Robert William Derksen (January 12, 1960 – June 16, 2004) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and

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 ...

, who also was an influential figure in international baseball. Derksen was the head coach of the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Australia Olympic baseball team, the 2000

Guam national baseball team The Guam national baseball team is the national baseball team of Guam. The team represents Guam in international competitions. Guam has competed in the Asian Baseball Championship and Oceania Baseball Championship. Asian Baseball Championship Gu ...

, and, at the time of his death, the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Greece Olympic baseball team. Derksen was born in

Hales Corners, Wisconsin Hales Corners is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History The land in the are ...

, and attended Thomas More High School, where he played under Coach Joseph Zolecki, a member of the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, before attending the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. Drafted by his hometown

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

in the 16th round of the 1982

Major League Baseball draft The Major League Baseball draft (officially the Rule 4 Draft; also known as the first-year player draft or amateur draft) is the primary mechanism by which Major League Baseball (MLB) assigns amateur baseball players from high schools, colleg ...

, he spent almost 15 years in the Brewers'

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

as a right-handed pitcher, pitching coach and

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

manager. A right-handed batter, Derksen stood tall and weighed . He compiled a won/lost mark of 11–6 with an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 3.18 in all or parts of five seasons at the Class A level, but by his fourth playing season, 1985, Derksen had become a part-time pitcher and a full-time pitching coach. He later managed in the Milwaukee system with the

Beloit Snappers The Beloit Sky Carp are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Beloit, Wisconsin, and play their home games at ABC Supply Stadium. They previously played at Harry C ...

of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

(1990–1991), then returned to working as a pitching coach for the Brewers' Double-A

El Paso Diablos "El Paso Diablos" refers to two different professional baseball teams based in El Paso, Texas, in the United States. The most recent Diablos were a member of the South Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, wh ...

affiliate. After the 1996 Summer Olympics, he joined the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

for one season (1997) as manager of their

Sarasota Red Sox Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

farm in the Class A

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

. His managerial record was 205–205, an even .500. Later in his career, in between Olympic and international baseball assignments, he was a scout for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. Derksen died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at age 44 in New York City. When he was stricken, he was on a scouting trip to

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

for the Greek Olympic team eight weeks prior to the 2004 Summer Games. According to ESPN.com, more than 600 attended his funeral and children from his youth league team were his pallbearers. "He was so good for baseball", pitcher A. J. Brack, a member of the 2004 Greek Olympic Team, said. "He loved the game, and he just wanted it to do well."The Deadball Era
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References

External links

*
Mazarakis, Tom, ''The History of Baseball in Greece''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derksen, Rob 1960 births 2004 deaths Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball coaches from Wisconsin Baseball players from Wisconsin Beloit Brewers players Minor league baseball managers National baseball team managers Olympic baseball managers People from Hales Corners, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Stockton Ports players Wisconsin Badgers baseball players 20th-century American sportsmen

See also

References

External links