Sailor breaks borders with baseball

Photo By Jacob McDonald | Baseball player Clemente Sosa watches a Kuwait Little League player pitch during his visit to their ball field in the South Surra area of Kuwait city, Dec. 7.  

KUWAIT

01.10.2008

Story by Staff Sgt. Jacob McDonald 

50th Public Affairs Detachment

A deployed Navy Reservist and baseball pitcher shared his knowledge and love of the game with the Kuwait Little League during a visit to their ball field in the South Surra area of Kuwait City, Dec. 7.

With a name like Clemente Sosa baseball is almost an assumption. Sosa is currently deployed as an investigator at the Camp Arifjan Provost Marshal's Office. The opportunity to teach the little leaguers presented itself through a contractor who works with the league. Sosa said he did not know they had baseball in Kuwait but jumped at the opportunity to work with the children by providing a one-day pitching clinic.

"It's a great thing that we have this kind of tie with the Kuwaitis, that we can know each other," Sosa said. "They can know us and we can know them. They have a lot of talent. It is good to teach. It takes me way back."

Growing up in New York City, Sosa said baseball was a part of his life. America's pastime took him out of Manhattan and to the Dominican Republic where the left-handed hurler played for the New York Mets farm team. After an injury took him off the team, he moved on and moved back to New York. He still plays today in work and local leagues, but the father of five now works as a detective for the New York City Police Department in homicide when not deployed with his Navy Reserve unit.

"Growing up in Manhattan and Harlem we had a bunch of games in Central Park, with tons of kids. In the United States and especially New York, baseball is big. Being out here with these kids is awesome."

While not having the same number of participants as the New York youth teams, the Kuwait Little League now boasts more than 120 players between 9 and 11 years old, since its birth in 1980.

As he began his training with the little league pitchers Sosa gathered the young men around him on the mound and said the number one thing they need to do is finish school and get an education. He then ran them through an abbreviated version of a spring training camp. As the training continued, Sosa taught the players about balance and how to throw a good pitch.

"Every country is the same, the kids are the same," Sosa said. "They have a passion for the game just like in the Dominican Republic and the United States."

According to Sulaiman Almughrabi, one of the founders of the Little League in Kuwait, former president of the Kuwait Little League and currently an umpire and coach, this was a great opportunity for the young players.

"It's really a pleasure to have a player here in Kuwait," he said. "It is really great for the kids to meet a player from the (United) States in Kuwait. They have a really great time. They are taking pictures. A lot of them were really surprised to have someone from the States watching them playing and getting involved with them.

"This is building a stronger relationship. We are working hard for the children of our community. We teach them not only the sport of baseball, but also teamwork and to be a good citizen."

Almughrabi said the Kuwait Little League is organized under the auspices of the Little League of Pennsylvania in the United States.

• Date Taken: 01.10.2008
• Date Posted: 01.10.2008 08:54
• Story ID: 15335
• Location: KW