Baseball in India

Country India
Governing body Amateur Baseball Federation of India
National team(s) Men
Women
First played early 1940s
National competitions
National Baseball Championship
International competitions

Baseball is played in local clubs, schools and at the university level in India.

History

Baseball in India originated in Manipur during World War II when the US Army Air Force flew supplies to China over the Himalayas, known as "Flying the Hump", and the locals learned the game from the troops stationed there.[1] Because of civil unrest, the Manipuris were very isolated in this remote, impoverished state in the northeast of India and the game has remained strong there in the face of the domination of cricket in Indian media to the present day.

The Amateur Baseball Federation of India was founded in 1983 and India's first national baseball championship occurred in 1985, taking place in New Delhi. That same year, it joined both the International Baseball Federation along with the Baseball Federation of Asia. In 2006, MLB International sent Envoy coaches to India to train local coaches and players.[2][3]

The first baseball park in India was opened on 5 February 2017 at a farmhouse on the Gurgaon-Delhi border. The park was named Field of Dreams, an homage to the 1989 American film of the same name.[4][5]

Million Dollar Arm

In 2007, struggling MLB agent J.B. Bernstein decided to start a competition in India titled Million Dollar Arm in which contestants attempted to throw three consecutive balls at a speed of 90 mph (140 km/h) or higher for a prize of 1 million dollars, trying to find the best throwing arms in India. He gained his inspiration after watching ESPN's broadcast of a cricket match featuring bowlers that bowled at speeds as high as 93 mph and at the same time realising that India was one of the largest untapped environments for baseball. Despite being inspired by cricketers, the two winners were 19-year-old javelin throwers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel. Neither was able to reach the million-dollar mark; however, Singh won $1,00,000 and Patel won $5,000. They were also invited to the United States to train and try out for Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. Eventually, both pitchers were signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates organisation and became the first two Indians to play professional baseball.

Patel ended up having a successful 2009 season for the Pirates' Gulf Coast League team, finishing with a 1–0 record and a 1.42 ERA in 6⅓ innings. His 2010 season was not successful with his ERA going up to 8.59 in 7⅓ innings. He was released after the season and returned to India where he now teaches baseball and has prepared kids for subsequent seasons of Million Dollar Arm.

The screen rights to their story were purchased in 2009, and in 2014 Disney released the film titled Million Dollar Arm. It made $3.9 crore off a budget of $2.5 crore.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Gaining Ground | European Baseball & Softball Magazine/Home". European Baseball & Softball Magazine/Home. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  2. ↑ "MLB International Envoy Program to send coaches to India". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Rajghattal, Chidanand (5 November 2006). "It's just not cricket: US exports baseball to India". Times of India. TNN.
  4. ↑ "Field of Dreams: Giving wings to India's baseball aspirations - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "WBSC President welcomes India's first-ever Baseball Stadium - WBSC". WBSC. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
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