Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
February 04, 2007
Planting Seeds in Ghana

T.J. Quinn reports on Omar Minaya and his group of former major leaguers in Ghana.

And then there is Daniel "Iron" Atieno, a shy 19-year-old shortstop, who steps into the batter's box in a white Bay Stars jersey (with "T. Tanaka" on the back) against the best pitcher in a blue Bay Stars jersey. He cracks the first pitch into the wind, over the outfield boundary marked by pitched ads for a mobile phone company, almost hitting a man on a bicycle.

He starts rounding first and second on a dead sprint while Winfield and Baker roar. "That's gone, baby!" Winfield yells. The umpires, players who didn't make the cut for the two teams, make the home run motion with their fingers.

Atieno slows to a trot and his teammates mob him at the plate.

He first saw baseball "on the telly - on CNN" about 12 years ago, he says. "I decided this is the game I want to play."

Minaya, watching from the shade of a VIP tent, nods.

"That kid is going to play in the United States," he says.

It may take decades to produce a major leaguer from Ghana, he says. But maybe Atiendo or another boy on this field will have the skills to play in a junior college, or an NCAA program, or maybe sign a professional contract.

"We're just planting seeds," Minaya says. "Right now I just want to see these kids smile."


Posted by David Pinto at 10:52 AM | International | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Has Dusty found any players that can take the heat well?

Posted by: Dennis at February 4, 2007 11:12 AM
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