1979-1980

The first European-trained major leaguer was Wilhelmus Abraham Remmerswaal, known simply as “Win.” The pitcher from the Netherlands made his nickname come true three times in 22 appearances for the Boston Red Sox in 1979-80. He played just one more season in Triple-A after that, then spent five years pitching in Italy. Red Sox fans – especially those of their Pawtucket farm club – still remember the intelligent and eccentric hurler. Alas, he became a tragic figure. A victim of alcohol abuse, Remmerswaal was confined to a Dutch nursing home from 1997  until his death in 2022.

Win Remmerswaal was born on March 8, 1954, in The Hague, Holland’s third-largest city and its seat of government. He was the third of four sons born after World War II to Jacobus “Jaap” Remmerswaal and his wife (whose name is presently unavailable). Jaap, who became an assistant editor, had been a fine soccer player with the club VUC in Wassenaar (a wealthy suburb of The Hague). All four of the Remmerswaal boys – Hans, Harry, Win, and Jerry – were talented athletes too, and all four were sports-crazed.

But Win – short for Winneke (Winnie), was the golden boy of the family. His first club team (1970) was SV Wassenaar, but after a year he jumped to Storks, a Hoofdklasse team in The Hague. At the age of 17, he also got his first invitation to play for the Dutch national team. He was a gifted pitcher but could be wild at times.

During the 1973 European Baseball Championship, Win played a key role in beating the Italian national team. He would yield no runs and only two hits and two walks. He also struck out nine as the Netherlands prevailed 7-6.” The Dutch beat Italy again in the final, and Win was honored as the tournament’s best pitcher.

In 1974, however, the young Dutchman quit his studies at the Technical University in Delft to chase his dream of becoming a big-league player. First he got a tryout with the Kansas City Royals, but on November 22, 1974, the Red Sox signed him as a non-drafted free agent.

Win’s first three pro seasons were good if not extraordinary. The slender righty (6’2”, 160 pounds) moved up steadily from Class A to Triple-A, moving back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen. He did not typically strike out a great many batters, though he once whiffed 15 at Class A Winter Haven in 1975 (losing the game on three unearned runs). However, his control was usually good. In 1977, starting in all of his 23 appearances for Bristol (Connecticut), Win led the Double-A Eastern League with four shutouts.

During his first years in the U.S., Win had a hard time surviving the life of a ballplayer. He really missed Europe with its different cultures.

Win’s first full year with Pawtucket was a setback. He walked 5.6 men per nine innings, and his ERA rose to 4.47.

During the winter of 1978-79, Win played for the Ponce Leones in Puerto Rico. He got off to a strong 4-1 start, but then slumped. Nonetheless, he impressed the local fans. Pawtucket put Win in the bullpen in 1979, and he pitched the best ball of his career: a 2.05 ERA with seven saves in 39 games.

The Red Sox finally called up Win in early August 1979. Win made his major-league debut on August 3rd in Milwaukee. Two days later, in the nightcap of a doubleheader, Win got his first big-league win. He pitched six more times for Boston before the season was over and wound up with a 7.08 ERA.

Win did not go back to Puerto Rico for the winter of 1979-80 because his shoulder was injured. He started the 1980 season back at Pawtucket, but even though he wasn’t having his best year, in late June the Red Sox recalled him. He got into 11 games between then and early August. His finest outing in the majors came on a Thursday night in early July in Baltimore. Win entered and pitched six two-hit innings, striking out five, allowing one earned run, and getting the victory.

However, Win spent most of August idle. During one game in Cleveland, “Last Call” (the source of this other nickname is unknown) had a female friend deliver a pizza to the Boston bullpen. “The television camera caught the delivery and it was the last supper for Win and his bullpen mates. The front office exploded.”

Left with long-relief duty, Win appeared in his last three games with the Red Sox during September and October. He finished the year with a 4.58 ERA, which brought his lifetime mark to 5.50.

In the U.S., people remember Win more as the flaky guy who often missed team buses and plane flights than for his pitching results.

Visa problems caused Win to miss much of spring training 1981. He was out of options, and Boston outrighted him to Pawtucket. Chronic tendinitis in his pitching shoulder ailed Win. Stints on the disabled list left him feeling alone and bored, so he started to drink more. Perhaps his only memorable outing that year came in the longest pro baseball game ever, the marathon between the Rochester Red Wings (then an Orioles affiliate) and the PawSox that started on the night of April 18th. Win entered in the 18^th inning and pitched 4 1/3 innings. He gave up a run in the top of the 21^st, but Pawtucket came back to tie it. The game didn’t end until the 33^rd inning, which took place on June 23rd.

After going 0-2 with a 5.93 ERA in 20 games that season, it was inevitable that the Red Sox organization would release Remmerswaal. He returned to Europe, where he joined Parma in the Italian Baseball League. in Parma (1983-85), he was fired because of his alcohol abuse but returned to pitch the club to a victory in the European Cup in 1984. After that he fell back into his old ways. After Parma fired him again, he caught on with Nettuno and San Marino, but those were short stints as well. His time in Italian baseball was over.

In 1989, back at home in the Netherlands, Win tried to start a career as a manager with the Hoofdklasse club Amsterdam Pirates. But that year was disastrous; the Pirates were relegated to the Overgangsklasse, the next level down from Hoofdklasse.

Despite counseling and efforts at self-help, his alcoholism continued to plague him and his long-suffering parents. After coming down with double pneumonia and pleurisy, Win wound up in a coma and the doctors gave up on him. After three weeks, however, he awoke – with severe damage to his brain and central nervous system.After that he was confined to a wheelchair in the Sammersburg nursing home. Win’s mother died in 2001, and Jaap Remmerswaal, 86 years old as of 2010, was his only regular visitor. When she was a student in America, Win’s daughter Alessia came twice a year too. He also made his peace with Clotilde, and love still existed between them.

In November 2010, TV West in The Hague aired An Almost Perfect Game, a touching 20-minute documentary about Win Remmerswaal and his career. Even then, one could see that this man had once been an athlete, and the film clips from his major-league career showed his good stuff (especially a sharp breaking ball). His contorted arm gripped a cigarette holder, and Win smoked in a series of fierce, desperate puffs. Tacked to the wall behind his bed are his baseball cards and team photos.

Win Remmerswaal, pioneer of Dutch and European baseball, died after a long illness on July 24, 2022. He was 68.