Sherwin Cijntje

Sherwin P. Cijntje

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 160 lb.
• Born March 2, 1964 in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Sherwin Cijntje is a former minor league baseball player who played from 1983 to 1989 in the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians farm systems. He was originally signed as a free-agent on December 28, 1982; he may have been the first minor leaguer from Curacao.

An outfielder, Cijntje played for the Netherlands Antilles in the 1982 Central American and Caribbean Games. He began his professional career in 1983 with the Bluefield Orioles, where in 49 games he hit .248/.320/.292 in 161 at-bats. A speedy player, he stole 12 bases that season while only being caught twice.

He played the entire 1984 season with Bluefield, and in 200 at-bats he hit .255/.336/.330 with 19 steals in 24 tries and 38 runs scored.

In 1985, he played in 56 games for the Newark Orioles, stealing 14 bases but hitting only .248/~.339/.283. Of his 36 hits that year, only three of them were for extra bases - he hit a double and two triples.

1986 was perhaps the best year of his entire career. Playing in 121 games for the Hagerstown Suns, Cijntje hit .303/~.372/.355 with 51 stolen bases in 422 at-bats. He also scored a career-high 79 times. In the outfield that year, he committed 15 errors. He was sixth in the Carolina League in average and 4th in steals, though he did not even lead his own team; teammate Pete Stanicek stole 77. A radio station in Curacao, Z86, sent announcers to Hagerstown to broadcast one game due to Sherwin's popularity in his homeland. He made the Carolina League All-Star outfield alongside Marcus Lawton and Doug Dascenzo.

He split time between the Charlotte O's and Rochester Red Wings in 1987, playing in 111 games for Charlotte and 16 for Rochester. Combined in 1987, he hit .301 with 34 stolen bases and 69 runs scored. He finished fifth in the Southern League in batting average. He was just one level away from becoming the first Curacao native in the majors but would not reach that goal; Hensley Meulens would instead.

He was ranked the club's #9 prospect by Baseball America going into 1988. Compared to the previous two years, his production slipped severely in 1988. Again he spent time with both Charlotte and Rochester - where he played 78 games and 49 games respectively - and combined, he stole a total of 27 bases. He hit .247 in 489 at-bats that year.

1989 would end up being his final season. He played with Hagerstown, Rochester and the Canton-Akron Indians in 1989 (he was sent to the Indians in an unknown transaction), and he hit a combined .242 in 101 games. He stole 27 bases.

Overall, Cijntje appeared in 642 games in his minor league career. In 2,178 at-bats, he collected 588 hits for a .270 batting average. He scored 345 times, drove in 192 runs, doubled 68 times, tripled 24 times and hit 10 home runs. Of the 256 bases he attempted to steal, he was successful 184 times, for a 71.9 percent success rate. He walked 230 times and struck out 314 times. His career OPS was .680.

After his minor league career ended, Cijntje played in Hoofdklasse for a period.

References

• 1989 ProCards baseball card #1632
• The Baseball Cube
• Assorted Baseball Almanacs and Baseball Guides
• Listing of Central American Games medalists