TBNL: Baseball United starts its inaugural season

Baseball United opened its inaugural season on Friday in Dubai, with the Karachi Monarchs defeating the Mumbai Cobras, 6-4. Mumbai actually led for most of the game until Karachi stormed back with five runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Karachi third baseman Pavin Parks got things started with a bang, literally, connecting on the very first pitch of the game for a solo home run to right field. Park would homer a second time to start the rally in the ninth. The 28-year-old was a 36th-round pick in 2019 by the Tigers out of Kent State University. He got into 11 games that year with Detroit’s Rookie Level club, going hitless in 25 PA with six walks, before spending the next five seasons playing in independent leagues (hitting .272/.383/.456 in 1925 PA).

Right-handed reliever Enrique Burgos pitched the bottom of the ninth for the Monarchs, collecting the first win in Baseball United history. The 34-year-old spent parts of two seasons with the Diamondbacks from 2015-16, posting a 5.27 ERA (83 ERA+) over 68.1 IP.

Mumbai outfielder Lou Helmig also homered, hitting a two-run shot to right field in the bottom of the first. The 22-year-old spent parts of the 2022-23 seasons with Philadelphia’s Rookie Level club, hitting a combined .179/.313/.269 in 165 PA, but slashed .326/.411/.473 in 314 PA with the independent Pioneer League’s Oakland Ballers last season. The German-native has also appeared on the country’s WBC qualifying roster.

Several former MLB players — including Barry Larkin, Mariano Rivera, Adrian Beltre, Robinson Chirinos, Robinson Cano, and Elvis Andrus — invested in the league over the last several years, leading up to this inaugural season. Larkin, Rivera, Beltre, and Chirinos all hold positions on the league’s board of directors.

Andrus, for what it’s worth, also pulled double-duty, handling the broadcast duties (the game was broadcast on YouTube) and did a fairly decent job in the role.

Okay, this one is admittedly a little silly — and it’s probably a reach to suggest I had any real tangible impact on any of these people or their careers. Five writers cast official BBWAA ballots for year-end awards this year, who all, at one point in time, I have “worked” with.

Three of them — James Fegan, Curt Hogg, and Keegan Matheson — were independent contractors at FanSided. James (and a few writers on his White Sox site) departed shortly after I took over leading the network’s MLB division for greener pastures (and his career has grown since, landing him roles with The Athletic and Sox Machine). Curt was an eager college student who probably already knew more about the industry than I did. He ran our Brewers site, graduated from college, landed an internship with MLB.com, and then succeeded the legendary Tom Haudricourt at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Keegan came along after I’d shifted into a broader role in the network, but he ran our Blue Jays site so effectively that it was only a matter of time before he landed elsewhere, and now he’s covering the team for MLB.com.

James had a vote for the AL Cy Young. Curt had votes for both the NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young. Keegan had a vote for the AL MVP.

A fourth, Robert Murray, at best, I can take credit for suggesting that we hire him. He had already shown he was going to be a standout in the industry on his own. Robert had a vote for the NL Manager of the Year.

The last one, Kevin Henry, I’ve known the longest and can call a friend. He’s spent his career as a freelancer with several outlets and now writes regularly for the Denver Gazette and Yardbarker. He’s a long-suffering Rockies fan, but also one of the hardest workers I’ve known. Kevin had a vote for the NL Cy Young this year.

…

Over the years, I’ve grown a bit more realistic about what’s possible in this industry (ignoring all the impact from Google’s ever-changing algorithm and the other factors killing online media). In fact, you might even argue that maintaining anything close to longevity in the industry is exponentially tougher with all those changes.

Still, I’ve always felt like the goal of every writer is to get into the BBWAA (which requires the acceptance of your peers, among other qualifications, not just meeting some arbitrary tenure of service) and, eventually, to earn a Hall of Fame ballot (which doesn’t come until you’ve been a member for ten years).

At least, getting in was once my goal. I had to accept a long time ago that it wasn’t the path my career was set on, though.

So I’ll live a little vicariously through others where I can.

KBO infielder Chan-Ho Park landed the record-tying contract he was projected for, as I mentioned last week. Park has reportedly agreed to a four-year, 8 billion won deal to leave the KIA Tigers for the Doosan Bears.

Pirates third baseman Cam Devanney is now the third player to head overseas, agreeing to a deal with the NPB’s Hanshin Tigers. The 28-year-old made his MLB debut this past season, hitting .139/.184/.167 in 38 PA.