MAJOR League Baseball (MLB) envoy coach Elias Sosa, who visited the island recently for a two-day coaching seminar, believes Jamaicans should be benefitting more from the sport.

Sosa says Jamaicans are very athletic and talented and should be taking advantage of this opportunity with so many baseball-playing nations in close proximity to the island.

Sosa, who instructed the coaching course at the invitation from Little League Baseball and Sofball Ja Inc at The Mico University College, said untapped potential exists here, but it would require time to develop the game and build a baseball culture.

Sosa, who represented a number of MLB clubs as a player from 1968 to 1983, says it would be in the interest of MLB to see the sport develop

in Jamaica.

“I work for MLB and I was invited here by Janet Johnson (Haughton), and Little League Baseball & Sofball Ja Inc, who are trying to develop the sport of baseball in Jamaica.

“They don’t know much about it because baseball has never really taken root here in Jamaica, for some reason I don’t know.

“But we are in the business of baseball and Major League is into developing baseball wherever we feel there is talent, and we feel there is talent here in Jamaica.

“You play all these sports very well, so why not apply that talent in baseball?” he reasoned. “The country is basically in the same region as the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, who have a lot of players in the big leagues.

“Jamaica is right in the middle and close to all these countries, and for some reason they don’t have any grasp about this sport .

“They have never taken advantage of it like these countries who have a lot of players in the big leagues, making good living and helping their countries, communities and families.

“But I guess it’s a culture thing… but Ms Jackson and her friends are trying hard to do

something about it, and that’s why they brought me here,” he added.

He admitted Jamaica was far behind in the sport, but said if local organisers can generate the interest, MLB would be willing to assist.

“The people who are interested in developing baseball need to be motivated; they need to know it’s good for the community and for children,” he said.

“T hey will have to be self-motivated and learn the game… and we’ll do our part by providing instructors and equipment. But we need to see some interest, because if Jamaicans do not like the game and do not believe in this, then there is nothing we can do,” he added.

The former right-arm pitcher said adding the game to Jamaica’s sport curriculum would not rob the nation of preferred pastimes like cricket and football, but would rather present itself as an option.

He said the game was easy to play once the basics are understood, and one could have a bright finacial future, although he pointed out that baseball was more than about money.

“I learnt that the Cincinnati Reds signed a pitcher from Cuba a few months ago whose family hailed from Jamaica moving to Cuba.

“He ended up deserting Cuba and I don’t know how he reached the United States, but the Reds signed him for $50 million, and today he’s a very wealthy man trying to get his family out of Cuba.

“But baseball is a lot more than that; it’s about friendship; it’s a family sport; it’s not violent; you make a lot of friends and you need to have a lot of discipline. So there is a lot of good things,” he said.

The 56-year-old is, however, confident that should the game take root in Jamaica, it would be highly rewarding.

“You have an advantage because you have more athletes here; you’re fitter, faster and you

speak English, which makes it easier to understand instructions in America, so you have all

the advantage, all you need to do is just go for it,” he said.

“Implementing it in the schools is the best way to go, because the kids would be a part of the curriculum and it could grow, from there, into a culture,” he said.