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Hensley Meulens

Summary

Hensley Filemon Acasio Meulens (Papiamento pronunciation: [ˈhɛnsli ˈmʏiləns]; born June 23, 1967), nicknamed "Bam Bam", is a Curaçaoan professional baseball coach and retired player. He is the hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB).[1]

Hensley Meulens
Meulens in 2011
Colorado Rockies – No. 31
Outfielder / Coach
Born: (1967-06-23) June 23, 1967 (age 56)
Willemstad, Curaçao
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: August 23, 1989, for the New York Yankees
NPB: April 9, 1994, for the Chiba Lotte Marines
KBO: 2000, for the SK Wyverns
Last appearance
NPB: October 2, 1996, for the Yakult Swallows
MLB: May 14, 1998, for the Arizona Diamondbacks
KBO: 2000, for the SK Wyverns
MLB statistics
Batting average.220
Home runs15
Runs batted in53
NPB statistics
Batting average.246
Home runs77
Runs batted in216
KBO statistics
Batting average.196
Home runs1
Runs batted in3
Teams
As player

As coach

Career highlights and awards

A native of Curaçao, he played from 1989 to 2000 in MLB, Nippon Professional Baseball, and the KBO League. He was the first Curaçaoan to play in both MLB and the Dominican Professional Baseball League.[2]

Hitting home runs left-handed while playing softball as a teenager earned Meulens the nickname "Bam Bam" when his friends compared his power to the Flintstones cartoon character.[3]

Professional career edit

Minor leagues edit

Hensley Meulens was signed by the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in 1985. After struggling in his first professional season in 1986 with the Gulf Coast Yankees, Meulens made a splash in 1987 with Single-A Prince William, hitting .300 with 28 HR and 103 RBI, also being named to the Carolina League All-Star team. His hitting cooled somewhat in 1988 and 1989 as he split time between the Double-A Albany-Colonie Yankees of the Eastern League and the Triple-A Columbus Clippers of the International League.

His bat rebounded in 1990 for Columbus as he helped lead the team to the 1990 International League championships (where they ultimately lost to Rochester), hitting .285 with 26 HR and 96 RBI, and was named the 1990 International League MVP. Meulens' impressive 1990 season earned him a spot on the Yankees roster in 1991,[4] but he was back in Columbus in 1992 to help lead the Clippers to the Governors' Cup Championship.

New York Yankees (1989–1993) edit

Meulens made his major league debut with the New York Yankees on August 23, 1989. Meulens never attained a permanent spot on the New York lineup, despite spending the entire 1991 season on the Yankees roster. Averaging a strike-out every three at bats, Meulens platooned in left field with Mel Hall. He saw limited action with the Yankees in late-season call-ups in 1992 and 1993.

Japan (1994–1996) edit

In November 1993, the Yankees sold Meulens' contract to the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball,[5] where he spent the 1994 season, hitting 23 home runs, driving in 69 runs, while accumulating 135 strikeouts to go with a .248 AVG. The following season, Meulens signed with the Yakult Swallows, helping lead them to the 1995 Japan Series championship after hitting 29 home runs and totaling 80 RBI. He was back again in 1996 hitting 25 homers to go with 67 RBI.

Back to America (1997–2002) edit

He returned to North America in 1997, and after an unsuccessful tryout with the Atlanta Braves,[6][7] he reached the Majors again briefly playing with the Montreal Expos (while having a good season for the Expos' AAA affiliate Ottawa Lynx) and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Unable to secure a contract with a major league team in 1999, Meulens signed with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League.[8] He made one last stop in Asia, playing 14 games with the SK Wyverns of the KBO League, batting only .196, before heading his professional playing career to the Mexican League with the Saraperos de Saltillo in 2001 and finally retiring, in 2002, after a mid-season injury while playing with the Pericos de Puebla.

International competition edit

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.[9] Ultimately, the Netherlands took fifth place in the final standings. He returned to the team as a coach for the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Meulens was named to serve as manager for the team during the 2013 World Baseball Classic.[10]

Meulens also played for the Dutch team in the 2001 Baseball World Cup in Taichung, Taiwan and 2002 Intercontinental Cup in Havana, Cuba.

Coaching career edit

Meulens began his coaching career with the Bluefield Orioles for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. From 2005-2008, he was the hitting coach of the Indianapolis Indians, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates,[11][12] also coaching in the Arizona Fall League for the Peoria Saguaros in 2005 and the Hawaii Winter Baseball league for the Honolulu Sharks in the 2006 off-season. In 2009, Meulens served as hitting coach for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Triple–A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants of the Pacific Coast League.[13] Meulens reached the Major League ranks as batting coach in 2010, serving as hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants following the firing of previous hitting coach Carney Lansford.[14] He helped the Giants win a World Series in three of his first five years. In November 2017, Meulens became one of six candidates interviewed by the New York Yankees for their vacant manager position, following the decision not to renew the contract of Joe Girardi. The other candidates were Carlos Beltran, Aaron Boone, Rob Thomson, Eric Wedge and Chris Woodward.

Meulens also runs the Dutch Antilles Baseball Academy in Curaçao.[15] He is reportedly interested in starting a baseball league in Curaçao in association with Major League Baseball's RBI Program.

Meulens was named bench coach of the New York Mets on December 8, 2019, for the 2020 season.[16] Meulens was fired after the season and was replaced by Dave Jauss.[17]

Meulens managed the Netherlands in the 2020 Olympic Baseball Qualifier, where the Dutch team failed to qualify to the Olympics.[18]

On February 28, 2022, the New York Yankees announced that Meulens would serve as assistant hitting coach.[19]

On November 7, 2022, the Colorado Rockies announced that they had hired Meulens as their hitting coach starting with the 2023 season.[20]

Personal life edit

Meulens is married to Gyselle Meulens Petronia and has four daughters, 2 from a previous marriage—Marilise Aimee Meulens-Pasquaretta, Danielle Marie Antonia Meulens-Ebecilio, Mia Valentina Turya, and Evangelina Cristina Vuri. In addition to the two daughters he has with his wife, Gyselle, he also has a son, Elijah Gabriel Ludwig.

Meulens speaks five languages: English, Spanish, Dutch, Papiamento and Japanese.[21]

On April 27, 2012, Meulens was awarded the order of Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau by Queen Beatrix. A ceremony was held at AT&T Park on July 13, 2012, where he was introduced as 'Sir' Hensley Meulens. The award ceremony highlighted his role in victory by The Netherlands in the 2011 Baseball World Cup.

Notes edit

  1. ^ "Rockies Hire Hensley Meulens, Warren Schaeffer to Coaching Staff". November 7, 2022.
  2. ^ "Licey gana importante partido al Escogido y sale del sotano". El Día (November 10, 2012). Archived from the original on December 15, 2014.
  3. ^ ""BAM-BAM" Meulens is Grizzlies Hitting Coach". CBS47.tv (April 13, 2009). Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  4. ^ Martinez, Michael (February 28, 1991). "Hard-Working Meulens Gets a Shot". New York Times (February 28, 1991). Retrieved January 4, 2009.
  5. ^ "Meulens to Play in Japan". New York Times (November 27, 1993). November 27, 1993. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
  6. ^ Harper, John (February 26, 1997). "BAM-BAM'S BRAVE WORLD EX-YANK PHENOM IS BACK". New York Daily News (February 26, 1997). Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
  7. ^ Zack, Bill. "Braves Notebook". Augusta Chronicle (March 21, 1997). Archived from the original on August 11, 2007. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
  8. ^ "NEWARK BEARS SIGN "BAM BAM"". NewarkBears.com (April 9, 1999). Archived from the original on October 2, 1999. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  9. ^ "Meulens' Double Leads Netherlands to Upset of Cuba". Los Angeles Times (September 20, 2000). September 20, 2000. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
  10. ^ "Meulens will manage in WBC". San Francisco Chronicle (October 10, 2012). October 10, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  11. ^ "Indianapolis Indians Roster - 2008 Field Staff". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
  12. ^ Bosma, Brian. "Jewett and Meulens will not return in 2009". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
  13. ^ "Rohn Returns To Lead Grizzlies 2009 Field Staff". OurSportsCentral.com. December 15, 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2008.
  14. ^ "Giants hire Meulens as hitting coach". Yahoo.com. Retrieved November 2, 2009. [permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Dutch Antilles Baseball Academy Curaçao". Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
  16. ^ New York Mets (December 8, 2019). "Mets Announce 2020 Coaching Staff". MLB.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  17. ^ "Mets To Hire Dave Jauss As Bench Coach". December 13, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  18. ^ "Hensley Meulens to manage Netherlands at final WBSC Olympic Baseball Qualifier". wbsc.org. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  19. ^ "Yankees name Hensley Meulens assistant hitting coach". MLB.com.
  20. ^ Harding, Thomas (November 7, 2022). "Rockies name Meulens as 2023 hitting coach". MLB.com. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  21. ^ Segal, Matt. "Catching up w/ Hitting Coach Hensley Meulens". IndyIndians.com (March 12, 2008). Retrieved September 2, 2008.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hensley Meulens.
  • Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
  • Statistics at Japanese Baseball

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