(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Alfred Cop Fotografie, TOG and a private-photo)
 Longtime HCAW team-scorer, superfan, club-icon Adrie Berrevoets passed away
Nederlands
 WEESP (Neth.) -
Adrie Berrevoets, who has been the team-scorer of the big league baseball-team of HCAW for many years, unexpectedly passed away on Friday, March 17 at age 79.
Adrie was a fixture at HCAW's home-site in Bussum, loved his club and his team and can surely be labeled one of the club-icons.
His unexpected passing was a big shock.
Especially for the HCAW-family, but also throughout Dutch baseball, as Adrie was a much-liked person.
The memorial and cremation ceremony will be held on Monday, March 27 at 10 AM at Crematorium De Nieuwe Ooster at the Kruislaan 126 in Amsterdam.
Adriaan (Adrie) Berrevoets was born on January 31, 1944 in Amsterdam.
There, he became involved in sports at a young age.
Adrie and his brothers Gerrit and Wiet all went on to play soccer at Amsterdam-based TOG.
It were Adrie's older brothers Gerrit and Wiet who were youngsters in early 1947 and also wanted to play baseball.
At a young age, they played a pioneering and so, the club founded a baseball-section in March 1947.
By the way, TOG also had a handball-section.
In following years, Adrie also played both baseball and soccer at TOG, which played it home-games behing the site of soccer-club Zeeburgia at the wellknown sports-complex located at the Kruislaan.
There were (and are) many soccer-fields at that location, but also wellknown baseball-club OVVO played its home-games there, a few fields away from Zeeburgia.
The complex also included the famous 'De Meer', the stadium of soccer-club Ajax, located at the other side at the Middenweg.
In 1957, Wiet (which was nickname for his real name Ludwig) Berrevoets became the secretary of the baseball-section of TOG.
He succeeded Gerrit Scholte, who later became a baseball-umpire.
In those years, many players played soccer in the winter and baseball in the summer.
However, the baseball- and soccer-seasons started to overlap more and more, which sometimes led to problems of available players in both sports.
The baseball-team of TOG, which then included Adrie, celebrated the Championship-title in the Second Division in 1960, but the baseball-section of the club ended after the 1961 season.
Although TOG didn't longer had a baseball-section, the Berrevoets-brothers kept on being loyal members and followers on the club, which will celebrate its 114th anniversary in May.
Adrie even went on to become a board-member of the soccer-club in the sixties.
With that, he began to underscore his administrative and managerial qualities, which he started to develop more and more in later years.
After the baseball-section of TOG had ended in the early sixties, Wiet and Adrie continued their baseball-career at VVGA, which had its site at the same complex at TOG, but besides the Ajax-stadium on the other side.
Wiet Berrevoets went on to play in the main-team of VVGA and played several seasons in the highest division, while Adrie also continued being active for the soccer-section of TOG.
Gerrit Berrevoets continued more in soccer and became well-respected referee.
From 1969 on, he was active in nine seasons in the highest professional soccer-league (Eredivisie).
From the 1972-1973 season, he was a regular referee and he led 130 games in his career.
Gerrit, who passed away in 1996, also led two friendly international games, Czechoslovakia against Turkey and Sweden against Denmark, both in 1977.
...The team of TOG that won the Second Division-title in 1960...
...Adrie Berrevoets stands second from right... |
As mentioned, Adrie continued his baseball-activities at VVGA, which became Giants Diemen in 1967.
In the meantime, Adrie had married with Truus in 1965 and they became the parents of son Roy and daughter Saskia.
It was at Giants Diemen that Roy started his baseball-career in youth-teams, but of course, his name, as well as that of his father are more associated with HCAW.
Although the Berrevoets-family moved to Weesp in 1973, they remained active for Giants Diemen.
But in the eighties, Roy continued his baseball-career at Bussum-based HCAW, while Adrie played softball for a few seasons.
In 1987, at age 17, Roy made his debut in the main-squad of HCAW, which then played in the Dutch big league.
Roy Berrevoets, who primarily was a first baseman, played in thirteen full seasons for HCAW.
When he retired after the 1999 season, he had played in 408 games and his uniform number 24 was retired.
During the 2000 and 2004 seasons, he played one more game.
In 2007 and 2008, Roy was the Head Coach of the HCAW-team, assisted by another longtime player, Jurjan Koenen.
Roy returned to coaching-duties three times thereafter.
Halfway the 2011 season, he assisted Ronald Jaarsma after he had become the new Head Coach.
In 2016, Roy returned as Head Coach for one season.
And during the 2019 season, he was a fill-in Assistant Coach for some three games.
Shortly after Roy had made his debut in the main-team, it was Adrie's turn to join the team.
During the 1989 season, Adrie served as a fill-in team-scorer, but he took over that duty from the 1990 season on, succeeding Henk van der Graaf.
For Adrie, this was the beginning of a long career as the team-scorer of HCAW, as he was active in this position through 2011.
In the final three seasons, he shared the duties with Rob Schuurman, who then succeeded him in 2012, although Adrie did some exhibition games that year.
These were the years that the teams all had a scorekeeper in the dug-out, who filled in the scorecards, handed the starting line-ups to the official scorer, handled administrative duties and supported the coaches with statistics.
Adrie was in the HCAW dug-out for 23 seasons, making him one of the longest serving team-scorers in the Dutch big league.
Other longtime team-scorers with fifteen or more seasons of service in the dug-out were John Bouwmeester (Kinheim), Willem van Geijlswijk (Haarlem Nicols), Leo Hamerslag (Sparta), Jan van der Sande (Neptunus), Marco Stoovelaar (Amsterdam Pirates) and Kees Tromp (Kinheim).
Team-scorers with shorter periods, but still for some ten seasons, were Frans Bergman (Hoofddorp Pioniers), Leo van den Brun (ADO), Anneke Driessen (ADO), Roel de Groot (Amstel Tijgers), Cees Kolderie (Sparta) and Joop Kruithof (UVV).
...Adrie in the dug-out of HCAW in 2007...
...Seated at left is Head Coach Roy Berrevoets...
...At right is Assistant Coach Jurjan Koenen...
(© Photo: (Alfred Cop Fotografie) |
These team-scorers were the members of a supporting staff who were there each season, whoever would become the new Head Coach.
During Adrie's 23 seasons in the dug-out of HCAW, there have been fourteen different Head Coaches: Dave Daniels, Floor Blaauw, Cees Herkemij, Henny Jenken, Craig McGinnis, Brian Farley, Frank Koene, Nelson Orman, Bill Froberg, Maurice De Conge, Patrick Vielvoye, Roy Berrevoets, Jurjan Koenen and Ronald Jaarsma.
In some of these seasons, De Conge, Froberg, Jaarsma, Koene, Koenen, McGinnis and Orman also served as Assistant Coach.
Other Assistant Coaches included Reinier Abrahamsen, Maurice Cranston, Cliff Foster, Frans Groot, Chicho Jesurun, Edward Kreuning, Clive Mendes and Gijs Selderijk.
In twenty of Adrie's seasons with the main-squad, Ron Jaarsma was the General Manager/Team Manager, in the final three seasons, that was Frank Mooijman, who is the current General Manager.
Another longtime member of the supporting staff was Equipment Manager Gé de Bruin.
Other supporting staffers in several seasons were Harry Hartman (Team Manager), Reinald Castenmiller, Nick Fridsma, Zsolt Tanka (all Physical Therapist), Rob de Lange (Equipment Manager), Nils de Groot (Media Officer), Dieks Bannink and Marja Ruisch (both Public Address Announcers).
In the years that Adrie was with the team, HCAW had several players who were with the team in ten or more seasons.
One of them was his son Roy.
Other longtime players were Jeffrey Cranston, Nick Fridsma, Jeroen Hubert, Ronald Jaarsma, Lars Koehorst, Jurjan Koenen, Patrick de Lange, Jurriaan Lobbezoo, Clive Mendes, Ralph Milliard and Danny Wout.
Roland de Groot and Sven van der Graaf, two other longtime players of HCAW, concluded their careers in Adrie's first seasons as scorer.
Players who played in some five, six or seven seasons for the Bussum-club while Adrie was the scorer, include Reinier Abrahamsen, Dave Draijer, Michael Duursma, Gino Henson, Bas de Jong, Ronald de Jong, Michiel van Kampen, Juriën Overman, Glenn Romney, Caspar van Rijnbach, René Rijst, Patrick Tensen and Albert van Vuure.
Other players included Adrian Anthony, Maurice De Conge, Jeroen Deken, Patrick van Doorn and Sidney de Jong.
In the 1989 season, American James Navilliat played for HCAW.
He married with Adrie's daughter Saskia and later, they moved to the USA.
In 1995 and 1996, Navilliat served two seasons as Physical Therapist of HCAW, which captured its first Dutch Championship-title in 1996.
...The team of HCAW in 2010...
...Adrie stands at left besides Head Coach Bill Froberg and...
...Assistant Coach Ronald Jaarsma; At right is Adrie's successor...
...as team-scorer Rob Schuurman, besides Pitching Coach Frans Groot...
(© Photo: (Alfred Cop Fotografie) |
It was during his seasons as team-scorer that Adrie Berrevoets got several nicknames.
One of the most-used was 'Voets', but he was also called 'Papa Bear' and 'Papa Roy'.
He was always cheerful and enthusiastic.
And always had a broad smile on his face.
You would clearly know whether or not Adrie was at the site of HCAW, even when you couldn't see him right away.
That was when he would cheer, as he had a loud and very distinct voice that would immediately confirm that Adrie was in the house.
From the dug-out and later from the stands, Adrie always cheered for HIS players and his team.
One of his favorite cheerings was 'Champions', which he yelled during most of the games he attended.
During his seasons as team-scorer, HCAW frequently qualified for the Play-Offs and also advanced to the Holland Series to play for the Dutch Championship-title.
In 1996 and 1998, Adrie was able to celebrate the title with HCAW.
Last year, of course he was in attendance when HCAW captured its third title, sweeping Neptunus in the best-of-seven Holland Series by winning four games in a row.
Afterwards, with that very characterisc broad smile, Adrie walked proudly around the field.
Later, when the Championship was celebrated, he kissed the Championship Shield.
Since 1992, HCAW participated in several European Cup Tournaments and traveled to Italy, Belgium and Spain.
HCAW hosted the Cup Winners Cup-tournament in 1992.
Of course, during all these tournaments, Adrie was with the team.
In the evening, in the hotel, there could follow long talks in the lobby or on a terrace.
Enjoying a drink, the games would be 'analyzed' or 'criticized', but always with a lot of fun.
And those talks could go on for several hours until deep in the night.
Yes, the webmaster of this site and author of this In Memoriam attended several of these 'talks' when HCAW participated in tournaments in Nettuno and Rimini (both Italy).
By capturing the Dutch Championship-title last year, HCAW will return to an European tournament this year.
In June, HCAW will host the European Champions Cup in Bussum, while games also will be played at the site of Amsterdam Pirates.
For the first time since 1992, HCAW will organize the event.
Adrie surely would be there as an enthusiastic fan and of course, he would contribute in any activity surrounding the tournament.
Adrie loved HCAW and was there each time the team played a home-game, of course always accompanied by his wife Truus.
They mostly sat in the stands at the right from home plate towards the first base-side, where the HCAW dug-out was located.
Adrie always enjoyed having a drink, having a chat and having fun.
In later years, Adrie and Truus mostly sat in the sponsor-units behind the third base-line, enjoying a drink, something to eat and talking with whoever was there.
They mostly were in the company of (former sponsor) Ron Jaarsma and his family.
Unfortunately, Ron Jaarsma passed away last year.
In the more recent years, Adrie no longer traveled to all away-games of HCAW.
But he often was there, when the team played in Amsterdam, Hoofddorp, Haarlem, Amersfoort or Rotterdam.
...Adrie celebrates when HCAW wins the title last year...
...At left is the mother of General Manager Frank Mooijman...
...At right is Adrie's successor Rob Schuurman, who since a...
...few years is an official scorer...
(© Photo: (Alfred Cop Fotografie) |
Adrie was a diehard fan of HCAW and also frequently attended games of the so-called ReserveReserve-team, as well as the second team.
When his son Roy played for the ReserveReserve-team, Adrie even acted as team-scorer for awhile.
But despite being very loyal to HCAW and loving his club, Adrie also could voice his opinion when he disliked something within the club, whether it was a coach, or a member of the board or something else.
Adrie simply wanted the best for his club.
He also sometimes voiced his opinions about baseball in general in posts he place on Facebook and yes, that created some discussions several times.
With a big smile, he then could enjoy those discussions.
After Roy had retired as a player, Adrie and his wife kept on attending games of HCAW, but they also attended baseball- and hockey-games of Roy's son Milko..
Adrie and his wife Truus also annually traveled to America, sometimes more than once a year, to Rhode Island to be with his daughter Saskia and her husband Jim and their daughters Dana and Emma.
There, Adrie and Truus attended volleyball-games of their granddaughters, but also traveled to Boston to watch games of Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Adrie became a fan of Boston Red Sox, wearing Boston-caps, shirts and jacks.
When he was at the HCAW-site, he sometimes wore a Boston-cap, however, in most cases that of course was a HCAW-cap.
Besides doing a lot of sightseeing, they also attended games of Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple-A team of Boston in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Since last year, Worcester Red Sox is Boston's Triple-A, playing in Worcester, Massachusetts.
There, at Polar Park, Adrie also attended a game last year.
For the first time without he beloved Truus, who unfortunately passed away on August 2, 2021.
In the past, Adrie has been a member of the board of HCAW for several years and for his many contributions, he was named a Member of Merit of the Bussum-club.
On Opening Day of the 2016 baseball-season, Adrie threw the ceremonial first pitch.
He was then accompanied to the mound by his son Roy, who then had become the Head Coach again, and his grandson Milko.
Since becoming the team-scorer of HCAW, Adrie became a colorful personality on the baseball-fields.
In the dug-out and as a spectator.
He was a fixture at the Rob Hoffmann Valley, the home of HCAW.
He was always there.
Adrie will surely be missed by many of us, but never forgotten.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to Adrie's son Roy, daughter Saskia, their partners, grandchildren, other family and friends and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(March 24)
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