{{Short description|Dutch baseball player (1923–2009)}} {{Infobox baseball biography | name = Joop Geurts | image = Joop Geurts.jpg | image_size = | team = | number = | position = [[Catcher]] | birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|02|20}} | birth_place = [[Haarlem]], [[Netherlands]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2009|02|26|1923|02|20}} | death_place = Haarlem, Netherlands | bats = right | throws = right |medaltemplates= {{MedalSport | Men's [[baseball]]}} {{MedalCountry | {{NED}} }} {{MedalCompetition|[[European Baseball Championship|European Championship]]}} {{MedalGold| [[1956 European Baseball Championship|1956 Rome]] | [[Netherlands national baseball team|Team]]}} {{MedalGold| [[1957 European Baseball Championship|1957 Mannheim]] | [[Netherlands national baseball team|Team]]}} {{MedalGold| [[1958 European Baseball Championship|1958 Amsterdam]] | [[Netherlands national baseball team|Team]]}} {{MedalGold| [[1960 European Baseball Championship|1960 Barcelona]] | [[Netherlands national baseball team|Team]]}} }} '''Joop Geurts''' (February 20, 1923 – February 26, 2009) was a Dutch [[baseball player]] for the [[Netherlands national baseball team]] in international competitions. He also played for Schoten Haarlem of the [[Honkbal Hoofdklasse]], the top Dutch baseball league.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Perry |first=Will |date=1961-06-03 |title=Netherlands ball club has true national flavor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-grand-rapids-press-netherlands-ball/189292100/ |access-date=2026-01-19 |work=[[The Grand Rapids Press]] |pages=16}}</ref>
==Career== Geurts made his debut in the Dutch national team in 1938 as a catcher, at only 15 years of age. In 1957, he was named [[most valuable player]] of the Main Class. From [[1956 European Baseball Championship|1956]] to [[1960 European Baseball Championship|1960]], he captured the [[European Men's Baseball Championship|European championship]] four times with the Dutch team.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}} He was named one of the best catchers at the 1958 championship.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1958-07-12 |title=Nederland weer Europees kampioen honkbal De Nieuwe en Keulemans op dreef |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMRHCG03:163580061:mpeg21:a00172 |access-date=2026-02-06 |work=Winschoter courant |page=14 |language=nl}}</ref> Geurts appeared in 36 games over 23 years for the national team.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}} In 1956, he was the captain of the team that visited the United States for the first time, competing in the [[1956 Global World Series|Global World Series]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Stoovelaar |first=Marco |date=January 26, 2007 |title=Former international Henk Lukkien passed away |url=https://catcher.home.xs4all.nl/h0701e.htm#2601 |website=Grand Slam - Stats & News}}</ref>
Geurts was also involved in an incident in 1948 with a baseball signed by [[List of ambassadors of the United States to the Netherlands|American ambassador]] [[Herman B. Baruch]]. The ambassador was invited to throw the first ball at the start of a game between Haarlem and Amsterdam clubs. Baruch threw the ball to Geurts, who had Baruch sign the ball, then kept it. However, baseball league board members later asked Geurts to return the signed ball. He refused and decided to visit the American embassy in The Hague to get Baruch to sign a second ball. At an open meeting to decide Geurts' fate, he showed the two signed balls and asked the league officials to choose one, which he gave to the leagues, while keeping the other one.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hoogenbos |first=Gé |title=Historie van het honkbal |url=https://www.honkbalsitearchief.nl/interactief/historie.html |access-date=2026-01-19 |website=Honkbalsite archief}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1960-05-17 |title=Weer een storm? |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:110587695:mpeg21:a0265 |access-date=2026-01-19 |work=[[De Telegraaf]] |language=nl}}</ref>
Years later, Geurts was asked by the administrators of the Netherlands Baseball Museum if he still had the ball in question. He sent his son [[Tom Geurts]] to the attic to search, and his son found the ball.{{cn|date=January 2019}} The Haarlem-based museum has one of the signed balls.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hielkema |first=Haro |date=1988-08-12 |title=Een museum vol honkbalhelden |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ABCDDD:010826723:mpeg21:p002 |access-date=2026-01-19 |work=[[Trouw]] |pages=2 |language=nl}}</ref>
==Personal life and death== Geurts worked for a ground boring company.<ref name=":1" />
Geurts died on February 26, 2009, at the age of 86 in [[Haarlem]]. Geurts had some health issues in the final years of his life, however the exact [[cause of death]] was not released to the public.{{cn|date=January 2019}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geurts, Joop}} [[Category:1923 births]] [[Category:2009 deaths]] [[Category:Dutch baseball players]] [[Category:Baseball catchers]] [[Category:Baseball players from Haarlem]] [[Category:People from Avereest]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Overijssel]]