Baseball in India
| Baseball in India |
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Baseball is played in local clubs, schools and at the university level in India. The Amateur Baseball Federation of India was founded in 1983 and India's first first national baseball championship occurred in 1985, taking place in New Delhi. In that same year, it joined both the International Baseball Federation along with the Baseball Federation of Asia. A documentary film The Only Real Game was released in 2013 tracing the roots of baseball in India to World War II when the US Army Air Force was stationed in Manipur to fly supplies to China over the Himalayas, known as "Flying the Hump." The locals learned the game from the troops and have been playing ever since, passing down the game to future generations. Because of civil unrest, the Manipuris were very isolated in this remote, impoverished state in the northeast of India. A charity, First Pitch: The US-Manipur Baseball Project was formed to help promote and develop the game of baseball. They enlisted the support of Major League Baseball International and in 2006, MLB International began sending Envoy coaches to Imphal, Manipur. This is documented in The Only Real Game currently being shown in theaters.
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 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 pitched at speeds as high as 93 mph and at the same time realizing 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 $100,000 and Patel won $5,000. They were also invited to the United States to train and try out for MLB teams. Eventually, both pitchers were signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates organization 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 6 1/3 innings. His 2010 season was not successful with his ERA going up to 8.59 in 7 1/3 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.
In 2009, the screen rights to their story were purchased and in 2014, Disney released the film titled Million Dollar Arm. It made $39.2 million off a budget of $25 million.
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