Arthur Benjamin "Chicho" Jesurun (10 July 1947 – 16 December 2006) was a Netherlands-Antillian

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

player, coach, manager, and scout.

Biography

During his playing career, Jesurun played for several teams. He started in

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coas ...

with the Korporaal Cardinals, later, in the 1960s he was one of the founders and players of the Caribe from

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In that period he also started his coaching career as a coach at the

Rayon Het Noorden Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose f ...

team. In the 1970s and 1980s, Jesurun was working as a baseball coach in his native Curaçao with the

Wildcats Felipe II The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, wh ...

and the

Curaçao national baseball team The Netherlands Antilles national baseball team was a national team of the Netherlands Antilles and was controlled by the Netherlands Antillean Baseball Federation. It represented the former nation in senior-level men's international competition. ...

. With this team he reached the second spot in the national league, before winning the league in three consecutive years. Later he also became an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

in the sport. Jesurun also worked as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement * Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for several

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

teams, including the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

and the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

. During his time with the Braves, he brought fellow Antillean Andruw Jones to the team. He also worked for

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

n professional team

Los Tiburones de la Guairia LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...

, where he become an assistant to the owner. Other teams he managed were the Amsterdam Pirates and

Almere '90 Almere () is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km to the east of Amsterdam (as the crow flies) across the IJmeer. Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere comprises si ...

. Jesurun also worked in other functions at Dutch clubs Pioniers and SV ADO. In the years prior to his death, he was a bench coach at HCAW, a Dutch baseball club from

Bussum Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the province of North Holland in the Netherlands near Hilversum. Since 2016, Bussum has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren. Bussum had a ...

. The period in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

came after he worked for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They p ...

. The two teams became partners and the Pirates temporarily changed their name to the Amsterdam Expos, and were managed by Jesurun for four years. Besides Jones for the Braves, Jesurun contracted players like

Vince Rooi McVince Alleza "Vince" Rooi (born December 13, 1981 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch former baseball player who played professionally from 1999 to 2018. He also played on the Dutch national team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Baseball caree ...

Danny Rombley Danny Rombley (born 26 November 1979, in Amersfoort) is a Dutch baseball player for the Amsterdam Pirates. He also played six years in Minor League Baseball. Career Rombley was selected by coach Robert Eenhoorn in the team that represents the ...

, Tim van Pareren, Roger Bernadina (for the Expos), Rick VandenHurk,

Kenny Berkenbosch Kenneth Berkenbosch (born March 17, 1985) is a Dutch professional baseball player for L&D Amsterdam of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse. Career Berkenbosch was signed at age 17 by the Florida Marlins and pitched in their system for several years. In 200 ...

and

Jeffrey de Vrieze Jeffrey may refer to: * Jeffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * ''Jeffrey'' (1995 film), a 1995 film by Paul Rudnick, based on Rudnick's play of the same name * ''Jeffrey'' (2016 film), a 2016 Dominican Republic documentary film ...

(for the Marlins). As of 1977, Jesurun also worked on radio, starting as a baseball reporter, and later he presented the news for Radio Netherlands in the

papiamento Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; nl, Papiaments) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands ( Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), with official status in Arub ...

language. During the

2005 Baseball World Cup The 2005 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 36th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

, which was held in the Netherlands, he was featured as a reporter on the Dutch sport broadcasting program ''

Langs de Lijn Langs (also, Lang Crossing) is a former settlement in Nevada County, California. Situated at an elevation of above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in re ...

''. Jesurun died in 2006 at the age of 59 due to a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ...

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jesurun, Chicho 1947 births 2006 deaths Baseball coaches Curaçao baseball players Dutch people of Curaçao descent People from Willemstad Dutch sports journalists

Biography

Further reading

External links