Hans Schotel

Hans Johan Cornelis Schotel

• Born September 29, 1932 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands
• Died March 30, 2020

Biographical Information

Hans Schotel was an umpire.

When Schotel was in school, his classmates wanted to know the rules of baseball. He wrote to the Netherlands Baseball Association, saying he needed the rules to umpire. As a result, he got appointed to work games when he was only 14 years old. Starting with local games, he made it to the top league by 1961 and served there for 19 years. After attending a 1961 convention featuring two major league umpires, he translated a new Dutch version of the rules book. He worked the 1961 Haarlem Baseball Week, 1962 European Championship, 1963 Haarlem Baseball Week, 1965 European Championship, 1966 Haarlem Baseball Week, 1968 Haarlem Baseball Week, 1969 Haarlem Baseball Week, 1971 Haarlem Baseball Week and 1974 Haarlem Baseball Week. He was umpiring commissioner for the European Baseball Federation from 1972-1975. He only ejected about 10 players in 34 years as an umpire, known for his gentle manner and was well-respected by players and coaches.

He served 41 years on Dutch baseball's Protest Committee, 52 years on the Games Rules Committee, 37 years on the Penalty Committee and 14 years on the Umpiring Committee.

Source: Obituary by Marco Stoovelaar