Day 3: Baseball! In Africa!

Our last day in Nairobi for the first leg of our trip was marked by a Nairobi Buffaloes baseball game, starring Jack and Damond Bailey! They play together in a community league consisting of six teams, some of which are co-ed, and all of which are a blend of ages, nationalities, and, shall we say, baseball acumen. It's real Field of Dreams stuff, started by a nonprofit called If We Build It, which as its name implies, aims to grow the game of baseball in sub-Saharan Africa by building the country's first baseball and softball fields. Jack Bailey, who turns 17 on July 31, is among the most fundamentally skilled players. On this day, he was hit twice by pitches, walked, doubled, stole six bases (including home) and scored 3 of his team's 12 runs. His father, no slouch at 53, played a solid first base and drove in a run. I left my SD card at their place, so couldn't use the big camera. In any case, it was more fun to watch, for me, than to fiddle with camera settings. I can't put very well into words the way it made me feel, but as a kid who grew up in 1970's and 80's America when Reggie Jackson was a celebrity and baseball was THE sport, it was pretty astounding to be standing in a field on the grounds of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nairobi watching ex-pats from around the world joining together with Africans and playing America's Pastime.

Jack leaving second for one of his SIX steals.

A lovely tradition: "Good game, good game, good game..."