Huub Kohl

Hubert Kohl

• Born April 16, 1945 in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands
• Died February 28, 2019

Biographical Information

Huub Kohl played and coached in the Netherlands and for the German national team. His son Geoffry Kohl was a star in the Netherlands.

He played in the Hoofdklasse for Sparta in 1965 but only played six games before an ankle injury ended his season. He then moved to Feyenoord as a catcher-shortstop-third baseman; he helped them make it to the Hoofdklasse in 1969; he hit .288 with 4 homers that year, including a grand slam against HCK to rally from a 5-2 deficit in the 7th.

Possessing West German citizenship, he played for the German national team a couple times. In the 1969 European Championship, he was 4 for 14 with a homer, 3 walks, hit-by-pitch, 4 runs and 4 RBI in four games. Given the team's defensive stats, he appears to have been the first baseman (only Walter Schmid had more put-outs and Schmid spent his career at least primarily at catcher). Kohl fielded .900. He led Germany in slugging, tied for first in homers, second in runs (one behind Roland Hoffmann) and was second to Schmid in RBI as Germany finished 4th, just missing a Medal. In the 1971 European Championship, he was 2 for 13 with a double, four walks and two runs, while fielding .833. He also pitched one game (3 IP, 4 H, 5 K, 3 BB, 4 R) for the Bronze Medalists.

Kohl played for Feyenoord in 1970-1971 before retiring as a player to focus on pigeon racing. He came out of retirement a few months later and played seven more years. In 1972, he became one of the few players with a three-homer game in the Hoofdklasse, taking Nol Beenders deep three times on July 22. He became assistant coach of Feyenoord in 1975 while still an active player.

From 1976-1978, he played for Haarlem Nicols, helping them win two titles. He became head coach of Haarlem Nicols in 1979 and stayed there in 1980. He was head coach of Feyenoord from 1981-1983, when the team was out of the Hoofdklasse. A heart attack sidelined him in 1984.

He coached the Dutch Cadets (youth) team in 1985, working with future MLB player Rikkert Faneyte among others. He coached Feyenoord in '86 and was head coach of Neptunus from 1988-1990, reaching the Holland Series twice only to fall. He was assistant coach of the German team in the 1993 European Championship and coached for the Netherlands in the 1997 World Port Tournament, 1997 European Championship (a Silver Medal), 1998 Haarlem Baseball Week, 1998 Baseball World Cup, 1999 World Port Tournament (a title) and 1999 European Championship (a Gold).

Sources: Obituary by Marco Stoovelaar, German Baseball and Softball Federation