Pittsburgh Pirates sign two pitchers who have NEVER PITCHED

[underpants]

On Monday, the Pirates signed two young Indian pitchers, 20-year-old right-hander Dinesh Patel and 19-year-old southpaw Rinku Singh, as non-drafted free agents. Both will participate in the team's Minor League Spring Training next year.

"We are intrigued by Patel's arm strength and Singh's frame and potential," he continued. "These young men have improved a tremendous amount in their six-month exposure to baseball, and we look forward to helping them continue to fulfill their potential."

The story of Patel and Singh is one that is made for the movies. Both were discovered while participating in India's Million Dollar Arm challenge that began last December. The event was designed to find the country's most powerful and accurate arm and had more than 30,000 participants.

Singh emerged as the winner of the country-wide contest despite having no previous baseball experience before entering the competition. However, a Major League scout was also intrigued with Patel, who threw harder but with less accuracy. As a result, Patel was offered the chance to come to the U.S. to train as well.

After the competition ended, Singh and Patel came to the U.S. to train with University of Southern California pitching coach Tom House. All that work built up to a Nov. 12 tryout, when both players threw in front of approximately 20 Major League baseball scouts with the hope of earning a Spring Training invitation. The two pitchers both reportedly threw in the low-90s at the tryout.

"They still have to learn how to play the game," House told MLB.com after the tryout. "Their talent is the upside, but it's going to take them a while to learn how to play. It's not going to take much to get them to sign, either. If you're looking at it as an organization, you can really develop these kids.

"I know they can pitch, but we have to teach them how to play the game. It's well worth the risk."

Singh and Patel were javelin throwers in high school. They have begun to learn English by watching Baseball Tonight since arriving in the U.S. They are also taking online courses to continue their studies of the language.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081124&content_id=3690968&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. well, they'll fit right in with all the other players on their team

who seemingly don't know baseball either.

[madinmaryland]

2. The pirates are now going into their 18th year of a 5 year rebuilding plan.

At this rate it should be another 18 years until those "5" years are over.

[cboy4]

3. Now Pirates fans know what it's like to be a 49er fan and have

to put up with incompetent ownership year after year after year.

But the Giants will continue losing to Pittsburgh regardless, since the Bucs play like the '27 Yankees against us no matter what. :puke:



on edit: idiotic typo

[nickgutierrez]

4. If you're the Pirates, why not try this?

Nothing else you do works, so taking this step outside of convention... sure, go for it.

They've worked with Tom House, so it's not like they're completely clueless when it comes to mechanics and conditioning. If they end up making the major leagues, even in the bullpen, even for just a season or two, that's a good result, and maybe the game starts to catch on in India, too.

[El Supremo]

5. And they can handle the online customer service too! n/m

[burythehatchet]

6. I was 10 when I moved to the US from India

I had arrived in April and on my first day of school during recess we played baseball.

I had no idea of the rules, though I was a good cricketer in New Delhi.

I got up to bat and hit the ball to second base. But I didn't run. In cricket you keep batting until your ball is caught (or it hits wicket, or you are tagged running). Everyone was screaming for me to run but I had no intention to do so.

[Capt. America]

7. Fail. The Pirates are such a bad team in such a beautiful park.