Late Sept. Entries

Written 9/12:

So today marked a great day for my service. It was the first day of baseball on Pele islands newly cleared field! It’s about time! I got some of the Pele youth together and shagged balls until we got enough for two squads. I set the word out that I would be having the training a couple days prior and did a little ground pounding to do so. I tried my best to encourage the girls to come, but not one showed up on the training day (have to work on that one, and I think some will start coming in time). Once we had about 16 kids I explained the rules and showed them a couple clips from The Rookie to give them a better picture of the game.

At this point my arm was already a little tired from pitching for about an hour to the few kids that had showed up on time. I divided the kids up and we started a game in the lone, newly cleared Pele playing field. I was the all-time pitcher and had to really throw hard for a about half the guys or they would just teeing off every time. These guys really are pretty natural when it comes to both hitting and throwing. There were some great shots up the middle, opposite field, and a few downright bombs. We used a rubber ball as we don’t have gloves yet on Pele, and that made it a little hard for people to catch at times (it was pretty bouncy). The bat was something I carved the day before with a machete, and I'd have to say I did a pretty good job for my first attempt.

They picked up the game great, and a couple of the kids were even holding up on fly balls. This is a very hard concept to get through. We only played a few innings as it was starting to get dark, but it was a good game that ended 15-14 with a walk-off double. The true highlight of the game was when Ismael nearly killed a chicken. You see, chickens in villages here, roam free, and usually have ownership marked by what toe the family cuts off or tying a color of calico cloth to the wing. Well, Ismael hit a shot to dead center, and scored an in-the-park homer. After the commotion of the big score I was readying to throw to the next batter when I noticed that everyone was staring into the outfield. “What?” I asked. One boy said, “Ismael killed a chicken.” I asked in a unbelieving manner, “You mean with that last hit?!” “Yup.” Sure enough a few smaller kids that were watching the game walked over to hoist the half-grown, now dead chicken off the field. (We later found out it survived and was just very stunned). It was hard not to laugh at the incident so we did, but I still felt bad for who ever that chicken belonged to (that’s food for somebody).

The game attracted a lot of interest from adults in my village, and we had a good crowd by the end of the game. All of the kids that played had a great time and wanted to play again the following day. I had to decline though as I was headed across the water for the Ekipe vs. Vila rubber match the following day. We do have it set up though so that every Friday we’ll play, and try to work in more days as it goes along. I don’t think I could have played the next day anyway as my shoulder was aching from pitching for hours.

(Couple pics from the Pele game. Check out Lester"s (the catcher) way of improvising without a cup. I had no idea he was doing this until I saw the top picture later. Click on the picture to see Lester's facial expression, very funny. The bottom pic gives a good view of what the field looks out onto. Nice scenery for a ballpark, huh?)

Its pretty cool to be actually playing on Pele now in the true sandlot. The field is a big beach so that will make things interesting as play progresses here.

That night I had dinner with my host family, and we started talking about sports after we finished eating. My mama said that she was once a great javelin thrower! I had no idea that they even did that here! At any rate I don’t think they do anymore, and that it was a sport promoted during colonial times. She said she had a few trophies for it, but they went missing a while ago. She then started saying how she had played baseball before when she was younger. “No you didn’t!” my papa exclaimed. “You’re thinking of cricket.” No, she was adamant that she had played and described how they ran the bases and had a round bat. He still didn’t believe her. I then asked her if they used to peg baserunners and she said yes. “O.K.,” I replied. “I think you guys were playing Rounders.” I’ve heard a few other older people tell me they played baseball before only to tease out the same solution. Rounders for those of you that don’t know is the childhood game that a lot of British people play, and it is the foundation of which modern day baseball is formed. From what I understand Rounders is also played with a bat and ball, but a soft ball that is pegged at people to get the outs. In this game bases are also used as a player “rounds” the bases, and that’s where the confusion, lumping these two games as one in the same, comes. It seems that in some older British colonial schools they used to teach Rounders. Of course, not baseball, as that might compete with Britain’s love for cricket.

Written 9/13:

The Big Game II (actually III, but I was on Ambae when II went on)

(Team Vila and Team Ekipe)

So on this day it was to be the rubber match between the Ekipe Black Ants and the Port Vila Independence. Ekipe had won one in Vila and Vila had won one in Ekipe. The final for The Efate Cup was set to be in Paunganisiu (North Efate) on neutral ground. I arrived in the morning (its very near where the boats from Pele land when going to Efate) to set up the field. A guy that I met a few months ago when trying to start something like NEPSSA had volunteered to mow the huge field for us a few days before the game. When I arrived I found the huge field mowed and that he had gained the services of a tractor to grab pieces of wood for a floor of the already existent stage. Javi had asked that if I had time that I use sand from the nearby beach to make foul lines as they did so in the last game and it worked well. Thanks to the tractor I was able to grab a bunch of sand, and some local kids and I went to work on the lines. When we were done we had a surplus of sand so I put in a batter’s box and on-deck circles.

For bases we use white burlap-like, 20kg rice bags filled about a quarter with sand. The remainder of the rice bag is folded under the part that’s full of sand for a square, base-like appearance. They actually work quite well, and these bags can usually be found pretty easily in villages. We can’t take credit for the idea though as Kevin had pioneered this one long before Javi and I arrived. I brought 5 bags from Pele with the intention of starting to use one lesser-filled bag as a pitcher’s mound. I had used it on Pele and it helped with consistency of pitches when knowing where you threw from the last time.

(View of The Paunganisiu Ballfield)

The Vila team arrived first with Kevin, Jeremiah, and Krissy (Javi’s wife). I enjoyed hitting fly balls to them as they were warming up. One kid that had just started playing ball a couple weeks ago with the Vila team was making some excellent snags. The Ekipe team arrived with Javi and Carol, the new Ekipe volunteer, and they in turn started warming up. Also in attendance were a couple PC volunteers from North Efate, Sara and Nicole, and a few men and children from Paunganisiu. We had hoped for a better crowd, but weren’t able to get any supporters from Vila or Ekipe to come as they had to settle on buses that barely fit the teams. We had also hoped that a lot of North Efate community members would come look too, and had gotten the word out and were told some would come. The only ones that did were a handful of people that trickled in during the game. That was alright though as the game was good.

Mark Bethel, the community chairman, guy that mowed the field, and MC, kicked off the game with a prayer and some salu salu hanging for the two coaches, the two umpires (Jeremiah and myself), and a couple other PC volunteers. He then gave the floor to the Chief of Paunganisiu to open the field for baseball play. Ekipe won the bat toss and hand on top of the bat and chose to be the home team. We then lined the kids up on their respective foul lines and had Mark Bethel lead us in the Vanuatu National Anthem.

(The teams aligned on the foul lines for the National Anthem)

Jeremiah and I had a little chat to discuss calls, and I was glad he was home plate umpire as I wanted to watch the game more and concentrate less on pitching counts. He also umped for a while in the States which is nice and gave me some good insight on best ways to make calls and position yourself when working a two man crew. Strangely, we had both showed up wearing green shirts and grey shorts for the occasion. “I guess we’ve got a uniform,” I joked as I pointed out our similar attire. We had a good laugh and he yelled out a “Play Ball!”

Vila struck first with a couple well-manufactured runs in the 1^st. Ekipe squeezed in a run in the bottom of the first, and held Vila scoreless in the top of the 2^nd, aided well by a fantastic catch by their female second baseman. She faded back on a pop over her head, got to the ball just in time, and ended up doing a somersault as her momentum carried her onward, all the while holding her glove above the ground, and onto the ball. Pretty impressive! Sometimes as an ump you really like pumping the fist for a good put out. That play was one one of them, and the crowd erupted in cheer for the great play.

After the good display of defense, Ekipe then opened ‘er up in the bottom half of the inning, trumping Vila’s goose egg in the top of the inning with a rally that had scored 6 runs by the end of it. Another 6 run rally was repeated the following inning leaving the score at the end of three: 13 to 2. Vila was letting the game slide due to some bad fielding mistakes like not getting in front of the ball, confusing tag and force plays, and throwing the ball away. There actually weren’t too many bombs by Ekipe. They just kept hitting. Vila on the other hand was having trouble getting their offense going and were leaving runners stranded as batters were striking out during inopportune times (a couple times with their bat on the shoulder).

(Ekipe getting something started)

Jeremiah was cracking me up with his enthusiasm as he went along, calling strike three on kids on both squads with a booming, “Heeeee Raeeeeek Threeee!”. I don’t think he was being too harsh though. Although, some kids did look at him like, “Where did this guy come from?” Awesome! It was cool to just see him having fun with it and getting into the game. He also stood in there like a rock as he caught a couple foul tips off the noggin. “You all right?!” Someone would exclaim. “Nah I’m good. 2 and 2,” as he squatted back down for the next pitch.

(Runner's safe at second while pitcher looks on)

In the 4^th Vila’s slugger jacked one to left center, but they only picked up a run on the dinger as no runners were on. In the bottom of the 4^th Vila played good defense and held Ekipe scoreless. The 5^th allowed a couple runs on both sides, and included a great snag by Godwin, Ekipe’s center fielder, to save a couple runs. Vila got something nice started in the 6^th, rallying and scoring five hits, determined to turn this into a game again. Ekipe put in a couple runs again in the bottom of the 6^th sending Vila into do-or-die mode, trailing Ekipe by eight runs, as they started the 7^th and final inning. Ekipe put them down in short order and won the game 17-9.

After the game the kids shook hands and the MC had Kevin present Ekipe’s captain with The Cup (actually a silver plastic and wood cup trophy). Javi and I thought it a little harsh to have the losing coach present the trophy, but Kevin did it well, and the MC was the guy the guy calling the shots.

(Kevin presents trophy to Ekipe captain)

Popsicles were then given to all, accepted nicely on such a hot, muggy day.

(Umps enjoying popsicles after a hard day's work in the heat)

The MC then gave a toktok to the kids and told them and us that baseball is welcome here anytime, and he knows this will not be the last time it will be played here. He then turned to the kids and said, “And you guys will some day be the coaches for your kids and carry on this great game so that one day Vanuatu will have its first national baseball team.”

It was a great quote and definitely at the heart of what we, Javi and I and now Jeremiah too, are trying to do here. We have no illusions of having internationally competitive teams ready here as we close our service. We merely want to try to spark the fire so that sometime baseball may take off here. Furthermore, we are trying to introduce these new sports, but even more so we're aiming to show organizations like NEPSSA how to organize leagues, and tournaments, and how to keep a sports organization running well.

I rounded out the day with a couple shells of kava in nearby Emua. I brought a cigar (thanks Dad) with me and smoked alongside David and his Sherlock Holmes pipe. He’s a real nice old guy from Emua, and the only guy in Vanuatu that I know of that smokes pipe tobacco. I then lucked out and caught a boat back to Pele as I was sure I’d have to stay the next day in Emua. I like Emua, but that probably would mean me going to a long church service. Phew! That was close.

Written 9/13:

Ronneth, MPA staff member, stormed into my house today with his shoes on (no no here) as I lay reading in my hammock and barked, “What did you tell those villages down the way about the mooring?” Ronneth is kind of an intense dude, and people that don’t know him actually think he’s pissed off at them. I know better. I replied laughing, “I told them to come pick up the materials as they finally actually volunteered to do it (meaning work the cement for the mooring.” We’ve been waiting a couple months for these two villages to get their act together and work their mooring anchors as the rest of the villages have. In the last MPA meeting we finally relented and decided to send a staff member, Ronneth, in to work the damn things so we can stay not too far behind with the grant schedule. Well in the time between the meeting and when Ronneth was set to work the moorings one of the chiefs, when talking to me one day, said he was ready to work the mooring. “Cool,” I thought, “We’ll save some money on salary this way as they will volunteer for volunteer work.” I told him to have someone come see me, and I’d tell them how to work it. A couple days later he sent a teenage kid to seek out advice on how to make the thing. I, surprised that they were actually moving on this thing, told the kid to come back the next day and I’d have the materials ready for him. He never came back.

Then Ronneth had to go to that village anyway to prey for a sick person, and decided he’d talk to the chief who then said I told them to work the mooring. That’s where Ronneth got confused and thought I was changing things around. As Ronneth stood there I explained, “No I only told them to come do it because I actually thought they might come volunteer for volunteer work, but they failed me again. I should have known better.” We both had a laugh. I then told Ronneth that he should still work the thing, but hopefully someone from the village will help him out. I then told him if I’m free that day I’ll walk down there with him in case he doesn’t get anyone to help him, and we’ll both work the damn things as we swear loudly at the lazy villages. He liked that plan and departed for Nguna content that the plan is still in order. He’s pretty regimental; definitely armed services material if he grew up in the US. One day, a while ago, when he was wearing some shades we commented how his facial expression and shade combo gave him a Terminator air. “But,” I explained to Rob and Dom he’s got to have an “Hasta La Vista Baby!” saying too. We settled on “Mal Bong Bitch!” (Good morning asshole!). It’s been a Nguna Pele volunteer inside joke ever since. Of course now I have to email it (to Rob and Glenis) or reserve for times when I see Dom in Vila.