Ken Griffey, Jr., meet Los Osos con Malas Noticias

About two and a half months ago, Ken Griffey, Jr. appeared at the White House with then-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to announce that he would be making a few trips abroad as an unofficial US envoy spreading the goodwill of the American people and Major League Baseball -- and, that, much to panablog's delight, his assignment would begin with a trip to Panama in mid-January.

Mid-January came. And then it went. Without Ken Griffey, Jr.

Then, on January 27, we heard the news that Griffey's trip to the isthmus had been postponed...until November.

We'll admit it: we were a little disappointed. We were all, like, "Oh, man. I wanted to see me some Ken Griffey, Jr. Now we have to wait until November. Bummer."

But then we got to thinking, "You know what? These things happen." Frankly, you could probably make a pretty solid argument that the government has been focusing on more important things these days than scheduling baseball clinics. And from Griffey's end, you can imagine that when you have a job that effectively keeps you on the road for eight months a year, you might, you know, actually want to spend some time with your family. Griffey's a class act, and if he had a scheduling conflict, you've got to believe it was legit.

Bruised feelings: healed.

Moreover, having the trip postponed will give us the opportunity to properly prepare for Griffey's arrival. The turnaround on the visit as it was originally scheduled was so tight that we couldn't adequately roll out the welcome mat here at panablog.

To that end, we are intent on making panablog Mr. Griffey's Panamanian Web welcome center.

So let's get started with some intercultural exchange up in here! Today, we bring you part one in what will be a ten part series: "Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Panamanian Baseball Primer."

Part One: Meet Los Osos con Malas Noticias

This bunch of often-do-wells gather in a lot behind their houses four or five times a week and put together pick up games of a brand of four on four baseball, that, if not technically by-the-book, is impressively executed. Part of the lack of officiality certainly comes from the fact that they do not have the vast majority of the equipment a group of 9- to 13-year-old boys might need to play a real game. As unofficial team equipment manager, I can report with some degree of certainty that the team´s inventory is as follows:

• One (heavily beaten) softball
• One glove, held together by nylon string

The good news is they have access to unlimited bats, and are quite adept at getting their hands on lumber specifically tailored to each batter:

An ¨A¨ for resourcefulness.

Don´t think for a second, however, that these Li´l Sluggers are just goofing around out there. The level of play almost comically outpaces the equipment with which they make do. The first time I saw them heading out to the field, I was kind of expecting a bunch of lollygagging. Not so. There was sophisticated employment of the bunt. When one group had a man on third I watched the batter quite intentionally poke the ball between first and second bases to bring the man home. The pitchers try to pick off runners at first. Take a look see:

Anydoodle, I think it´s pretty impressive for a bunch of kids who have never had a coach and get most of their info about the game from the radio and the infrequent newspaper.

Whelp, Ken Griffey, Jr., that about does it for part one of ¨Ken Griffey, Jr.´s Panamaian Baseball Primer.¨Check back next month for another look at how America´s pastime is played on the isthmus!

Comments

[JRVJ]

FWIW, the Bad News Bears were known as "Los Osos Revoltosos" in Spanish

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