Canton’s Own Angel In the Infield

In the nearly six years since Willem van Gemeren left this earth, the Angels have carried on his legacy to teach kids about the spirit of baseball and life.

At age 11, Niels Willem van Gemeren II, along with his father, died tragically in a New Hampshire plane crash in August 2005.

“Willem loved baseball, Canton Little League, the Angels and his coaches,” said his mother Betsy van Gemeren.

After he passed away, Little Leaguers wore a patch on their uniforms, commemorating the memory of the pitcher and shortstop who played with the Canton Little League majors division Angels for two years. And the team continues the tradition. 

“We continue to wear the patch to commemorate the retiring of No. 8,” said Angels Manager Greg Brisco, who coached Willem.

Willem was Most Valuable Player for the first two years of the majors team’s existence.

He was talented on the field and after attending the RBI baseball camp in Massachusetts, one of the first to wear extra padding and a shin guard. 

 “He was the best player on our team,” Brisco said. 

At least one teammate even told Willem they would see him on television some day playing ball.

“The kids noticed he was special,” Brisco said. “It was fun to be around that.”

But despite his skill on the field, Brisco said, Willem’s personality was more important. He was friendly to everyone on the team no matter what their skill, Brisco said. He was also kind and put things in perspective, he added. 

“He was a friend to everyone,” Brisco said.

Brisco said Willem understood baseball was a game of low statistics, where a base hit three times out of 10 is considered great. 

“Baseball is kind of a funny sport that way,” he said.

So Willem focused on the next opportunity and didn’t dwell on the strikeouts and errors, Brisco said. 

And that is a much bigger lesson, Brisco said and the team carries on WWWD, which stands for “What Would Willem Do.”

“This is about life,” Brisco said. “Everything isn’t going to go your way. It’s a matter of how you respond.”

Landon Whitney and Taylor Poe, who just completed their final season with the Angels, said they wish they could have met Willem.

“No matter how many years it’s been since the incident happened, we still remember like it happened yesterday,” Whitney said. “I heard he was a really nice kid.

Poe added, "He was, like, a great kid. I really wish I knew him.”

And last weekend the team surprised Betsy van Gemeren and members of the Smith family, including her parents, Larry and Elenor, with a new sign – donated by The Sign Shop — to replace the faded one that hung from the backstop at Millennium field for so many years.

Brisco, who was surprised with the sign Sunday since he couldn’t make an awards ceremony held Saturday, said it will go up in the next couple of weeks. The old one will be donated to the family.  

Betsy van Gemeren said she is proud to keep her son’s legacy alive and give yearly scholarships to a baseball camp (see related story). She is also grateful the team keeps his legacy alive.

“That keeps Willem trickling through all the kids,” she said.