Before Rudy, George Mason or God’s second son Kurt Warner the underdog of underdogs was most certainly the Jamaican Bobsled team.
Immortalized on the silver screen by the interminable John Candy in Cool Runnings, the Jamaicans were lauded for their achievement (getting to the Olympics) while simultaneously dismissed as a non-contender for any sort of award other than a participation ribbon. Their story was at once spirit-raising yet pre-destined for failure… but dammit- we loved those islanders like our own!
Rightfully so, that team, like many others, isn’t ultimately remembered for falling on their face when the lights were the brightest. But for what it took to even get to that place and time.
Enter South Africa.
Not even a decade removed from apartheid, this African nation was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic yesterday by Mexico. That in and of itself may not have caught your attention, after all, baseball in Mexico has a rich tradition.
But if I told you that their starting pitcher wasn’t out of high school and one of their outfielders full time job was to be an underwear model… would that change your mind?
The Wall Street Journal’s Hannah Karp takes us inside one of the better feel-good stories of the year. And FYI, none of them have dreds.
Topics: Hannah Karp, South Aftrica, Wall Street Journal, WBC
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Good stuff. I watched the Republic of South Africa’s first game against Cuba over the weekend. The announcers were discussing how the South African team is still learning the basic fundamentals of baseball.
There was a play early on in the game where the left fielder cut a Cuban runner down trying to stretch a single to a double. Said left fielder hit is cut off man, the shortstop, perfectly and the relay got the runner by at least four steps. Funny thing was, the announce team broke this down like it was an Ozzie Smith diving catch with his back to the infield. It was a major play for the South African’s as it showed that they are learning.
Watch out for them next time around!
good to see the other nations in the world taking baseball seriously,,I wonder how many scouts are out there in the little nations taking notes,,what a job that would be