The international baseball family mourns the passing of Roland Hoffmann, who died on 20 October in his hometown, Mannheim, Germany.
Nicknamed Rolles, Hoffmann served as a Technical Commissioner for the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) and the International Baseball Federation (IBAF).
A switch-hitting catcher in his playing days, Hoffmann participated in 11 European Championships (1955 through 1973) and received MVP honours in 1967. He also played in the Baseball World Cup in 1972 and 1973.
Hoffman was among the founders of the Tornados Mannheim in 1975 and served as a coach for the German National Team from 1982 to 1993. He served on the German Baseball and Softball Federation (DBV) Board. He was the second vice president from 1985 to 1988. He also served as the chairman of the top German baseball league (Bundesliga).
Hoffmann was inducted into the DBV Hall of Fame in 1994.
"Roland was one of our best representatives in International Baseball, who we ever had. I will miss him," said Juergen Helsishans, the president of DBV and a WBSC Europe Board member at large. "We will never forget our number one Hall of Famer and will always preserve his heritage in German Baseball."
