Baseball

There are moments here that make you question why you ever came to Peace Corps in the first place, and then there are days like the day when we launched the great Beninese baseball experiment. By the time this gets posted it will have been 5 days since the first practice and we’re not sure has Steve has stopped smiling.

Flashback to our arrival in July and our gloves strapped to the outside of our carry-on luggage. Of course the leather monstrosities were going to get a bit of attention from every kid who saw them. We even tried playing catch a few times with varying results, but struggled to explain how the back and forth fit into the larger game.

However , the history of baseball in Benin took a major leap forward in the past few weeks with two very important discoveries:

1) Jaren’s find of “Le Baseball,” an illustrated instructional book for kids about the American Pastime (with forward by then Cincinnati Reds outfielder Eduardo Perez!)

2) Collin’s location of the much-fabled Parakou baseball bag containing a complete games worth of gear. Mitts, balls, bats and a full set of catcher’s pads. We had heard some things were donated but for months could not locate them. With Collin’s realization that the giant green bag on top of the workstation bookcase and a timely official sign out, we were in business.

The book was incredibly helpful in explaining the game and helped Steve immensely in that he now had to make up half as many French words as in previous attempts. Lord knows he’s got no problem making up words, but at least now we know if any of these kids ever tried to talk baseball with anyone else, they wouldn’t be arguing balls and strikes over the “dish from the house” (asiette du maison was the best he could do for home plate).

First practice was a partly cloudy Thursday morning and the assembled group (both boys and girls with interest solicited by Eric at school and elsewhere) met in the concession to go over the basics before we got started.

Steve prepping for the briefing

No QUESTEC here

Funny Side Story: That wall doubles as the backside of our latrine. Over the last week both of us have been using the facilities and heard kids on the other side of the wall giving lessons to their friends. It’s pretty hilarious to be doing your business and all of a sudden hear a bunch of Nagot with baseball terms in French sprinkled in.


After the tutorial we went up to an elementary school nearby to use the terrain. The older kids had the day off for exams but the petites were still in session. We of course heard some ruckus from the kids as we walked by the class buildings but for the most part things were under control. After asking permission from the director, we were drawing out bases in the dirt and had the players line up for some catch when the little kids were let out for a 10 minute break. Well, to say the place was swarming with khaki-clad school kids is actually an understatement . It was more like locusts descending. With few options left, one of the older kids grabbed a bat and just started chasing/ threatening anyone under 4 feet. A bit crude an approach, but effective as we had our field back.

Trying to put what we had learned into action we simulated play a bit. Everyone got a turn to bat and field as Jaren and I barked out only vaguely understood advice on seemingly asinine rules. Some understood batting but not throwing, others the reverse. The pitcher’s side arm motion was sort of a cross between Dan Quisenberry and penguin flapping its wings. Many would leave first base on a hit to stop at the second baseman, not second base. At one point we had to chase a baby goat off the field. All in all a good but very poorly played game.

Finishing the first day, we knew the first big test was going to be how many came back for the next, and were pleasantly surprised when just about all who could (some had tutoring and far be it from us to pull a kid out of school for practice) showed.

Second practice was more formal. Steve went through fielding again and then hit balls around the diamond as the kids threw out ficticional runners. After that we split into two groups and Jaren taught half a dozen a basic pitching motion as others continued to run through more complicated fielding drills (“my boys executed a perfect 3-4-1 double play and my heart nearly exploded with pride”). Fielders were charging balls, pitchers were developing some command and consistency of motion – lord they looked like honest to god baseball players (you know, minus the fact that all were in flip-flops and half the boys were wearing women’s pants).

Third day was even better. After realizing that the same motion that moved the ball 20 feet could move it 50, our games of catch became long toss very quickly. And the in game simulations got better to the point where 2 teams of 6 we able to play an inning against one another. We are beside ourselves with excitement.


So what’s next? Well, given the steady increase in interest, we think we’re going to set up a formal club that should double as a league. We figure if we can get six teams we can play a schedule for about a month before changing things up. More importantly, we’re going to use the club as a force for good –not distraction -- in the community. Because we have the luxury of using the Peace Corps equipment for now and can use the field for free, there is no need pay to play. Instead, we’re going to work with the Center for Social Promotion (Jaren’s office) and each kid is going to have to give up a designated amount of community service hours to join the league. Nothing too taxing, but enough to keep the baseball club in the good graces of the community and give us the extra hands to get some projects done around here.

And what happens when someone else requests the equipment? Well, odds are at some point in the near future we’ll post some sort of appeal to collect old equipment for donation, or even try to hook up with one of our respective hometown minor league teams for something more organized.

But for now, we’re just reveling in having introduced the game. The kids have been pouring over the pictures in our old Sports Illustrateds, and as soon as we find a DVD player were going to show the recording of Game 2 of the World Series Jaren’s parents sent over (everything here is on VCD, not compatible unfortunately). Oh yeah, no uniforms or team names yet but you can bet the house on the fact that every team will be sporting socks rouge and there won’t be a pinstripe in sight.