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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Neth. Baseball and Softball Museum and Hall of Fame, Het Rotterdams Parool, Henk Seppen, Robert Bos & Marco Stoovelaar) Bart Volkerijk and Frans van Aalen inducted into Dutch Baseball & Softball Hall of Fame Nederlands HAARLEM (Neth.) - Longtime Dutch big league and Netherlands Baseball Team-pitcher Bart Volkerijk and longtime baseball-administrator Frans van Aalen were officially inducted into the Netherlands Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame on Saturday (December 7). The two baseball-icons became the newest members during a ceremony in the Netherlands Baseball and Softball Museum, which is located in the historic Pim Mulier Stadium in Haarlem. The ceremony coincided with the annual Fall Congress of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federaton (KNBSB), which was held at the the facilities of baseball/softball-club Kinheim at the top-level of the stadium. Bart Volkerijk played 21 seasons in the highest Dutch baseball-league, all with ADO, based in The Hague. Volkerijk also has been a coach at ADO, President of the Organizing Committee of the World Port Tournament and Managing Director of the KNBSB. Frans van Aalen has played an important role in the development and expansion of baseball in Rotterdam, especially for his club Neptunus, where he has been active for over six decades as player, coach, general manager, sponsor, boardmember and chairman. Van Aalen also has been closely involved in the World Port Tournament and has served in the boards of the European Baseball Federation (CEB) and International Baseball Association (IBA). Bart Volkerijk and Frans van Aalen are the first additions to the Hall of Fame in five years. The last was softball-coach/umpire André Prins in 2019. The first inductions of baseball- and softball-personalities into the Netherlands Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame took place in 1983. Since then, 56 persons have been inducted, who have been active in different fields, such as player, coach, umpire, official scorer, national/regional administrator, member of the media or have been a pioneer in the early development of both sports. (December 7)

...Bart Volkerijk (left) and Frans van Aalen after their induction into... ...the Netherlands Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame... (© Photo: Netherlands Baseball and Softball Museum and Hall of Fame)

...Frans van Aalen as Head Coach... ...of Neptunus in 1970... (© Photo: Unknown photographer (Het Rotterdams Parool)) Frans van Aalen Since the late fifties, Frans van Aalen has been active for over 65 years for Rotterdam-based Neptunus. First as a player, being part of the main-squad since the early sixties, primarily as a catcher, but occassionally, he also took the mound. Van Aalen was a leading player and a productive batter. One of his teammates in these early sixties (1961-1962) was future KNBSB-President Guus van der Heijden, who in these years lived in Roterdam and was the playing coach of Neptunus. Other (longtime) teammates over the years were Karel van Ispelen and Piet Eenhoorn (the father of future National Team-player and manager Robert Eenhoorn), who later became fellow-boardmembers. ...Frans van Aalen at the 2001... ...World Championship in Taiwan... ...with Gaston Panaye... (© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) In 1970 and 1971, Van Aalen was the Head Coach of the Neptunus baseball-team, assisted by Eenhoorn. One of their pitchers then was Lourens Louisa, the father of current big league (and international) umpire Edwin Louisa. Van Aalen also was Head Coach in 1980. In later years, Van Aalen entered the board, became chairman and also was the general manager of the main-squad. But late during the very disappointing 1984 season, Van Aalen returned in uniform and on the field when he took over the coaching, taking charge of the team himself again. However, he was unable to avoid relegation. During the long reign as chairman, general manager and (main-)sponsor of Frans van Aalen, the baseball-team of Neptunus not only evolved into a contender for the Dutch Championship-title since the eearly eighties. In following years, Neptunus continued to climb on the baseball-ladder and even became the most successful club, capturing a record of twenty Championships. In October, Neptunus became the first club in history with twenty titles. The club had to wait six years to realize this, as its last title dated from 2018. Since then, Neptunus reached the Holland Series annually, but was left empty-handed each time. Three times, Neptunus lost to Amsterdam Pirates and once to HCAW. In 2020, Neptunus trailed 2-0 in the best-of-seven (vs. Pirates) when it was halted due to measures regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. But this year, Neptunus swept HCAW to become Dutch baseballl-champion for the 20th time. ...Frans van Aalen during... ...the 2019 WPT... (© Photo: Henk Seppen) Neptunus won its first title in 1981. From 1991, the next 19 titles were captured via the Holland Series, which was (re-)established in 1987, including a record seven in a row in 1999-2005. Also, since the nineties, Neptunus won 15 European Cups, including ten times the European (Champions Cup. Only Parma from Italy won more Champions Cups (15). Through the years, many Neptunus-players were selected for the Netherlands Team, including Frans' son Bob van Aalen. By the way, Frans' wife Loes and their daughters Karin and Linda also have been involved for many years in Neptunus. Karin was the Public Address Announcer for many years during the home-games of the Rotterdam-team. As boardmember or representative of Neptunus, Van Aalen attended many KNBSB-meetings and always strived to get the best for baseball in general. In March 1983, Van Aalen was elected vice-chairman of the KNBSB-board, becoming responsible for competition-structures and national teams, amongst others. Due to busy social circumstances, he steps down two years later. ...Frans van Aalen is addressed by Rotterdam Mayor... ...Ahmed Aboutaleb in 2021 after having received a Royal Decoration... (© Photo: Robert Bos) In October 1989, Van Aalen returns in the board, this times handling technical affairs for the baseball-section, which includes overseeing the (organisation of the) national teams. In these years, Van Aalen also is the general manager of the Netherlands Baseball Team. He resigns in October 1992. In 1989-1992, Van Aalen also is a member of the Technical Commission of the European Baseball Confederation (CEB). In February 2001, Van Aalen becomes 1s Vice-President in the Executive Committee of the CEB and in May of the same year, he is elected Treasurer of the International Baseball Association (IBA). In December 2004, Van Aalen steps down from both positions because of health reasons. From the first edition in 1985 through the most recent one in 2019, Frans was a member of the Organizing Committee of the biennial World Port Tournament, being treasurer or responsible for tournament-affairs. He also was involved in the Committee that organized the World Baseball Championship in the Netherlands 1986, 2005 and 2009. For his many contributions through the years, Frans van Aalen was named Member of Merit of the KNBSB in 2003, then Honorary Member n 2022. Van Aalen received a Royal Decoration in 2021 from Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb.

...Bart Volkerijk in 1981... ...as player of ADO... (© Photo: Team-photo ADO) Bart Volkerijk Amsterdam-born Bart Volkerijk played 21 seasons (1974-1978; 1980-1987; 1989-1996) in the Dutch big league, all with ADO (based in The Hague). In many seasons, his brothers Erik and Martin were amongst his teammates. With ADO, Bart he won the Dutch Championship-title in 1992 and the European (Champions) Cup in 1993. ...Bart and his mother Henny during... ...the re-naming of the ADO-field... ...into Leen Volkerijk Stadium... (© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) Bart's father Leen Volkerijk was a longtime coach in both the big league and at a lower level. Leen was Pitching Coach of the Netherlands Team in 1975-1978, then Bench Coach in 1979 and 1B Coach in 1980. He again was Pitching Coach in 1985-1988, then served as Team Manager in 1989. At ADO, Leen Volkerijk was the Head Coach in 1963-1972 and again in 1982 when son Bart was one of his players. The home-field of ADO in The Hague was named after Leen Volkerijk. In his long career, Bart Volkerijk mostly was a (righthanded) pitcher, but he also played at first base, in the outffield and as DH. Volkerijk was not only known as a successful pitcher, but also as being an effective hitter (32 homeruns), as he was one of the few (and last) pitchers who also were good hitter, making him a valuable two-way player. On Opening Day 1984, he threw a No-Hitter. Volkerijk played in 510 big league-games and is one of only seven players who have played 500 or more games for one club at the big league-level. The others are Bob van Aalen, Wim Martinus (both Neptunus), Dè Flanegin (Hoofddorp Pioniers), Jurjan Koenen (HCAW), John van der Mark (Sparta) and Ronald Stoovelaar (Amsterdam Pirates). In his impressive career on the mound, Volkerijk won ten or more games in five consecutive seasons (1981-1985). He set several all-time records, such as 333 Games Pitched, 202 Complete Games, 2,282 Innings Pitched, 150 Wins and 1,948 StrikeOuts, which were all expected to be unbreakable. However, Rob Cordemans, who also had a long and impressive career, broke the Win-record in 2012 and the StrikeOut-record in 2018. ...Bart Volkerijk and fellow-pitcher Eric de Vries... ...have a talk with wellknown American coach... ...Bill Arce during the 1989 European... ...Championship in Paris (France)... (© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) At ADO, Bart Volkerijk was the Head Coach in 1995 and 1996 and the Pitching Coach in 1999. After having retired as player, Bart's uniform number 21 was retired. As player of the Netherlands National Team, Volkerijk was a member of the team in 1975-1989 and again in 1991. In his sixteen years with the Orange-squad, Volkerijk participated in many events, including the 1988 Olympic Games in South Korea, seven World Championships, nine European Championships (three titles), six Haarlem Baseball Weeks, three World Port Tournaments and several other tournaments Volkerijk appeared in 71 official international games. ...Bart Volkerijk talks with then-Netherlands... ...Team Manager Steve Janssen during the 2016... ...European Championship in Hoofddorp (Neth.)... (© Photo: Henk Seppen) In 1991, he was invited for the second World All Star Game in Los Angeles, California (USA), organized by the International Baseball Association (IBA), which was later re-named IBAF and was the predecessor of the current WBSC. Back then Bart was of two players being invited for this game. Coincidentally, the other one was Bob van Aalen, the son of Frans. When he retired as player from the Netherlands Team in 1991, Volkerijk was decorated by the KNBSB. From May 2016 until January 1, 2020, Bart Volkerijk was the Managing Director of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation. As such, he led the Head Office off the KNBSB. Volkerijk also has been the President/Tournament Director of the Organizing Committee of the biennial World Port Tournament in Rotterdam (Netherlands), overseeing the editions in 2015 and 2017. In between, he had the same position during the European Baseball Championship, which was then organized in Hoofddorp and Nieuw-Vennep (Netherlands).

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