Chinese rookies about to take first steps
Within the week Riyadh’s affiliation with the Chinese Taipei baseball team will become a reality as the Chinese Baseball League starts it’s 2046 season. Our team has 35 players on the roster, 14 pitchers and 21 batters, the oldest being 23-yr-old right fielder Tom Thomas and there being 12 teenagers on the roster. Riyadh’s first ever #1 draft pick, 16-yr-old Steven Anderton will start in the Taipei rotation while our second round pick, 16-yr-old Konanae Walakino has not signed his contract yet. Third rounder Alba Gallino will be in the rotation as well. The top two in the rotation, 21-yr-old Uberto Casale and 20-yr-old Leonard Davis were both minor league free agent signings.
There will be 26 nationalities on the Opening Day roster including two Americans, no Chinese and Gallino who comes from Vatican City. Other unlikely nationalities are a Kenyan, a Micronesian, two Russians, an Indian and a Belgian. Just eight of the 35 have any pro baseball experience, 20-yr-old Australian Maurice Krajancic being the most experienced having managed 68 pro games in the Kuwait & Mumbai organisations after going undrafted in the 2042 UMEBA draft. For the rest it’ll be the first step on the way to a, hopefully, long career in baseball. Whether any will ever make it as far as the UMEBA is open to debate but we will keep an eye on their formative steps.