West All-Star, East All-Stars to get ball rolling in Dubai Showcase 1st match

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

In a watershed moment, the Baseball United’s West All-Stars will take on the East All-Stars in the inaugural match of the two-match series of the Baseball United's Dubai Showcase at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday.

Baseball United is the first-ever professional league of the sports in the Middle East and Indian sub-continent. The inter-country league have four teams – Dubai Wolves, Abu Dhabi Falcons, Mumbai Cobras and the Karachi Monarchs.

Forty-four players – 22 on each team – will participate in the two-game series between Baseball United East All-Stars and Baseball United West All-Stars.
Seventy-five percent of Baseball United’s All-Stars have played at the Major League Baseball (MLB) level, with others competing in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball Organization and other international leagues and tournaments.

Pakistan legend Shoaib Akhtar was appointed as the brand ambassador of the league on Thursday. The Baseball United East All-Stars are led by MLB legend, Bartolo Colon, a four-time MLB All-Star and the winningest Latin American-born pitcher in MLB history.

Colon will be the East team’s starting pitcher on Opening Night, Friday. When he takes the field in Dubai, he will become one of the oldest professional players in history.
The East team’s starting infield has a total of 32 years MLB playing experience, with players from the Dominican Republic, the United States, Curaçao, and Venezuela.

Players like Jefry Marte, Shed Long, Andrelton Simmons Pablo Sandoval have been picked up by four franchises.

Marte was selected 20th overall in Baseball United’s recent Draft by the Karachi Monarchs.

Long was selected 19th overall by the Mumbai Cobras in Baseball United’s Draft.

Simmons, who played 11 years in MLB and won four Gold Glove awards – two each with the Atlanta Braves and the Angels. Simmons was selected in the first round – eight overall – in the Baseball United Draft by the Mumbai Cobras.

The East team’s outfield is comprised of a trio of former MLB players -- Dwight Smith Jr., who batted .331 with 22 home runs in the Atlantic League (Independent) this year. Smith Jr. was selected 17th overall by Baseball United’s Wolves franchise.

Former Detroit Tigers and current Canadian National Team member, Jacob Robson, who was drafted 22nd overall by the Cobras.

Meanwhile, Baseball United, the first-ever professional baseball league focused on the Middle East and Indian Subcontinent, announced eight baseball prospects who will compete alongside the league’s top players at the Baseball United All-Star Showcase in Dubai this week.

These eight prospects include players from the Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Ugandan, and Palestinian baseball national teams. They are the first set of prospects announced by Baseball United and will be part of the league’s planned “Super 16” prospect group that competes in league events next year.

The West All-Stars will include Saurabh Gaikwad (21 years old), right-handed pitcher out of Satara, India; Akshay More (19), right-handed pitcher out of Pune, India; and Akshay Mogal (22), infielder out of Nashik, India. Gaikwad and More are considered the nation’s best pitchers, with fastballs topping 90 MPH and several years of experience on the Indian national team, as well as at their university, Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab.

The West All-Star team will also include Palestinian national baseball team captain, Yunis Halim (26). Halim was the team’s Most Valuable Player at their recent second-place finish at the West Asia Cup in Islamabad, Pakistan, and also played two years of American college baseball at Chicago State University. Halim’s parents were born in Palestine, and immigrated to Oak Lawn, Illinois just before he was born.

The East All-Stars will include Syed Muhammad Shah (20), infielder from Lahore, Pakistan; Wahid (19), infielder out of Khyber, Pakistan; and Hashan Senewirathna (20), infielder out of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

All three prospects competed in the 2023 West Asia Cup, and all have been key members of their national team programs since childhood. Shah is the son of Syed Khawar Shah, who is widely considered the founder of baseball in Pakistan. The Pakistan national team won this year’s West Asia Cup, and will be competing in the Asian Championships next month.

The East All-Star team also includes Ugandan catcher and outfielder, Dennis Kasumba (20).

Kasumba, who has grown a following on social media through his inspiring workout and training videos, caught the eye of Baseball United CEO, Kash Shaikh.

The two connected via Instagram, and then met via Zoom a few days later. Orphaned at a young age, Kasumba documented and shared his intense workouts on social media while earning $1 a day working in a slaughterhouse.

He now will take the field in Dubai alongside former MLB legends like Bartolo Colon, Robinson Cano, and Pablo Sandoval.