Sir,…

A few days ago I watched “Poets TV Show” and to my surprise it was an interview with Hensley “Bam Bam”Meulens batting coach of the San Francisco Giants. Seeing Bam Bam on TV immediately connects me back to home and a very pleasant experience I had with this gentleman back 25 years ago.  

It was between 1989 and 1991 when I was living in Boston Massachusetts that Bam Bam was called up to the majors in his rookie year with New York Yankees organization.

My wife back then and I were huge sport fans and we were also into the sports card collecting hobby, (serious hobby) and I told her that the Yankees have a new player who just came up and that he is from my country.

  

My personal fascination with baseball goes back to my own little league experience and particularly with the New York Yankees back in 1978. That year the Yankees defended their title against the Dodgers in October and it was also the week of the 75^th World Series that my maternal grandfather passed away.   

While we were at my at my grandparent’s home for my grandfather’s wake I remember watching Reggie Jackson hit a homerun in the seventh inning on a black and white television set and sealed the deal for the Yankees, which turned me into a Yankees fan until today.

Baseball is next to soccer the biggest national pass time in Curaϛao but at my house sports was always a hobby and leisure activity secondary to homework, studying and education. Because it was a leisure activity I engaged into different sports instead of concentrating on just baseball unlike guys like Hensley Meulens, Andew Jones and others took this from a leisure level and made it into their profession.

So when I found out that Hensley and the Yankees were coming to town I talked to my ex wife and we decided to contact him and invite him for dinner.

We had no clue how to get in touch with the guy so we had to first find out, which hotel the Yankees stayed at and I figure maybe I’ll just call his hotel and ask for his room. So after we found out where the Yankees stayed, (411) I called the hotel and ask for Hensley Meulens and surprise surprise, the front desk puts me through.

He picked up the telephone and said hello, and I spoke Papiamentu (our language) to him and introduced myself. I told him who I was and that I lived in Boston now and wanted to invite him for dinner at our house.

First of all, we took a chance because we didn’t think that it would have been so easy to call and find him and second we thought if we find him, him will probably blow us off because he’s busy. Guess what, he said “sure I would love to have dinner with you guys”. Then he did the unexpected. He asked if we want to come to the game and meet him there afterwards.

I said sure we would like to come meet him. He gave me instructions as to how to get to a special players entrance and our names would be on the list with security.

We went to the ballpark, got our tickets and badges and we were seated with other guests and family members of other players, which was right behind the dugout.

Honestly I don’t even remember which team won. I was so excited to be there and watch my Yankees team and one of my countrymen play the game that I lost track of the score. (Still don’t remember to dated)

  

After the game we had to meet him at the same gate and I introduced him to my ex and me got into our car and drove to Dorchester where we lived.

Hensley spend about four hours with us, had dinner and we talked about the islands, baseball, live and lots of things. We took pictures and had Hensley sign several of our baseball cards and baseballs, which my ex kept by the way.

I’m not a very people person. It will take a while for me to “warm up” to someone or build some kind of relationship but I have to say that from the moment I started to talk with Hensley one the phone the guy was very amicable, very nice and very well mannered.

I don’t give compliments but this guy was such an easy person to talk to, simple and downright a nice guy. Now that coming from me anyone who knows me knows that that must be real. He spoke well about his teammates, the organization and has a very calm and simple demeanor with him.

At one point my ex left us alone for a while and we spoke Papiamentu and it was like we had known each other for years. It was just two guys from Curaϛao sitting and shooting the breeze in a living room in Boston.

After nearly four hours he had to leave and I drove him to his hotel where we said our goodbyes.  No promises just “if you’re in town next time give us a call”. Unfortunately he left the Yankees after that and went to Japan to play ball there.

Over the years I became fan of other teams also whenever a guy from Aruba or Curaϛao is on the roster. I remember names like Andrew Jones, Xander Bogaerts, Calvin Maduro, Sidney Ponson, Randall Simons, Kenley Jansen and others.

When Hensley came back as a coach in 2010 for the Giants he brought back international experience to the organization and every time when I watch a Giants game and I see Hensley I feel proud and privileged that I met the guy.

During the interview on the TV show I saw the same Hensley that I met 25 years ago in Boston.  The same nice demeanor, very calm and collective person and giving praise to everybody including his late father, whom like my dad also passed away from cancer.  

Hensley and I are not friends. We just met 25 years ago for a couple of hours but since that day I have always had a high regard for the guy because he’s graceful, nice, respectful and above all a very simple human being. But this is a person that would be a good friend to anyone.

I consider Hensley an ambassador for our island nation Curaϛao and I would like to thank Poets TV for doing this interview.

Hensley’s 2016 season is over now but I am sure that we will see and heard more about Bam Bam for some more years to come. By the way, it’s not Bam Bam or Hensley, its Sir Hensley F.A. Meulens or “Sir Bam Bam”.

Masha danki ruman.

Doc.