Han Urbanus
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| Han Urbanus | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Urbanus in 1965 | |
| Pitcher / infielder | |
| Born: 22 June 1927 Rotterdam, Netherlands | |
| Died: 25 February 2021 (aged 93) Haarlem, Netherlands | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| Member of the Netherlands | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1983 |
Hendrikus Johannes Urbanus (22 June 1927 – 25 February 2021) was a Dutch baseball player who played most of his professional career as a pitcher. He is generally considered one of the best Dutch players of all time, and was inducted into the Netherlands Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.
Urbanus debuted in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse with OVVO Amsterdam at the age of 19 in 1949, and would play with them for the next 24 years. He led OVVO to the Hoofdklasse championship five times in a row between 1949 and 1953.[1]
In 1952, Urbanus accepted an offer to attend spring training with the New York Giants. The visit was arranged by Albert Balink, a Dutch-American journalist and magazine editor.[2] His performance was decent; in an intra-squad game, the only Giant able to hit Urbanus' pitching out of the infield was Monte Irvin, the future Baseball Hall of Famer.[3] However, he quickly changed his pitching mechanics when it was discovered that, due to a mistranslation in the rules used by Dutch baseball, Urbanus (and all other Dutch pitchers) had been trained to keep his feet on the pitching rubber during his delivery, which stunted his pitch velocity. He also learned how to throw a curveball thanks to the instruction of Giants ace Sal Maglie. Urbanus returned to Giants spring training in 1953 and was reportedly offered a contract but turned it down.[4]
During his Hoofdklasse career, Urbanus threw 9 no-hitters for OVVO, was named best pitcher five times, and was honoured as the league's MVP three times.[5][6] Despite his success in the league, Urbanus worked outside of baseball as an accountant at Klynveld Kraayenhof & Co. in Rotterdam.[3]
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