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Sherwin Cijntje

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Sherwin Cijntje
Cijntje with the Charlotte Knights c. 1988
Outfielder
Born: (1964-03-02) March 2, 1964 (age 60)
Curaçao
Bats: Left
Throws: Left

Sherwin P. Cijntje[needs IPA] (born March 2, 1964) is a Curaçaoan former professional baseball outfielder who played for the Netherlands Antilles national baseball team, professionally in Minor League Baseball, and in the Dutch Honkbal Hoofdklasse.

Cijntje did not play baseball or even see baseball played in person until he was 15 years old, when a man came to his town of about 80 people and began teaching the sport.[1]

He played for the Netherlands Antilles in the 1982 Central American and Caribbean Games.[2] The team had a 3–3 record in the tournament and did not win a medal.[3]

Cijntje was the first Curaçaoan to play professional baseball in the United States.[4] He played Minor League Baseball from 1983 to 1989 in the Baltimore Orioles system and in 1989 in the Cleveland Indians system. He played for the Bluefield Orioles in the Rookie Appalachian League in 1983 and 1984, before advancing to the Low-A Newark Orioles in 1985, the High-A Hagestown Suns in 1986, and Double-A Charlotte O's and Triple-A Rochester Red Wings in 1987. His best offensive season was 1987, when he had a .301 batting average, .781 on-base plus slugging, and 34 stolen bases combined in Charlotte and Rochester. He peaked on the basepaths stealing 51 bases in 1986.[5]

In September 1987, Cijntje was added to Baltimore's 40-man roster, becoming the first player from the Netherlands Antilles to be added to an MLB roster.[6] Going into the 1988 season, he was ranked as the Oriole's #7 prospect by Baseball America.[7]

In 1988, Cijntje again split time between Rochester and Charlotte, with his offensive production plummeting. He hit a combined .247 with 27 steals. In 1989, he played 27 games in Rochester and 57 games in Hagerstown, now a Double-A team, before moving on to Cleveland's system, playing 17 games Double-A Canton–Akron to finish his affiliated career.[5] Overall, he hit .270 with 588 hits and 184 stolen bases in 642 minor league games.[8]

Cijntje later played in the Dutch Hoofdklasse. He led the league with a .386 batting average in 1991[9] and was third in the league in stolen bases for Kinheim in 1997.[10] After retiring, he was the first base coach for the Amsterdam Pirates in 2022 and 2023.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Boeck, Greg (20 August 1987). "Cijnte contributes new dimension to Red Wings' play". Democrat and Chronicle. p. 4D. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  2. ^ A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864–2006, 2007, Peter C. Bjarkman
  3. ^ Montesinos, Enrique (2009). Los Juegos Regionales Más Antiguos [The Oldest Regional Games] (PDF) (in Spanish). ODECABE. p. 193. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 27, 2012.
  4. ^ Bruin, Peter (March 2, 2013). "Alle kaarten op Bam-bam en zijn Amerikaanse ervaring". de Volkskrant. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Sherwin Cijntje Minor Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
  6. ^ Singer, Patti (30 March 1988). "Wings cornering market on Antilles outfielders". Democrat and Chronicle. p. 1D. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Baseball America Rankings - Baltimore Orioles - The Baseball Cube". TheBaseballCube.com. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
  8. ^ "Sherwin Cijntje - Baseball Stats - The Baseball Cube". TheBaseballCube.com. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
  9. ^ "Dutch baseball-legend, former international and homerun-leader Jacky Jakoba passed away - Grand Slam * Stats & News Netherlands". catcher.home.xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
  10. ^ Stoovelaar, Marco (25 February 1999). "Dutch Baseball 1997". Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
  11. ^ "Baseball / Honkbal Transfers 2022 - Grand Slam * Stats & News". catcher.home.xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
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