Jean-Baptiste Meunier

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• School Université Paris Dauphine, Centre de formation des journalistes de Paris, Aix-Marseille University

• Born May 27, 1972

Biographical Information

Jean-Baptiste Meunier spent over a decade on the French national team.

He debuted as a teenager in the 1991 Intercontinental Cup, with a 19.06 ERA in two outings (16 H, 10 BB, 1 K in 5 2/3 IP). His 23 runs allowed led the event, two ahead of Claudio Taglienti. He had moved to first base by the 1993 Intercontinental Cup, starting there for France. He hit .167/.286/.167 and fielded .953; his three runs tied for second on the team behind Lahcène Benhamida. In the 1993 European Championship, he was 0 for 5 with two walks as Arnaud Fau took over at first.

Having played for France in their first Intercontinental Cup, he was with them for their first Baseball World Cup, the 1994 Baseball World Cup. He went 0 for 12 with a walk and 8 whiffs, handling 15 chances error-free at 1B (where he backed up Stephen Lesfargue). He also tied David Milasseau as France's most-used DH with three games. In the 1995 European Championship, he was 2 for 7 with a double, homer, three walks, three runs and two RBI while handling eight chances error-free.

Meunier hit .389/.467/.833 with 9 homers, 32 runs and 23 RBI for the Savigny-sur-Orge Lions when they won the French title in 1998 (the first year for which French stats are available online as of 9/6/2023). Only Fabien Proust hit better for them. He batted .393/.459/.705 with 45 RBI and 39 runs for the '99 Lions as they repeated. He led the team in RBI though Proust had a better OPS. He was 0 for 8 with a walk as France's main first baseman in the 1999 European Championship but France won Bronze, their best finish in a European Championship through 2022. He was also head coach of France's junior national team during 1998-1999.

In 2000, he moved to the Paris Université Club and produced at a .383/.473/.556 clip as they won their first title in eight years. He led the team in homers and had the best OPS of their regulars. It was his last pennant. He again led the Paris in offense in 2001 at .393/.513/.541. His 18 doubles led the team by 10 ahead of Carl Lebhar and his 36 RBI were double Lebhar's runner-up total. He hit .200/.294/.267 and fielded perfectly in the 2001 European Championship. In the 2001 Baseball World Cup, he was 1 for 19 with a four walks but his hit was France's only homer. He played regularly despite having no set spot, backing up Lesfargue at 1B, Jason Mullaly at 3B and splitting DH with Lesfarge and Boris Marche among others. His homer came off Sang-min Oh of South Korea to avoid a shutout.

Jean-Baptiste slipped to .270/.388/.342 in 2002 and .254/.409/.328 in 2003. He took Alvaro Hernandez of Nicaragua deep in the 2003 Baseball World Cup, batting .300/.364/.500 with 3 runs in 7 games and fielding .957 at first. He led France in runs, joined Jamel Boutagra as their lone players to go deep and was second to Boutagra in OPS on their team. He and Boutagra became France's only players to homer in multiple Baseball World Cups. That ended his international career. He did not play in 2004-2005 then was 1 for 6 with 4 walks and a homer for Paris in 2006, with a 1212 OPS despite a .167 average. From 1998-2006 (seasons for which stats are available online as of this writing), he had batted .337/.446/.521 in 207 games in France with 187 runs, 63 doubles, 23 homers and 203 RBI.