accompanied by his longtime buddies Harry van Kooten and Wes Korrel.
They followed the activities on the field, drank their drinks and 'analyzed' the game, the players, the coaches and the umpires.
In other words, Willem was a fixture at the site of Pirates.
Every Friday, Willem was present to participate in card-games.
And always, he enjoyed drinking grain wine.
It was said that he even had his private bottle behind the bar.
Willem, Harry and Wes also always attended the road-games of the Pirates baseball-game and so, he became a welcome guest at many sites.
When Amsterdam Pirates celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2019, it were Willem Broertjes and Marco Stoovelaar, who set up some of the festivities, including two reunions of former club-members.
In the last few years, when he had some heath-problems, Willem was much supported by Richard de Wolff, the longtime Public Address Announcer of Pirates.
On game-days, Richard picked Willem up from his home, drove him to the field, then broughtt him home again after some 'game-analysis' in the clubhouse.
Willem then only attended the home-games of Pirates.
Willem became a 'real Pirate' and attended many European Cup-tournaments through the years, most of them together with the already mentioned Harry and Wes.
They traveled to several European locations to watch the games played by Amsterdam Pirates.
But they also traveled to some tournaments when HCAW or Neptunus participated.
...Willem and Coen Stoovelaar (and the photographer)...
...return from a long touristic walk during the...
...1999 European Championship in Bologna (Italy),...
...the almost 4 km walk to the nice basilica...
...Santuario della Madonna di San Luca atop a hill...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
Willem loved to travel.
In 1977 and 1979, Willem and his close friend Rinus Onderwater took part in baseball-trips to the USA which were organized by Inside Magazine.
On the second of these trips, they almost got lost after the group had arrived in New York and almost missed the bus for the connecting trip to Boston.
In following years, Willem attended all international tournaments that were organized in the Netherlands, most of them accompanied by Rinus.
From somewhere in the eighties, Willem and Rinus decided to also travel abroad to be other international events, such as the European Championship and European Cup-tournaments.
For instance, they were part of a large group of Dutch fans that was in Nettuno (Italy) during the 1991 Championship.
In 1997, Willem and Rinus traveled to Paris for the European Championship in company of Wim Kwekkeboom and Marco Stoovelaar.
It was during this event that tragedy struck, as British Princess Diana was involved in a severe car-crash in the French capital and passed away.
As the tunnel where the accident had happened was in walking-distance from the hotel, the next day Willem and Marco walked to the site, which already had become an impressive memorial for the beloved Princess.
Since then, Willem more and more started to travel in small groups, who stayed at the same hotels and also traveled together back-and-forth to the fields.
Like in 1999, when Willem traveled to the European Championship in Bologna (Italy) in company of Wim Kwekkeboom, Ruud Koene, Marco Stoovelaar, Coen Stoovelaar and Monique van der Heijden.
In 2001, the travel-company (by train) to the Championship in Bonn and Cologne (Germany) was somewhat larger and consisted of Willem, Rinus Onderwater, Wim Kwekkeboom, Ruud Koene, Nico Meijers, Herman van der Brugge, Coen Stoovelaar, Marco Stoovelaar and Barbara Peeters.
In 2005, Willem was at the Championship at some different sites in the Czech Republic in company of Roger Huys, Marco Stoovelaar and his Rotterdam-friends Arie and Gerda.
Willem, Roger, Marco, Arie and Gerda, plus Chris Mast, also traveled to Taiwan in 2007 for the World Championship.
In 2008, Willem also was in Beijing (China) for the Olympic Games.
This time, he again traveled together with Arie and Gerda, but also with HCAW's Frank Mooijman.
Marco also was in Beijing, but he was a participant, as being a member of the supporting staff of the Netherlands Softball Team.
For most of these trips, it was Willem who arranged the tickets, as well as the hotels.
And on location, he always wanted to look around, visit points of interests and learn more of the place.
During these trips, Willem and some of his fellow-travelers made several (long) walks to musea, churches, special buildings and other sightseeing spots.
...Willem with close friends Harry (left) and Wes (right) at...
...a game of Amsterdam Pirates at HCAW in Bussum in 2017...
(© Photo: Janneke Louisa-van der Ploeg) |
As mentioned, in the past fifteen years or so, Willem attended many tournaments together with his close friends Harry and Wes.
Not only European Cup-tournaments, but also European Championships and Under-23 European Championships.
That brought him to different locations in Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Italy and Belgium.
Last year, there was the trip to Bonn (Germany) to be at the European Cup-tournament witth the participation of Amsterdam Pirates and Neptunus.
With that, they returned to Bonn, as they also were there two years earlier for the European Championship.
And two months ago, Willem of course followed the games of Amsterdam Pirates during the European Champions Cup-tournament, which was organized at the sites of both Pirates and HCAW in Bussum.
Needless to say that Willem also was in attendance when the World Championship was organized in the Netherlands in 1986, 2005 and 2009, the last two in company of Harry and Wes.
Or when the European Championships or European Cups were held in Amsterdam, Haarlem, Rotterdam, Bussum or Hoofddorp.
Since halfway the seventies, Willem also was present at most games of the Haarlem Baseball Week and the World Port Tournament.
Was Hotel De Rusthoek in Bloemendaal their home in Haarlem, during some of the tournaments of the WPT in Rotterdam in the late eighties and nineties, Willem and Rinus Onderwater first stayed at Hotel Commerce, then at Hotel Van Walsem.
They later got company there from Wim Kwekkeboom and Marco Stoovelaar.
At Van Walsem, they were joined by Frank Mooijman and the group of baseball-fans from Utrecht.
After returning to the hotel late in the evening, the games always 'needed' to be 'analysed' with a drink and some peanuts.
In the past years, Willem, Wes and Harry either stayed at a hotel or they simply traveled back and forth by train from Amsterdam to Rottterdam.
At both tournaments, they always sat together with the above mentioned colorful group of baseball-fans, who came from the Utrecht/Bussum-area.
And at both stadiums, they could be spotted in their 'own' spots, from where they would attend all games.
...Umpires Ric Zwanenberg, Roy van de Wateringen...
...and Richard Wessel observe a moment of silence...
...in remembrance of their colleague...
...before the game between Curaçao Neptunus and...
...HCAW last Friday-evening in Rotterdam...
(© Photo: Alfred Cop Fotografie) |
During the WPT, Willem also was in the company of some of his Rottterdam-friends, including Leen Staub, Jan Kok, Cees de Bruin, Chris Mast, Frans van Aalen and Jan van der Sande, but also (former) umpires as Henri van Heijningen, Arnold Verbrugge and Ton Bodaan.
Jan van der Sande even became the 'private driver' of Willem, Wes and Harry, as he picked them up from the railway-station and back when they were in Rotterdam.
For his many contributions as a game-official, as well as having served in several committees and boards, Willem Broertjes was decorarated by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Sofball Association (KNBSB) some years ago.
In November last year, he was named Member of Merrit of the KNBSB.
Willem Broertjes cleary was an epicurean, he enjoyed life and intimacy, enjoyed being around people, having his drink together, talk and having fun.
He loved baseball, but also enjoyed listening to jazz-music and attended several concerts at jazz-clubs through the years.
Willem Broertjes was much-liked and will be missed by many of us.
We will miss him being there at the Pirates-site, sitting in his familiar spot, drinking his favorite drink, his peculiar walk, his characteristic voice, his remarks, his humor.
Yes, sometimes, he could grumble or be opionated, but always with that big smile on his face.
How much he was liked was underscored on Friday-evening when a moment of silence was observed before the start of big league-game between Curaçao Neptunus and HCAW in Rotterdam.
Amsterdam Pirates planned to do the same before its home-game on Sunday-afternoon, but that game rained out.
Pirates surely will remember Willem Broertjes on a later date.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to Willem's family and friends and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(August 7)
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