Chairon Isenia

Chairon Ramon Isenia (Shaggy)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 200 lb.

• Born January 23, 1979 in St. Joris Curaçao

Chairon Isenia played for 11 years in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization, five of them at AA, and spent 6 years on the Dutch national team, including two appearances in the Olympics. He speaks five languages.

At age 10, Isenia left home and went to Japan to work on his baseball skills. Isenia signed for $22,500 with the Devil Rays on April 28, 1996, two years before Tampa Bay's major league club began play. He hit .252 with a homer and 34 RBI for the DSL Devil Rays/Angels in 1996 and .223 with 3 homers and 20 RBI for the same team in 1997. Isenia hit .295/.336/.402 in his first stateside stint, with the GCL Devil Rays of 1998. He also played one game that year with the St. Petersburg Devil Rays.

In 1999, the 20-year-old hit .263/.287/.415 for the Hudson Valley Renegades and .275/.327/.441 with the Princeton Devil Rays. For St. Petersburg, he was the team barber and also cooked spicy chicken for his teammates. The next year, he was with the Charleston RiverDogs and produced at a .269/.307/.371 clip. Despite only playing 89 games at catcher, he tied for the South Atlantic League in assists (81) for the position, even with Edgar Cruz.

Isenia became one of the first US pros to join the Dutch national team ranks, doing so in 2000. He backed up Johnny Balentina in the 2000 Olympics, going 0 for 3 in two games for the 5th-place Dutch squad.

Isenia batted .290/.334/.428 in 76 contests for the 2001 Bakersfield Blaze and .163/.217/.186 in 18 contests that year with the Orlando Rays. He hit .182/.250/.364 in 7 games in the 2001 Baseball World Cup, splitting catches duties with Balentina.

Isenia returned to Bakersfield in 2002 and contributed a .247/.286/.306 batting line in 68 games. In 2003, Isenia hit .272/.355/.435 for Bakersfield and .218/.279/.254 for Orlando, playing a total of 70 games that year. He batted .308/.308/.538 in the 2003 Baseball World Cup, starting ahead of Sidney de Jong at catcher. He hit a solo homer in the 12-0 rout of the French national team. In the 2003 European Championship, the Curaçao native hit .350/~.409/.500 and played error-free defense. He was named to the tournament's All-Star team as the top catcher and helped the Dutch entry win the Gold Medal. Isenia also played for the Netherlands national squad in the Olympic qualifiers, helping them win entry.

In 2004, Isenia hit .303/.357/.410 in 57 games for the Montgomery Biscuits as part of a three-prong catching shuffle. Isenia was with the Dutch team for the 2004 Olympics, batting .353/.421/.353 as the primary catcher ahead of Maikel Benner. He finished 9th in that Olympic competition in batting average.

Isenia returned to Montgomery in 2005 and played a career-high 109 games, hitting .244/.286/.374. He set career highs in runs (45), doubles (22), homers (9), RBI (68) and strikeouts (63). In the 2005 Baseball World Cup, the Dutch team veteran hit .200/.273/.200 in 3 games as de Jong's backup. The Dutch team finished 4th, their highest ever to that point.

During the 2006 World Baseball Classic, Chairon played one game, going 1 for 3 in a 11-2 Dutch loss to Cuba; it was one of five Netherlands hits that game.

In 2006, Isenia hit .236/.279/.313 in 78 contests for Montgomery. He retired as the all-time Biscuit leader in hits (222), games (239), RBI (118), doubles (48), times hit by pitch (16) and at-bats (873), was second in total bases (316) and third in runs (92) and strikeouts (147).

He finished his Tampa Bay career as the longest-tenured player in franchise history.

Isenia opened a baseball academy in Curaçao after his playing career ended and scouted on the island for the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, signing Shuruendy Valeriano

Sources: 1999-2007 Baseball Almanacs, Defunct IBAF website, Honkbalsite.com, Montgomery Biscuits bio, 1999 St. Petersburg Times story, Stacy Long blog entry, 2007 Montgomery Biscuits Media Guide, World Baseball Classic site, 2010 Yankees Media Guide, 2019 Rays Media Guide