IN MEMORIAM ...Hugo Wapperom... (1944 - 2026) (© Photo: Eva de Kok)

Former player, coach and reporter Hugo Wapperom passed away
Nederlands

THE HAGUE (Neth.) - Hugo Wapperom, who played and coached in the Dutch big league-team for ADO has passed away on Saturday, April 25 at the age of 81 in his home-town The Hague.

The memorial-ceremony for Hugo Wapperom will be held on Saturday, May 2 at 12:30 PM at Crematorium Haagse Duinen, located at Wijndaelsingel 1 in The Hague. Afterwards, there is a get-together from 2:30-4:30 PM in Beach Pavillion De Staat at Zuiderstrand 4 in The Hague (exit 10).

Hugo Wapperom was born on November 18, 1944 in The Hague. Hugo started playing baseball at CTC, one of the clubs based in The Hague. This club played its home-games at Sportpark 'Escamp III' and in 1966, it shared the site with ADO. When CTC was folded after the 1966 season, ADO became the main-player of Escamp III and called its home through 2014. ADO withdraw its team in February 2015 and unfortunately, the club was terminated a month later.

In 1963, as player of CTC, Hugo was selected for the regional team of The Hague for a game against Haarlem. In June 1965, he played for The Hague in a game against the Netherlands B Team. The Hague won 5-4 thanks to a 2-run homerun by Hugo in the last inning.

In the sixties, Hugo transfered to ADO. In those years, the baseball-team of ADO was led by wellknown coach Leen Volkerijk, who was the Head Coach through 1972. In 1970, the team promoted to the Dutch big league.

...Hugo scores for ADO... ...in 1974...

As a catcher, Hugo played in the highest league in 1971, but the team relegated again. ADO returned in 1973 and from then on, it would in the big league through 2014, except in 1979 and 1988. Hugo also played for ADO in 1973, 1974 and 1975.

Amongst his teammates in those seasons were John Barrett, Jaap Bijl, Berry Eijgendaal, Harrie Heikoop, Hans Leenen, Ferry Neuteboom, Gerard Salemink, Bart Volkerijk, Theo Witloks and King Zschuschen.

After his years with ADO, Hugo played and coached at Storks, another club from The Hague.

In 1980, Hugo succeeded Hans Leeflang as Head Coach of ADO and he also led the team in 1981. By the way, Hugo's teammates John Barrett (1976), Berry Eijgendaal (1983-1985; 1991), Jaap Bijl (1993; 1997) and Bart Volkerijk (1995-1996; 2008) also would lead ADO as Head Coach.

In Hugo's first season as Head Coach (1980), ADO finished in seventh place. In 1981, the team finished fourth. Hugo stepped down after the 1981 season and was succeeded by Leen Volkerijk. Hugo returned to the club in the early nineties when he was Topsport Manager.

In 1981, Hugo Wapperom also was the catcher in the men softball-team of the The Hague-based club Kokolishi, which was founded that year. In its first season, Kokolishi captured the Dutch Championship-title. Other players in the team included Tico Capriles, Ritchie Daal, Jacky Jakoba, Wendell Libiana, Herbert Ramlal, Carlos Sint Jago, Ron Steward, Harry Tuijn and Willem Tuijn. Hugo and the two Tuijn-brothers were the only non-Antillian players in the team. In December of 1981, the Kokolishi-team traveled to Curaçao to play several games there.

In 1980 and 1981, Hugo also covered baseball for De Waarheid, which was a national newspaper through April 1990.

In 2011, Hugo's first novel grounded in the history of the Netherlands, called De Spinvlieg, was published. In the book, he incorporated the experiences of his parents in the period from before to after the Second World War.

The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to Hugo's family and friends and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.

(May 1)