Rinku Singh
| Rinku Singh | |
|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| Relief pitcher | |
| Born: August 8, 1988 Lucknow, India |
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| Bats: Left | Throws: Left |
| Teams | |
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Rinku Singh (born August 8, 1988 in Lucknow, India) is a left-handed baseball pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
Contents |
[edit] Early Life in Bhadoni
Singh's family grew up in poverty; his father, a truck driver for 35 years, earned roughly $25 per week. Of the family's seven children, two of the four boys serve in the Indian military. Another earned a scholarship to a sports school. A former javelin thrower and cricket player, Singh was accepted to a sports school but did not attend, and was considered lazy by his family and village of Holepur, India.
[edit] Million Dollar Arm
In early 2008, Singh entered an Indian reality television show, "The Million Dollar Arm". The contest was created by American sports agent J.B. Bernstein to find the individual in the country who could throw the fastest and most accurate baseball. Having never heard of baseball before, Singh won the contest out of over 37,000 participants after throwing 87 miles per hour. The grand prize for the contest was $100,000.[1]
After winning the contest, Singh and runner-up Dinesh Patel travelled to Los Angeles where they trained with University of Southern California pitching coach Tom House, who trained pitchers such as Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson.[2][3] On their first day in the United States the two attended their first baseball game at Southern California. They continued to learn the game from House and Bernstein, as well as learning English.[4]
[edit] Professional Baseball Career
The pair tried out in front of scouts from 20 Major League Baseball teams in November 2008, and Singh's pitches reached 92 miles per hour (148 km/h).[4] Reports from Pittsburgh Pirates scouts Joe Ferrone and Sean Campbell led to general manager Neal Huntington signing both to contracts with the organization. With the deal, the pair became the first Indians to sign American major league baseball contracts.[2][3] After training, the two returned to visit their families in India before entering Pirates training camp in Bradenton, Florida.[4]
Singh, along with Dinesh Patel, began the 2009 baseball season with the Pirates' Gulf Coast League (GCL) Affiliate.[5]
On July 13, 2009, Singh became the first Indian-born pitcher to win a professional baseball game in America, striking out the only batter he faced.[6] He finished the season with a 1-2 record and a 5.84 ERA in 11 games, allowing just one run on three hits in his final six appearances.[7]
Singh went 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA over 13 games with the Pirates GCL affiliate in 2010.[8] At the end of August, Singh was promoted to the Pirates Class A Short-Season affiliate, the State College Spikes.[9][10] Singh played for the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League for the competition's inaugural 2010-11 season,[11] going 1-0 with a 3.94 ERA in 16 innings pitched.[12] He returned to the Australian Baseball League for the 2011-12 season with the Adelaide Bite. He made the World All-Star team in the 2011-12 Australian Baseball League All-Star Game.
[edit] Miscellaneous
Singh met with US President Barack Obama at a White House's Heritage Month event on May 24, 2010.[13]
Sony Pictures Entertainment is believed to have bought the rights to the story of Singh and Patel in 2009 to make a Hollywood movie based on their journey.[14]
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Million-Dollar Arm blog
[edit] References
- ^ Singh, Anuraag (25 March 2008). "Rinku's village doesn't know baseball but they're all pitching for him". The Indian Express (Yahoo News). http://in.news.yahoo.com/indianexpress/20080325/r_t_ie_nl_politics/tnl-rinku-s-village-doesn-t-know-basebal-0058794.html. Retrieved 15 February 2009.[dead link]
- ^ a b Vercammen, Paul (11 December 2008). "Indian pitchers are first for America's national pastime". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/11/india.baseball.pioneers/index.html. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
- ^ a b Fornelli, Tom (5 November 2008). "International Pastime: Pitcher Is Latest American Job to Be Outsourced to India". Fanhouse. http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2008/11/05/international-pastime-pitcher-is-latest-american-job-to-be-outs/#cont. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
- ^ a b c Langosch, Jenifer (25 November 2008). "Indian hurlers' inking opens new market". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081124&content_id=3691650&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
- ^ White, Paul (4 March 2009). "Pirates pitching imports from India are a work in progress". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/pirates/2009-03-03-pirates-india_N.htm. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
- ^ http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090714/ARTICLE/907139920/2050/SPORTS?Title=Rinku-Singh-makes-history
- ^ http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=573653
- ^ http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=t1174&t=p_pbp&pid=573653
- ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100830&content_id=14111320¬ebook_id=14111372&vkey=notebook_pit&fext=.jsp&c_id=pit
- ^ http://www.centredaily.com/2010/08/31/2178762/spikes-pitching-blistered-again.html
- ^ http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/sport/baseball/cavalry-shows-its-true-colours/1982658.aspx
- ^ Canberra Cavalry Official Website. Individual Player Statistics. Accessed February 10, 2011. http://web.theabl.com.au/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ibp&cid=4066&stn=true&sid=t4066
- ^ "Uttar Pradesh baseballers Rinku and Dinesh meet Obama, Ronaldinho". The Times Of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/Uttar-Pradesh-baseballers-Rinku-and-Dinesh-meet-Obama-Ronaldinho/articleshow/5982544.cms.
- ^ http://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/2010/8/1/1599266/sony-movie-pirates-rinku-singh-dinesh-patel-indian-prospects-sylvester-stallone
