HAARLEM – Cees Herkemij, who had a long, impressive, and successful career as a baseball coach, played an important role in youth development and also served as a director, passed away on Sunday, Dec. 29, at the age of 90. Although he had been struggling with health issues in recent years, his passing was unexpected. During his long coaching career spanning nearly 40 years, Cees Herkemij led several club teams in the Hoofdklasse and also coached both the Dutch National Baseball Team and the Dutch Youth Team.
During his coaching career from the 1970s through the early 1990s, Herkemij was frequently described as the coach with the deepest knowledge of baseball. For his many contributions to the development of (youth) baseball, Cees Herkemij was named a Member of Merit of the KNBSB in March 1996. In 2000, he won the Leen Volkerijk Award, which is presented annually by the KNBSB to a person who has made distinguished contributions to the development of the sport of baseball.
The memorial and cremation service for Cees Herkemij will take place on Monday, January 6, at 1:00 p.m. in the auditorium of Crematorium Haarlem, located at Vergierdeweg 271 in Haarlem. Afterward, there will be an opportunity to offer condolences to the family in the reception area of the crematorium.
You can post online condolences through the Ename Funeral Homewebsite.
Cornelis Johannes (Cees) Herkemij was born on June 29, 1934, in Vlissingen, but he grew up in Haarlem. There he became interested in baseball in the early 1940s by watching Schoten games. Initially he played track and field in the summer and soccer in the winter, but at the age of 14 (in 1948) he started playing baseball at HFC Haarlem. Cees was a pitcher at first, but became a catcher a few years later. And he was a very solid hitter.
In the early 1950s, the Herkemij family moved to IJmuiden, where there was no baseball club at the time, so Cees went to play soccer for Stormvogels. But in 1956, he returned to baseball when he joined Terrasvogels, which was then based at Sportpark Schoonenberg in nearby Velsen. Because he had by then developed a keen interest in the techniques and tactics of baseball, Terrasvogels gave Cees the chance and opportunity to take a coaching course. And that laid the foundation for a long and successful career in coaching.
Starting in 1957, Cees Herkemij served as the playing coach of Terrasvogels and remained in that role for ten seasons. During that time, he led the team to the Second Division and then to the First Division, the second-highest division. At the same time, Cees developed a passion for training and coaching youth teams. While he himself played on and coached the Terrasvogels main team, Cees also provided training for the club’s junior team. In the early 1960s, the club moved to Sportpark De Elta in Santpoort-Zuid, which remained the home of the baseball and softball department for nearly sixty years.
In 1967, Cees Herkemij also became coach of the Haarlem regional teams. That same year, he was one of four coaches appointed as assistants to Charles Urbanus Sr., then coach of the Dutch national team. In addition to Herkemij, the others were Wim Geestman Sr., Fokke Jelsma, and Dolf de Zwart. Cees was the last surviving member of this small group. Urbanus died in 1980, Geestman in 1991, Jelsma in 2012, and De Zwart in 2019.
Herkemij assisted during training sessions for the National Youth Teams and was also involved with the Dutch B-Team. In 1973, Cees Herkemij led the Dutch BRL Team (ages 13–16) to the European title in Wiesbaden (then West Germany). For this achievement, as well as for his many contributions to the development of youth baseball, Cees was named Coach of the Year.
In the mid-1960s, Cees was one of the founders of a youth training camp in Eindhoven. These training camps were very successful and were run by Herkemij, who served as the driving force and was assisted by several coaches and players. The camps, which were organized by the Dutch Baseball Association, ended around 1974 after twelve years due to financial difficulties.
In 1975, Cees was a member of a Union committee tasked with recruiting more youth players. This committee introduced peanut ball nationwide.
In January 1977, the Dutch Baseball School first opened its doors to young, talented pitchers and catchers. Cees served as the school’s manager and also worked as an instructor, alongside Boudewijn Maat, Jan Dick Leurs (who were then the manager and pitching coach of the Junior National Team), and Cees Santifort. They would form the coaching staff for many years.
From 1970 to 1974, Cees served as president of the Dutch Association of Baseball Coaches (NVBC). In that capacity, he played a key role in organizing the well-known coaching clinics of the early 1970s, which were typically held in Voorburg and featured active Major League players, umpires, and American college coaches. These clinics were first held in Wiesbaden, where they conducted sessions for U.S. military personnel stationed in Europe. Over the years, Cees Herkemij himself attended several of these clinics in Wiesbaden, often accompanied by Charles Urbanus (Sr.). In later years, Cees, like other Dutch coaches, also attended a number of coaches’ conventions in the USA.
In 1972, Cees was invited to participate in the Boston Red Sox ’s spring training in Florida. After returning, he compiled booklets with instructions and tips for fellow coaches. A few years later, he wrote a book on coaching. In 1974, it was Cees who recommended the talented Dutch pitcher Win Remmerswaal to the Red Sox. Remmerswaal was invited to the Instructional League, signed a professional contract, and in 1979 became the first player born and raised in the Netherlands to play in the Major Leagues.
In 1974, Cees Herkemij also returned to club coaching, taking the helm of Rotterdam’s Sparta, then the reigning national champion. In his first season, he led the team to another title. Cees left Sparta after the 1975 season. From 1977 to 1980, he served as head coach of the top-division team at Bussum-based HCAW.
In February 1978, Herkemij received the Federal Distinguished Service Award.
From 1981 to 1983, Cees Herkemij served as assistant coach of the Dutch national baseball team, with American Jim Stoeckel as manager. In 1981, they led the Orange team to the European title in Haarlem. In 1982, Stoeckel and Herkemij achieved success once again, as the Dutch team finished in sixth place at the World Championships in South Korea—the highest ranking the team had ever achieved at that time. Marco Stoovelaar, the author of this In Memoriam, made a documentary about that World Championship, and it was Cees who provided the commentary.
Cees returned to club coaching in 1984. From that year on, he served as head coach of major league teams UVV (1984–1985), Giants Diemen (1987–1987), and HCAW (1990–1992). In 1989, Cees was the technical director of Haarlem Nicols.
In December 1992, Cees joined the board of the Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) and was put in charge of baseball technical affairs. He was officially elected in March 1993, but Cees resigned from this position in May 1995.
In 1999, Cees Herkemij was once again involved with the Dutch national baseball team, serving as the team’s business manager during the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and the Intercontinental Cup in Sydney (Australia), when the team was led by Manager Jan Dick Leurs. The following year, Cees held the same position during the Haarlem Baseball Week in Haarlem (Netherlands) when American Pat Murphy was the manager. Murphy is the current manager of the Milwaukee Brewers Major League team.
A few years ago, Cees was also closely involved with the Baseball Academy Rabbits Kennemerland. Since the academy was founded in 2008, his son Peter served as one of its coaches for many years. Since 2017, Peter has been the manager of the Dutch Under-12 team.
Cees and Peter were also very active during Haarlem Baseball Week. In 1974, 1976, and 1978, Cees served as one of the public address announcers for the international tournament. In 1978, 1980, and 1988, he served on the Awards Committee, and in 2002, Cees served as Tournament Director of Baseball Week while also serving on the Organizing Committee. Since September 2023, Peter has been a member of the Organizing Committee as Tournament Director and made his debut in that role during the Baseball Week held in July 2024. In doing so, Peter made his comeback. In 1980, for the first time, he was among the group of young people who, among other things, handled the typesetting of the tournament’s daily bulletin (Reading Feed). Peter was later in charge of this famous Folding and Selling crew for many years.
Cees’s daughter Yvonne also worked for the tournament. In 1982 and 1984, she served on the Press Committee and was also active in the operations team.
Maartje, the mother of Yvonne and Peter, served as an official scorer for many years. In the 1960s, she was one of the scorers for Baseball Week. Starting in the early 1970s, she managed the tournament statistics, served as the liaison for the official scorers, and sat on the Awards Committee. Maartje (Nierop Groot) passed away in July 2017 at the age of 82.
During Baseball Week 2024, Peter’s wife Saskia made her debut as the public address announcer. Their daughter (and thus Cees’ granddaughter) Kiki was part of the hospitality team during the event.
In addition to being named Coach of the Year in 1973 and receiving the Federal Award in 1978, Cees Herkemij also won the KNBSB’s Slugger Award for promotional activities, which was presented in March 1974. For his many contributions, Cees was awarded the KNBSB Silver Medal of Honor in March 1986. In March 1996, he was named a Member of Merit of the KNBSB. And in 2000, Cees won the Leen Volkerijk Award, presented annually by the KNBSB to a person who has made distinguished contributions to the development of the sport of baseball.
Over the years, especially during his time as a coach, Cees was often described as a perfectionist, but also as a very dedicated and passionate coach. Indeed, he was always thoroughly prepared in everything he did, and as a coach he had a unique way of interacting with umpires. And Cees was certainly passionate, especially when it came to youth baseball development and training. Cees, who was often seen smiling, was always interested in others and in the people—players and coaches—with whom he worked. Cees will be missed by many of us.
The Board of the Haarlem Baseball Week extends its condolences to Cees’s partner Wil, daughter Yvonne, son Peter, son-in-law Scot, daughter-in-law Saskia, grandchildren, other family members, and friends, and wishes them much strength in coping with this great loss.
Text/Photo: Marco Stoovelaar