All bases loaded

The kids, most of them expats and clad in the colourful togs of Major League American baseball teams including the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies, nod wisely before crowding round Damon to get his autograph.

A Major League player since 1995, Damon played with the Boston Red Sox from 2001 to 2005 and was part of the team that saw them win the World Series in 2004. He then moved to the New York Yankees, where he stayed until 2009. Now 39, he most recently played for the Cleveland Indians, who released him in August. He is now unsigned and a free-agent.

The Thai-American was in Bangkok briefly last week on his way to way to Taiwan, where he is aims to help the Thai national team qualify for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. 

“The timing was perfect. They were putting together a Thai national team and I was not doing anything. So I said I would be very proud to represent my mother’s country. And because of that, I am over here training,” Damon says.

Damon was born in Kansas in 1973, to an American father and a Thai mother, Yome who met when his dad, Jimmy, a US serviceman, was stationed in Thailand in the late 1960s.

Yome accompanied Damon to Thailand during his previous visit to Thailand in 2007, when he told journalists during an interview at the US ambassador’s residence in Bangkok that he credited his mother for his inspiration.

This time, his mission to elevate the game of baseball. “I think the biggest thing is to let Thai children know that they have a chance to be very good and I am just an example,” he says.

“My mother is Thai and I have been able to play baseball at the highest level. So with me helping to teach and promote the game of baseball, hopefully some day Thai kids will be able to play baseball at college or professionally.

“Because of that, people will take a bigger interest in the game and hopefully, in a few years, baseball here in Thailand will be comparable to other places like US, Japan and Taiwan.”

After playing for the world top league, Damon’s decision to play for the Thai national team is hardly conventional. In 2011, the national baseball team ranked a lowly number 22nd in the world. 

Damon however hopes his presence will help raise the bar and the interest. “You have to start somewhere. And it is the perfect time to help promote the game.”

Damon is not only a sportsman but also a goodwill ambassador for the US. During the IBS event, US ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney was on hand to greet Damon and mingle with the children. Donning a baseball cap and a Washington Nationals T-shirt with her last name and number one at the back, Kenney said, “We are thrilled. He is a great example of Thai American friendship. He is a sporting super star and a really nice person too. We are honoured to claim him as both Thai and American.” 

Asked about her favourite baseball player, Kenney said, “I am a bit old fashioned. So my favourite player is Cal Ripken”. Her current favourite is Stephen Strasburg, from her home team. “Our amazing pitcher,” Kenney said while showing off her T-shirt with the logo of Washington Nationals.

Damon’s mother didn’t come along this time but the baseball star says she was with him in spirit. Yome took care of her boy the Thai way too, treating the youngster’s bumps and bruises with Tiger Balm.

“Every day I’m here, I find myself getting closer and closer to the country. Thai people are very nice and they are great people. I have learned a lot about myself from my mother. I have been here about a week now, every single day I feel more and more at peace with my Thai heritage and more knowledgeable about my heritage.”

Asked if he would come to Thailand again after this trip, Damon smiles. “Absolutely, I won’t change my number.”