Gé Oosterbaan

Gerardus Oosterbaan

• Born November 5, 1928 in Haarlem, Noord-Holland Netherlands
• Died February 20, 2019

Biographical Information

Gé Oosterbaan played in the Hoofdklasse for 18 seasons, winning MVP once, and was on the Dutch national team. He was primarily a center fielder.

He debuted in the top Dutch league for Schoten in 1947-1948. He then moved to RCH, which was in the minors in 1949-1950. In 1951, they made it to the top Dutch level. He played for RCH through 1956, when he moved to EHS (1957-1963). He helped EHS win Dutch titles in 1959 and 1962 and won the All-Rounder award in '59 (he led the league with 16 runs that year); the award was renamed the MVP in 1960. After EHS merged to become Haarlem Nicols, he played for them in 1964, then was with ABC in 1965-1966.

Oosterbaan was an outfielder for the Dutch team that won the 1958 European Championship. He made a game-saving catch against the center field fence to rob Giulio Glorioso in the 12th inning of a 6-5 win over rival Italy. He was named to the All-Star team for the event.

He coached for Giants Diemen, Thamen and HBC '64 and women's softball. In 1972, he was head coach of Sparta but stepped down before the season started over disagreements with his team. He also was an umpire commissioner from 1980-1987.

Additionally, he played second-division soccer in the Netherlands for Zandvoortmeeuwen.

Source: Obituary by Marco Stoovelaar