| Wladimir Balentien | |
| Position: | Outfielder / Designated hitter |
| Bats: | Right |
| Throws: | Right |
| Birth Date: | 2 July 1984 |
| Birth Place: | Willemstad, Curaçao |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | September 4 |
| Debutyear: | 2007 |
| Debutteam: | Seattle Mariners |
| Debut2league: | NPB |
| Debut2date: | April 12 |
| Debut2year: | 2011 |
| Debut2team: | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| Finalleague: | MLB |
| Finaldate: | October 2 |
| Finalyear: | 2009 |
| Finalteam: | Cincinnati Reds |
| Final2league: | NPB |
| Final2year: | 2021 |
| Final2team: | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Stat1label: | Batting average |
| Stat1value: | .221 |
| Stat2label: | Hits |
| Stat2value: | 113 |
| Stat3label: | Home runs |
| Stat3value: | 15 |
| Stat4label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat4value: | 52 |
| Stat2league: | NPB |
| Stat21label: | Batting average |
| Stat21value: | .266 |
| Stat22label: | Hits |
| Stat22value: | 1,001 |
| Stat23label: | Home runs |
| Stat23value: | 301 |
| Stat24label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat24value: | 794 |
| Teams: | |
| Awards: |
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Wladimir Ramon Balentien (in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ˈvladimir balənˈtin/; born July 2, 1984), nicknamed "Coco",[1] [2] is a Curaçaoan-Dutch former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
In 2013, he broke the NPB single-season home run record of 55, previously held by professional baseball's all-time home run leader Sadaharu Oh, American Tuffy Rhodes, and Venezuelan Alex Cabrera.[3] Balentien finished the season with 60 home runs.
Balentien was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Mariners in . He made his professional debut in 2003 with the AZL Mariners. He split the 2004 season between the Single-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and the High-A Inland Empire 66ers, accumulating a .279/.321/.513 batting line with 17 home runs and 51 runs batted in (RBI). The next year, Balentien spent the season with Inland Empire, batting .291/.338/.553 with 25 home runs and 93 RBI in 123 games. In 2006, Balentien played for the Double-A San Antonio Missions, posting a batting line of .230/.337/.435 to go along with 22 home runs and 82 RBI. In, he was assigned to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers for the season.[4]
Balentien was selected to the All-Star Futures Game in San Francisco that year, a result of his .328 average, 20 home runs, and 66 RBI by that point. He was called up to the major leagues with the Mariners on September 4, 2007, and made his MLB debut that night against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Balentien pinch-hit for José Guillén in the 8th inning and hit a two-run double in his first major league at-bat.[5]
Balentien was invited to spring training with the Mariners in 2008. However, the starting right fielder job went to Brad Wilkerson, and Balentien was optioned to Tacoma on March 24. When Wilkerson and first baseman Greg Norton were designated for assignment on April 30, Balentien and Jeff Clement were called up to the big leagues for a game in Cleveland against the Indians.[6]
Facing Indians starter Cliff Lee in the top of the 7th inning, Balentien hit a three-run homer over the right field fence to end Lee's streak of 27 scoreless innings pitched.[7] His homer was one of only 12 given up by Lee in 2008.[8]
On July 25, 2009, Balentien was designated for assignment by the Mariners after struggling to make consistent contact. He hit .213 with 4 home runs and 13 RBIs in 155 at bats for the Mariners.[9] Outfielder Michael Saunders was called up to replace Balentien.[10]
On July 29, 2009, the Mariners traded Balentien to the Cincinnati Reds for reliever Robert Manuel.[11] In his final MLB game, against the Pittsburgh Pirates on October 2, Balentien hit a 495-foot home run into the upper deck beyond left field.[12] [13] [14] On April 14, 2010, Balentien was outrighted off of the 40-man roster.[15] He spent the season with the Triple-A Louisville Bats, hitting .282 in 116 games before electing free agency on November 6, 2010.
On November 16, 2010, Balentien signed with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Japan.[16] In the 2011 season, he became the home run leader of the Central League, hitting 31 home runs in the year. In 2012, Balentien led the league with 31 home runs, but did not reach the minimum requirement of plate appearances, having only taken 422 trips to the plate. On August 29, 2013, Balentien hit his 51st home run of the 2013 season.[17] With over a month of the regular season remaining at that date, many speculated that Balentien could break the Nippon Professional Baseball league season record.[18] The record of 55 home runs in a single season was originally set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964 and later tied by Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera.[19] A "Coco Meter" was added to Tokyo Swallows homepage so that fans could track his progress through the remainder of the season.[20] On September 10, 2013, Balentien hit his 55th home run.[21] He subsequently broke the record, hitting his 56th and 57th home runs on September 15, 2013, at home against the Hanshin Tigers.[22] [23] He finished the season with 60 home runs and 131 RBI in 130 games.[24]
Late in the 2013 season, it was revealed that NPB had secretly introduced a livelier baseball, resulting in a marked increase in home runs league-wide. The scandal over the juiced baseball led NPB commissioner Ryozo Kato to resign in September 2013.[25] In 2014, Balentien played in 112 games for Yakult, slashing .301/.419/.587 with 31 home runs and 69 RBI.
Balentien only appeared in 15 games in 2015 due to injury, and in 2016 he batted .269/.369/.516 with 31 home runs and 96 RBI. In 2017, Balentien hit .254/.358/.506 with 32 home runs and 80 RBI in 125 games.[4] In 2018 for Yakult, Balentien posted a .268/.370/.533 batting line with 38 home runs and 131 RBI on the year and was selected to the 2018 NPB All-Star game.[26] In 2019, Balentien slashed .280/.363/.554 with 33 home runs and 93 RBI in 120 games. On December 2, 2019, he became a free agent.[27]
On December 16, 2019, Balentien signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.[28] In 2020, Balentien finished the regular season with a batting average of .168, 9 home runs, and 22 RBI in 60 games. He was selected to the Japan Series roster for the Hawks in the 2020 Japan Series,[29] but did not play in the Hawks' four-game sweep of the Yomiuri Giants.
Balentien began the 2021 season with the Hawks' minor league team in the Japan Western League. He returned to the NPB team in May. On June 13, he passed two statistical milestones in one game against the Yakult Swallows: he hit his 300th NPB home run and his 1,000th hit.[30] He hit a home run in his final at bat with the Hawks' Western League team on September 30.[31] [32] [33]
On October 12, 2021, the Hawks announced Balentien would not return to the club. On January 22, 2022, Balentien announced his retirement from Japanese baseball.[34]
On February 13, 2022, Balentien signed with the Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican League.[35] In 18 games, he batted .231/.351/.477 with 4 home runs and 11 RBIs. Balentien was placed on the injured list on May 15, 2022, then released by the team on May 25, 2022.[36]
Balentien represented the Netherlands at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2013 World Baseball Classic,[37] 2015 WBSC Premier12,[38] the 2017 World Baseball Classic, 2022 Haarlem Baseball Week,[39] and the 2023 World Baseball Classic.[40] Balentien was named to the 2017 All-World Baseball Classic team after leading the tournament with 4 home runs, 12 RBI, and 29 total bases.[41] [42]