International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.In recent years we've seen quite an influx of international players in Major League Baseball, with most of the players coming from the Oriental countries of Asia. You have your Daisukes, your Ichiros, your Fukudomes, and your Wangs along with many other players from Japan and Korea. The newest Japanese import will be pitcher Junichi Tazawa who is already getting interest from the Boston Red Sox.
Of course, Major League teams are now scouting the Far East pretty regularly in search of the newest import superstar. If you live in any other part of Asia and want to play baseball in the big leagues, you have to cross the Pacific Ocean first, which is exactly what two kids from India have done, with a little help along the way.
Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, two 19-year-olds from small villages in India, desperately want to live the American dream. Their shot at it is a decidedly improbable one.
