Investments in international players like Pirates’ Gift Ngoepe match up with MLB’s vision
PITTSBURGH 鈥� The Pirates have only been playing for a few months in 2017, and they鈥檝e already made a bunch of baseball history.
On Wednesday, infielder Gift Ngoepe made his debut as the first player born in South Africa and first player from any African nation to play Major League Baseball.
Two days before that, relief pitcher Dovydas Neverauskas became the first Lithuanian to suit up for a big-league ball club.
The Pirates already had Jung Ho Kang (South Korea) on the roster, plus two Venezuelans (Jose Osuna and Felipe Rivero, six Dominicans (Antonio Bastardo, Alen Hanson, Starling Marte, Juan Nicasio, Ivan Nova and Gregory Polanco) and a Venezuelan-Italian (Francisco Cervelli). Also, Jameson Taillon has dual citizenship with Canada.
In the 2017 World Baseball Classic this spring, Polanco and Marte played for the Dominican Republic and Cervelli for Italy while Josh Harrison and Andrew McCutchen played for Team USA. There鈥檚 more coming in the minor leagues, as Pirates farmhands Luis Escobar (Colombia), Sam Street (Australia) and Eric Wood (Canada) all played in this year鈥檚 WBC.
Acquired as teenagers in 2008 and 2009, respectively, it took quite a while for the Pirates鈥� investments in Ngoepe and Neverauskas to pay off. But finding talent in less-scouted areas is a place the Pirates have placed a lot of focus on under general manager Neal Huntington, and it shows in the international nature of the team鈥檚 clubhouse and minor-league system.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fabulous organizational win for everyone,鈥� manager Clint Hurdle said on Wednesday.
Of course, all of the Pirates dalliances with baseball players with unique backgrounds haven鈥檛 been success stories. Indian pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel of 鈥淢illion Dollar Arm鈥� fame didn鈥檛 pan out. But with the competitive balance in Major League Baseball what it is, a team like the Pirates would do well to continue mining those less-covered grounds for talent.
It also dovetails nicely with commissioner Rob Manfred鈥檚 international view of the game that has seen the league do a better job of marketing opportunities like the WBC to international audiences in hopes of growing the sport beyond the borders of traditional strongholds like the United States, Dominican Republic and Japan.
鈥淭he internationalization of the game is an important issue for Major League Baseball moving forward,鈥� Manfred said in a visit to Pittsburgh on Tuesday. 鈥淚t is for all businesses. Our ability to attract great athletes from other countries promotes diversity in the game. It is the single best way to grow interest in the game in foreign countries. If you have one of your athletes playing, that鈥檚 the best way to grow the game in a foreign country.鈥�
In that regard, the Pirates have certainly done their part. Now, 1.216 billion Africans and 2.91 million Lithuanians have had one of their own don the black and gold. There鈥檚 hope from each that they won鈥檛 be the last, either.
鈥淚 hope for better opportunities and to see that baseball can be played in Lithuania,鈥� Neverauskas said. 鈥淪omeone can follow in my footsteps.鈥�
鈥淚t means a lot to people back home. I鈥檝e been getting messages all day from people back home,鈥� Ngoepe said. 鈥淚t means that it doesn鈥檛 matter where you come from. It doesn鈥檛 matter where you are, who you are, what country you鈥檙e in. There鈥檚 no separation culture or anything like that.鈥�
In this country, baseball has long been surpassed by football when it comes to popularity, but if the Pirates and Manfred get their way, America鈥檚 pastime might become a truly international game.