Now that I'm blogging again, I want to bring attention to a story that, even though is a little old, most probably got lost amid the breaking news of the Mumbai attacks: Novice pitchers from India sign with the Pirates. I admit upon hearing this back in November, my thoughts initially were along the lines of "how hard up are the Pirates that they have to go to a country that doesn't even play baseball to recruit players?" (For those of you that aren't baseball fans, the Pirates finished their 16th consecutive losing season, so it might not be that strange of a question to ask.) 
However, since I was asked about it recently, I decided to do a little research into the story. No wonder Americans are interested in this story-it's the ultimate rags-to-riches storyline! These two guys from small villages in Uttar Pradesh enter a contest to see if there are any Indians out there that can throw a baseball over 90 mph. The contest was sponsored by a baseball scout trying to determine if India could be the next untapped source for new baseball talent. (Think Roberto Clemente from Latin America.) These two guys - the articles seem split on whether they were bowlers from cricket or javelin throwers before - made the finals and impressed the scout enough to bring them for training in the US. They worked on their training and conditioning well enough to be signed by the Pirates in November.
Most articles I read state that it is unlikely that we will see either Rinku or Dinesh make it to the mound in a major league game any time soon, but the fact that they are the first Indians to be signed by a professional sports team in America, along with the recent successes of a few notable Indian-Americans, such as Bobby Jindal, Kal Penn, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, & Paul Varghese, may help begin to dispel the stereotype of the Kwik-E-Mart Indian with the thick accent. Then again, maybe not.
In any case, be sure to check out Rinku & Dinesh's blog to see how they are adjusting to their training schedule and to the US as a whole! (I'm waiting to see what they think of playing baseball in the cooler months up north!)
However, since I was asked about it recently, I decided to do a little research into the story. No wonder Americans are interested in this story-it's the ultimate rags-to-riches storyline! These two guys from small villages in Uttar Pradesh enter a contest to see if there are any Indians out there that can throw a baseball over 90 mph. The contest was sponsored by a baseball scout trying to determine if India could be the next untapped source for new baseball talent. (Think Roberto Clemente from Latin America.) These two guys - the articles seem split on whether they were bowlers from cricket or javelin throwers before - made the finals and impressed the scout enough to bring them for training in the US. They worked on their training and conditioning well enough to be signed by the Pirates in November.Most articles I read state that it is unlikely that we will see either Rinku or Dinesh make it to the mound in a major league game any time soon, but the fact that they are the first Indians to be signed by a professional sports team in America, along with the recent successes of a few notable Indian-Americans, such as Bobby Jindal, Kal Penn, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, & Paul Varghese, may help begin to dispel the stereotype of the Kwik-E-Mart Indian with the thick accent. Then again, maybe not.
In any case, be sure to check out Rinku & Dinesh's blog to see how they are adjusting to their training schedule and to the US as a whole! (I'm waiting to see what they think of playing baseball in the cooler months up north!)
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