Jeremy Guthrie, a former American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, and Washington Nationals, conducted a four-day clinic for Nigerian kids at the Abuja National Stadium. The clinic was in collaboration with Baseball Tomorrow Academy. SHOT!cornered him for a quick chat. He said Nigerians are talented and are capable of doing well in the game.

Is this your first time in Nigeria?

It is nice being here. Actually, it is my first time ever in Africa. I have the opportunity to come here when the Major Baseball Association reached out to me and said US Department of Sports Diplomacy is looking for a player that will come here and help teach the game to the kids here in Nigeria who are already playing.

What was your first reaction after being contacted?

I was very excited with the opportunity and here I am just a couple of weeks after receiving that phone call.

How far did you go in the game?

I played 15 years of professional baseball. Of those 15, ten were in the Major League with the Cleveland Indians who are in the playoffs right now. Then, I played five seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, half of a season with Colorado Rockies and then three and a half season with the Kansas City Royals and this past season, 2017 I pitched with the Washington Nationals. Many of the teams I pitched for were able to make the playoff and it is a very nice experience.

What is your impression of the game in Nigeria?

Baseball is a wonderful sport. It is played through out the world. To be honest, I didn’t know it is played here in Nigeria. I am very pleasantly surprised to learn that. I have seen some other teams like Uganda, Kenya in the World Series in the past. Baseball in Africa is improving every single year. It is a sport you can teach so much.

What is this game’s point of attraction for these kids?

One of the biggest things I think I have learned in Baseball is that it is very challenging with a lot of failures. You are a hitter and you get three hits and seven failures, you can say it is a very big success. You can fail so much but still be considered a success and that is much like how life is. Life is full of failures and the occasional success keeps us going and keeps us focus. Baseball teaches many life lessons and you have to practice a lot to become good at it. You must get to play defence and offence as well. A lot of work is required of baseball players. So, it teaches the importance of work. There is a lot to learn for those who don’t know the rules. There are plenty of rules to learn. When you learn those, you will begin to appreciate the game and begin to enjoy it even much more.

Do you think we have what it takes to develop the game here?

I think anybody has what it takes to, if you have coaches like you have, you have the interest in the game and a love and passion for it, certainly miracles can happen anywhere and you have many young talented players. I can already tell by your physical stature, you have the capabilities of becoming good baseball players. What happens is that it takes a lot of preparation from the coaches, a lot of desire, a lot of patience and eventually, you can look back and say ‘look at what we have done.’

Why is the camp for only kids, what about the coaches?

I think the coaches will be learning as well. It is necessarily intended for them but we are going to have plenty interaction and they will ask many questions and they will be able to share the information with their players.

Apart from what you are doing now, what else do you do now that you are retired?.

Yea, I am now retired but I still watch baseball games on the television every single day and I still enjoy playing either with my kids or friends who love baseball.