Monday, November 24, 2008

Pirates Sign Indian pitchers

Indian as in, "from India." I just got an e-mail from Rob Ircane at Walkoff Walk informing me that the Pirates have just signed Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, two Indian pitching prospects, to minor league contracts. I can't really put the weirdness of this news into proper context, but here's what Rob wrote at his blog:

As you know, Rinku and Dinesh won the Million Dollar Arm contest on Indian TV by displaying awesome arm strength and a desire to become baseball players. They've spent the last nine months in California learning the rules of the game and, most importantly, how to throw fastballs and brushback pitches. Their blog has been a constant source of amusement to us, and their recent audition for major league scouts even caught the attention of mainstream media publications.
Lest you think this is a joke, NPB Tracker has a post about it and I'm fairly certain that the truth is contained somewhere in this article. I present, for your amusement, the Google Translate version of the Japanese article:
First! Pirates pitcher who signed a contract with India
Daily Sports - 2008/11/24 10:39

Major League Baseball, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Indians pitcher who signed a minor league contract to 22, sources said.
According to sources, the two universities in India to attend a 19-year-old physical education. The right arm is 189 centimeters tall, thin links with the fastest fastball in the second half of the 80 miles (140 km), the tall left-hander's 180 centimeters DINESHU MAX92 PEITERU miles (148 kilometers) to throw a sharp slider. In the audition shows both the country's more than 30,000 applicants were selected from a "phenomenon", he said.
However, India has a thriving baseball than cricket country. Both of them close to the baseball novice, for a tryout in November, America in May. Arizona and a former major leaguer Tom House's leadership after a major 30 team earlier this month, the 11th of 19 teams showed off a pitch in front of scouts. Meanwhile, the Pacific have a strong interest in the military.
This season, including the United States in the majors, the players played in 17 countries, the official said, "is a minor player, but not Indian nationals. This agreement is an historic achievement," he said. Once the two, returned to India. MAINAKYANPU from April 01 to participate in the plan.
Add these two to Mpho Ngoepe and I guess we can really believe Neal Huntington when he says he's going to be looking everywhere for talent.