Martijn Meeuwis

Martijn Meeuwis

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 172 lb.

• Born July 14, 1982

Martijn Meeuwis made his debut in Hoofdklasse in 1999 but had his first big year in 2007, being a MVP candidate and also making the Dutch national team for the first time.

Meeuwis debuted with the Twins in 1999 as a teenager but did not return to Hoofdklasse again until 2004, when he became a full-time player. When the Twins were relegated, Meeuwis moved to HCAW. In 2005, he hit .184/.266/.233 as a regular outfielder. In 2006, he was the club's regular center fielder, though he also filled in at second base. He hit .304/.377/.402 and led the league in triples (5).

In 2007, though, Meeuwis really blossomed after joining DOOR Neptunus. He hit .301/.394/.500 with 37 RBI in 39 games while returning to catcher, his original position. He threw out 19 of 35 would-be base-stealers. He was 7th in 2007 Hoofdklasse in batting average, third in home runs (6) and second in RBI (six behind lesder Tjerk Smeets). He was named as one of the three finalists for the league MVP award alongside Fausto Álvarez and Danny Rombley; Álvarez won.

Meeuwis joined the Dutch national team when Johnny Balentina, another C-OF, was injured. He was part of the team's historic first visit to the US, which included a win over the college edition of Team USA. He played also in the 2007 World Port Tournament, going 1 for 6. Balentina was back with the team for the 2007 European Championship but Meeuwis replaced him once more for the 2007 Baseball World Cup. He was 3 for 10 with 2 walks and a double in the World Cup that year, helping fill in when CF Roger Bernadina. He had a key role in the Dutch win over host Taiwan in the quarterfinals. En-Yu Lin had retired 13 batters in a row and held a 2-0 lead when Meeuwis walked and came around to score on a hit by Raily Legito. Gregory Halman later replaced Meeuwis in center in that game.

Meeuwis hit .231/.375/.231 in the 2008 European Cup in Regensburg. In the 2008 Olympics, he went 1 for 2, backing up Dirk van 't Klooster and Danny Rombley in right. For the 2008 Hoofdklasse season, Martijn batted .354/.446/.504 and threw out 13 of 25 attempted base-stealers. He tied Bryan Engelhardt for sixth in the league in slugging, was 6th in OBP and placed third in average behind fellow catchers Mark Duursma and Sidney de Jong.

Meeuwis hit .364/.400/.500 in the 2009 World Port Tournament, splitting center field with Rombley. In 2009, Meeuwis slumped to .230/.329/.274 for Neptunus but stole 7 bases in 8 tries and threw out 7 runners in 16 attempts to steal.

Sources: Honkbalsite, Marco Stoovelaar's Dutch baseball site, Defunct IBAF site, Dutch baseball stats, 2008 European Cup in Regensburg, 2008 Olympics