Hensley Filemon Acasio Meulens (born June 23, 1967 in Willemstad, Curaçao) is a former Major League Baseball player who played from 1989 to 1998. 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

[edit] Early Career (1985-1993)

Hensley Meulens was signed by the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in 1985. While struggling in his first professional season in 1986 with the Gulf Coast Yankees, Meulens would make 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 & 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 would rebound in 1990 for Columbus as he helped lead the team to the 1990 International League championships (where they would ultimately lose to Rochester), hitting .285 with 26 HR and 96 RBI, and was named the 1990 International League MVP. Meulens' impressive 1990 season would earn him a spot on the Yankees roster in 1991^[3], but he would be back in Columbus in 1992 to help lead the Clippers to the Governors' Cup Championship.

1993 was a frustrating year for Meulens, at the end of which the Yankees sold his contract to the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball.

[edit] Career as a New York Yankee (1989-1993)

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 attain 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 would platoon in left field with the more consistent hitting Mel Hall. He would see limited action with the Yankees in late-season call-ups in 1992 & 1993.

[edit] Japan (1994-1996)

In November 1993, the Yankees sold Meulens' contract to the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball^[4], 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.

[edit] Back to America (1997-2002)

He returned to North America in 1997, and after an unsuccessful tryout with the Atlanta Braves^[5][6], he would reach 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 would sign with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League^[7]. He would make one last stop in Asia, playing a disastrous 14 games with the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization, 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.

[edit] 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.^[8] 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 and the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

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

[edit] Coaching career

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^[9][10], 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 AAA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants of the Pacific Coast League.^[11] Meulens will serve as hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants in 2010, following the firing of previous hitting coach Carney Lansford, marking his first coaching position in Major League Baseball. ^[12]

Hensley Meulens also runs the Dutch Antilles Baseball Academy in Curaçao.^[13]

"Bam Bam" is reportedly interested in starting a baseball league in Curaçao in association with Major League Baseball's RBI Program.

[edit] Notes

Bam Bam was named hitting coach of the San Francisco Giants on 11/2/09, replacing Carney Lansford.

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Statistics at Japanese Baseball