TEMPE, Ariz. — Squinting into the desert sun, the scouts huddled behind a screen, their radar guns cocked.
The catcher went into his crouch as the lanky lefty pawed at the mound, then rocked and fired. The only sounds were a grunt and the pop of the ball in the mitt.
At first glance, it looked like any other big league tryout. This one had a twist: the pitcher, Rinku Singh, had never picked up a baseball before May. And he’s from India, better known for producing world class cricketers than pitching aces — although Singh hopes that will soon change.
“Baseball,” Singh said later in halting English. “Love it.”
Singh and Dinesh Patel, both 19, pitched in front of some 30 major league scouts on Thursday at a Tempe sports clinic. The tryout was among their rewards for winning an Indian reality TV show called “The Million Dollar Arm,” which drew more than 30,000 contestants.
A California sports management firm organized the contest. The rules were simple: pick up a baseball and throw it as hard as you can.
Singh and Patel pitched in the Delhi region and topped out in the high 80s mph. That earned them a trip to the U.S., where they’ve spent the past six months training with Southern California pitching coach Tom House in Los Angeles.
They’ve pitched in a handful of scrimmages against junior college competition, House said, and spent the rest of the time preparing for their once-in-a-lifetime chance to throw in front of big league scouts on Thursday.
Neither Singh nor Patel had ever left their respective villages before coming to the States, according to their interpreter, Ash Vasudevan. Both Singh and Patel said they have competed in the javelin in India.
The short, stocky Patel hit 90 on the radar gun during a 30-pitch stint, leading House to call him “a right-handed Billy Wagner.” Singh was clocked at 84.
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