Baseball pioneer Han Urbanus dies at the age of 93 | sport

Urbanus made his league debut at a young age. He turned out to be a talented pitcher and led OVVO from Amsterdam to five national titles in a row. In the early 1950s, Urbanus was the first European to have had the opportunity to do an internship in the United States. After a training period with the New York Giants, he came to the conclusion that the style of the Dutch archers was very wrong. With a how-to movie and book full of notes, he is back to share his knowledge of his country.

Urbanus was offered a professional contract with the Giants a few years later when he returned to the US for the second phase, but he turned down the offer. He continued to build an impressive career in the Netherlands.

Loevendie

Urbanus has won the European Championship seven times in a row with Orange Team. He threw eleven players into the league and was inducted into the KNBSB Hall of Fame in the 1980s. His son Charles Urbanus Jr. and grandson Nick Urbanus also joined the Dutch baseball team. He said a few years ago at NOS: “I am proud that the family has been able to continue the work I have already started.”

On Saturday, Amsterdam Pirates reported the death of Lewin Lovendi, one of the club’s founders and decades-old youth coach. Loevendie, known to pirates as ‘uncle Loek’, was inducted into the Dutch Association Hall of Fame in 2004. The Pirate Complex bears his name. He was 88 years old.