by Pim van Nes
Coming Saturday he will celebrate his 45th anniversary, but on October 18 Geoffry Kohl most probably will be elected president by the members of baseball and softball club Neptunus in Rotterdam. Last year Frans van Aalen (now 73) stepped down as president of the club and already then wondered if he would be succeeded by a business man or a former player. Van Aalen, himself a former player of the club, has worked in various management functions since over 40 years.
Neptunus board will present the former pitcher Geoffry Kohl as their candidate for the presidency of the the club during a meeting with the members on Friday evening October 18. The Rotterdam native (21 September 1968) was selected for the Netherlands national team from 1988 through 1997. Aged 19 he debuted in IBAF Baseball World Cup 1988. In IBAF Baseball World Cup 1994 the left handed Kohl beat Sweden and Puerto Rico as winning pitcher of his national team and finished in a shared second position behind Japan pitcher Masanori Sugiura as the tournament’s best pitcher.
With Neptunus Kohl clinched Hoofdklasse season titles for three different best pitcher categories but in different seasons. He retired from baseball in 2000 due to a shoulder injury. Since 1995 Geoffry Kohl worked as a manager for Allfru B.V., fruit import company founded and owned by Frans van Aalen, but since 2004 the ownership of the company has been in hands of business man Geoffry Kohl.