Million Dollar Arm Hunt (India)

[dominik]

are the indians still playing?

[SDL]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...oomero01.shtml

[Richard]

I read that one of the Indian pitchers was promoted.

[Rally Monkey]

Yes. Rinku Singh (the left-handed one) was called up to the Pirates' short season Single-A State College (West Virginia) Spikes. His numbers have actually been pretty damn good:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/m...pbp&pid=573653

Meanwhile, Dinesh Patel has been struggling in rookie ball:

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/m...pbp&pid=573652

[NattyBaller]

apparently rinku singh will be playing for the canberra cavalry

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news...s/1982658.aspx

He's listed down at the bottom of the article

[NattyBaller]

Dinesh Patel has been released -- Rinku Singh is still going strong

[Rally Monkey]

Dinesh Patel has been released -- Rinku Singh is still going strong

Yup. Here's what the Pirates' president had to say anout Dinesh:

Both Rinku and Dinesh made tremendous progress in both terms of their baseball development and their overall development as young men since the day that we signed them. For two young men who had never seen a baseball let alone played the game, their feats on the baseball field were and are remarkable. Dinesh was recently released, as it became clear that it was not likely that he would develop into a Major League player. He was very grateful for the opportunity and thankful for the intense training he received from our staff. Rinku is developing very nicely and is currently pitching for the Melbourne team in the Australian Winter Baseball League.

Meanwhile, Rinku picked up his first win yesterday as the Canberra Cavalry's left-handed specialist out of the bullpen. His 1.69 ERA makes him one of the top pitchers on the team.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

What kind of athlete is Rinku Singh? Did he play other sports in India? What he is doing is remarkable, kind of Ron LefLore-ish development.

[nerfan]

I always found it hilarious that Ron LeFlore's talent was stealing bases. Never failed to crack me up.

[Paul Wendt]

Both Indians were cricket players.

The vision of the "million-dollar hunt" was or is that in much of the world, involving millions of players, cricket is high-level competitive sport with a specialist bowler role broadly similar to the baseball pitcher role. In many young men where cricket is the hardball game of choice, bowling must develop the arm strength necessary for major league pitching.

[Rally Monkey]

Both Indians were cricket players.

The vision of the "million-dollar hunt" was or is that in much of the world, involving millions of players, cricket is high-level competitive sport with a specialist bowler role broadly similar to the baseball pitcher role. In many young men where cricket is the hardball game of choice, bowling must develop the arm strength necessary for major league pitching.

I'm not sure that's right. My understanding is that Dinesh and Rinku were primarily javelin-throwers who hadn't really played a lot of cricket. And the "Million Dollar Arm" contest didn't target India so much because it's a cricket-playing country, but because the guy who financed the show, a wealthy American software entrepreneur, is an Indian-born baseball fanatic who wants to spread the gospel of baseball in his homeland. I've fogetten his name, so I'll try to find the article I've read about him. It's interesting.

[Rally Monkey]

Never did find that article. But I thought I'd provide an update on Rinku. After a so-so stint in the Australian Baseball League, he was invited back to play rookie ball for the Pirates. He spent a short few weeks earlier this month in the Dominican Summer League, and is now back with the GCL Pirates in Bradenton. Looks like the Pirates are having him pitch more innings in middle relief. Just yesterday, he notched his first win for the GCL Pirates, striking out five in 4 innings and giving up only one hit. A good sign: No walks. (Control has been a problem for Rinku.) A great return to Florida for the lefty.

[Rally Monkey]

Last year, by the way, Rinku was promoted to State College, the Pirates' single-A short season affiliate in the New York-Penn League. He made one appearance and pitched well. If he continues to perform in Bradenton, watch for Rinku to get another promotion later this summer.

[Rally Monkey]

Update: As expected, Rinku's been promoted to State College. And here's a link to last week's press release announcing Season 2 of The Million Dollar Arm: http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrele...1062289971.htm. Looks like MLB is taking a direct role in t he competition this time around, supplying coaches and using their China facility to train the winners. Expect to hear more about this...

[NewEnglandAmazins]

News about TMDA season 2; here are some portions of the article...

Jun 22, 2011

Bengaluru: As the saying goes – The Winner takes it all, making this axiom a reality in India is “The Million Dollar Arm Contest” which is back with a bigger and awe-inspiring Season 2.

Season 2 of TMDA will handpick the fastest and power pitches of young participants from across India and groom them under the MLB coaches for 6 months in China. In addition, the winners also get an opportunity for try-outs for professional contracts with the top Baseball Leagues in USA & Asia

This year the competition is scheduled from June-September 2011 and will see 5 Vans to target 1000 colleges in 60 cities and nearby towns in India. 50 fastest pitchers will undergo 2 weeks conditioning camp leading to elimination rounds in the final try outs for the fastest pitcher in India.

Source: http://apnnews.com/2011/06/22/the-hu...ason-2-begins/

[NewEnglandAmazins]

Sorry Rally, I thought no one had posted about TDMA 2 yet. What do you think are his chances of getting promoted to Class A?

[NewEnglandAmazins]

Rinku Singh is listed on Pittsburgh's Class A West Virginia Power roster. He hasn't pitched for them yet, but let's see how he does at this level.

[Rally Monkey]

Sorry Rally, I thought no one had posted about TDMA 2 yet. What do you think are his chances of getting promoted to Class A?

I'm sorry I overlooked your post, NEA. But to answer your question, I would've predicted last week that Rinku was likely to stay in Rookie A ball all summer. That's mainly because of this interview with the manager of the State College Spikes, who said that the plan was for Rinku to get a lot of innings and then report in the fall to the Pirates instructional league.

This was all before today's exciting news, of course. So we'll see!

[USA101]

It is really hard to believe a Indian is just three steps from the Majors. Great Story.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

This is so stupid its all about money. There are enough kids in American college's that get looked over for these bums. I think the talent going to waste in the college systems is disgusting. Just look at these Japanese ''All-Stars'' they bring over. Only one Ichiro Suzuki has been good. The rest are sub-par. The pitchers good for one year because no one has seen what the hell a gyro-ball is.

This guy had a good point about Japenese players. Especially pitchers, Dice K has never had a good year after he posted this.

[Rally Monkey]

This guy had a good point about Japenese players. Especially pitchers, Dice K has never had a good year after he posted this.

No, it's not a good point. I mean, if it's all about the money, why would an MLB team pony of tens of millions on a posting fee for a Japanese pitcher if they could spend a fraction of that developing one of these college kids that are allegedly looked over?

The correct answer is that MLB teams evaluate talent. They want to win championships by getting the best players they can. Sometimes a Japanese player fits the bill. Sometimes they don't. And that's that.

[jalbright]

The first problem with Japanese players is that they are tied to that system until they're 27-30. That means when they come over most are already in decline. Another problem is that most have been pitchers, and they have tended to use their pitchers hard in Japan, which tends to burn them out--and also makes them subject to that issue when they come over here.

[Rally Monkey]

Rinku made his first Sally League apparance last night. The line:

W 1, ERA 0.00, G 1, IP 3.0, H 1, R 0, ER 0, HR 0, BB 0, SO 2, GO/AO 0.50, AVG .111

Hard to imagine a better result.

[USA101]

Rinku made his first Sally League apparance last night. The line:

W 1, ERA 0.00, G 1, IP 3.0, H 1, R 0, ER 0, HR 0, BB 0, SO 2, GO/AO 0.50, AVG .111

Hard to imagine a better result.

That's pretty darn good.

[desslok]

Million Dollar Arm 2nd Season?
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110723/ldh1.htm#24