April 26, 2017

The Pirates Gift

The Pirates called up Gift Ngoepe to the majors:

The Pirates recalled Ngoepe, an infielder, from Class AAA Indianapolis on Wednesday, making him the first player from Africa to reach the major leagues, according to the team.

“It’s a dream come true for me because it’s been my dream since I was a 10-year-old boy, but it also means so much to the people of South Africa and baseball in Africa,” Ngoepe said before the Pirates played the Chicago Cubs late Wednesday. “I’ve gotten plenty from people back home who are so excited.” He noted that baseball in Africa was “still very much in the development stages” and said he hoped that an African reaching the major leagues would spur more interest.

Congratulations to Ngoepe! I’m a bit surprised. I would have thought that someone who came to the US from Africa as a child might have grown up to play baseball.

Ngoepe spent a long time in the minors, first playing there as a 19-year-old. He is now seasonal age 27. He is a low batting average player who draws enough walks to keep his OBP from being terrible. I really would not expect him to be more than a backup middle infielder, but a couple of years in that position and he’ll make some decent money.

Gift was part of a great minor league boxscore five years ago.

1 thought on “The Pirates Gift

  1. Theron

    Between Neverauskas on Monday and Ngoepe yesterday, the Pirates’ out of the way signings from years ago finally paid off. Too bad the Indian guys they signed didn’t pan out.

    ReplyReply

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