The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A PARTNERSHIP between the Bahamas and Major League Baseball that was discussed late last year has produced its first event.

The MLB, in conjunction with the Bahamas Baseball Federation, is all set to host a coaching clinic in the capital, featuring MLB Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar.

The clinic is scheduled for January 23-24 at the Junior Baseball League of Nassau’s Field of Dreams, and will facilitate 25 Bahamian coaches.

Alomar, a native of Puerto Rico, broke into the major leagues as a 17-year-old in the San Diego Padres’ farm system and went on to have an illustrious career which included 12-time All-Star appearances, 10 gold gloves and two World Series Championships.

His experiences should provide insight to the coaches looking to chart a similar path for young Bahamian stars on the baseball diamond.

According to the MLB: “The clinic is a continuation of MLB’s coaching development efforts. MLB has hosted programmes around the globe to teach pitching, batting, catching, fielding, strength and fitness, and scouting. MLB’s programme teaches the coaching students how to run effective practices and identify tools to help them grow the game of baseball in their home countries.”

In October, Rebecca Seesel, specialist in international baseball operations for the MLB, was on a fact-finding mission as the organisation looked to evaluate whether the Bahamas would be a candidate for its investment in global baseball development.

Seesel said a possible partnership would create an avenue for a myriad of opportunities for those locally invested in baseball.

The most immediate impact the MLB would look to have is in the coaching arena. “We believe that coaching is really fundamental and kids can only get as far as their coaches can help them get,” she said. “In the near term, help with coaching is a real possibility. Coaching is crucially important. We have some programmes we have implemented in other countries that we think are important and there is the potential to do that here. In the longer term we have to see what fits here.”

The Dominican Republic has been the hub of baseball in the Caribbean for decades, and while they would not look for the Bahamas to follow that exact model, she considers the Bahamas “a new challenge.”

“We work in a lot of different countries. We have an office in the Dominican Republic and we work in a lot of Latin American countries. We look at each one individually and we look at the nuances of each place and try to figure out what we could do to help there,” she said. “We view the Bahamas as a completely new challenge, a new adventure. I don’t go into any other country thinking that’s what we have to get to because each country is unique and each country has its own potential. My goal isn’t to change the Bahamas to get it to become more like the DR, the goal here is to find what fits here.”