Hensley Meulens

Infobox MLB retired
name=Hensley Meulens


position=Outfielder
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1967|6|23
Willemstad, Curacao
deathdate=
debutdate=August 23
debutyear=by|1989
debutteam=New York Yankees
finaldate=May 14
finalyear=by|1998
finalteam=Arizona Diamondbacks
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.220
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=15
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=53
teams=
* New York Yankees (by|1989-by|1993)
* Chiba Lotte Marines (by|1994) (NPB)
* Yakult Swallows (by|1995-by|1996) (NPB)
* Montreal Expos (by|1997)
* Arizona Diamondbacks (by|1998)
highlights=
* Carolina League All-Star (by|1987)
* Eastern League All-Star (by|1988)
* International League All-Star (by|1990), (by|1992)
* International League MVP (by|1990)

Hensley Filemon Acasio Meulens (born June 23, 1967 in Willemstad, Curaçao) is a former Major League Baseball player who played from by|1989 to by|1998. Nicknamed "Bam Bam", he was the first Major Leaguer to come from Curaçao (which has since produced other players, including Andruw Jones, Randall Simon, and Jair Jurrjens). When Meulens worked as the hitting coach in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization he often acted both as unofficial team translator for the Indians and Japanese scout for the Pirates because he speaks five languages, English, Spanish, Dutch, Papiamento and Japanese. [cite web|url=http://indianapolis.indians.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080312&content_id=358708&vkey=news_t484&fext=.jsp&sid=t484|title=Catching up w/ Hitting Coach Hensley Meulens|publisher=IndyIndians.com (March 12, 2008)|last=Segal|first=Matt|accessdate=2008-09-02]

Major League Career

He made his Major League debut with the New York Yankees August 23, 1989. While having great success hitting minor league pitching, Meulens would never land a permanent spot on the New York roster, averaging a strike out every three at bats.

Japan

In November of 1993, the Yankees sold Meulens' contract to the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball [cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE0DD173EF934A15752C1A965958260|title=Meulens to Play in Japan|publisher=New York Times (November 27, 1993)|accessdate=2008-08-23] , where he would spend the 1994 season, hitting 23 home runs and driving in 69 runs while accumulating 135 strikeouts. The following season, Meulens would sign with the Yakult Swallows, helping lead the Swallows to the 1995 Japan Series Championship.

Back to America

He returned to North America in 1997, and after an unsuccessful tryout with the Atlanta Braves [cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/1997/02/26/1997-02-26_bam-bam_s_brave_world__ex-ya.html|title=BAM-BAM'S BRAVE WORLD EX-YANK PHENOM IS BACK|publisher=New York Daily News (February 26, 1997)|last=Harper|first=John|accessdate=2008-08-23] [cite web|url=http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/032197/spo_notebook.html|title=Braves Notebook|publisher=Augusta Chronicle (March 21, 1997)|last=Zack|first=Bill|accessdate=2008-08-23] , he would reach the Majors again briefly playing with the Montreal Expos and Arizona Diamondbacks. Unable to land a contract with a major league team in 1999, Meulens would sign with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League [cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/19991002201436/newarkbears.com/releases/04_08_99.htm|title=NEWARK BEARS SIGN "BAM BAM"|publisher=NewarkBears.com (April 9, 1999)|accessdate=2008-09-05] . He would make one last attempt to play in Asia, playing a disastrous 14 games with the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization, batting only .196, before ending his professional playing career in the Mexican League with the Saraperos de Saltillo in 2001 and the Pericos de Puebla in 2002.

International Competition

Meulens represented the Netherlands at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. His 4th inning double gave the Cuban team their first Olympic loss in 21 games. [cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2000/sep/20/news/ss-24081|title=Meulens’ Double Leads Netherlands to Upset of Cuba|publisher=Los Angeles Times (September 20, 2000)|accessdate=2008-08-23] Ultimately, the Netherlands would take fifth place in the final standings. He would return to the team as a coach for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Meulens would also play for the Dutch team in the 2001 Baseball World Cup in Chinese Taipei and 2002 Intercontinental Cup in Havana, Cuba.

Coaching career

Meulens began his coaching career with the Bluefield Orioles for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. From by|2005-by|2008, he was the hitting coach of the Indianapolis Indians, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates [cite web|url=http://indianapolis.indians.milb.com/roster/page.jsp?ymd=20050902&content_id=24686&vkey=roster_t484&fext=.jsp&sid=t484|title=Indianapolis Indians Roster - 2008 Field Staff|publisher=Minor League Baseball|accessdate=2008-08-23] [cite web|url=http://indianapolis.indians.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080908&content_id=456089&vkey=pr_t484&fext=.jsp&sid=t484|title=Jewett and Meulens will not return in 2009|publisher=Minor League Baseball|last=Bosma|first=Brian|accessdate=2008-09-08] , also coaching in the Hawaii Winter Baseball league for the Honolulu Sharks in the 2006 off-season.

Hensley Meulens also runs the Dutch Antilles Baseball Academy in Curaçao. [cite web|url=http://www.dabacur.com/index.html|title=Dutch Antilles Baseball Academy Curaçao|accessdate=2008-08-23]

Notes

External links

*
* [http://www.japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=293 Statistics at Japanese Baseball]