Simon Heemskerk

Simon Cornelis Heemskerk

• Bats Right Throws Right

• Born May 24, 1935 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands.
• Died June 30, 2021

Biographical Information

Simon Heemskerk (left) tries to tag runner Ruud Jongeling during a game on 18 July 1959.

1B/OF Simon Heemskerk played and coached in the Netherlands. He played for Schoten (1953-1961), EHS (1962-1963) and Haarlem Nicols (1964-1973, 1975, 1979), winning eight championships (at least one with each team). He finished third in average in 1959 (.283) and was second in MVP voting to Gé Oosterbaan. He scored the winning run in the 1960 finals and was carried around the field on the shoulders of his teammates. He hit .407 to lead the league in 1960, a new record since the league began tracking them in 1953 (it would later be broken by Boudewijn Maat). His .333 average in 1962 led the league, .006 ahead of Dolf de Zwart and Doby Peters. He was on the first Dutch team to win a European Cup, Haarlem Nicols in the 1966 European Cup. He was second in MVP voting in 1966, behind Hamilton Richardson. He later coached for Haarlem Nicols (1975-1976) and Kinheim (1985), winning the titles in 1975-1976 and the 1975 European Cup.

He played for the Dutch national team that won the 1960 European Championship and played in the 1961 Haarlem Baseball Week. He also played in the 1972 Haarlem Baseball Week.

Source: Obituary by Marco Stoovelaar