When Every Game Is Away

Cover Photo by Joe Wabe
Photo Credits: Joe Wabe, Simon Bond, & Kia Tigers

“As one of only two foreign players allowed on the Tigers by the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), as well as the only black sports star in Jeollanam-do, Sosa may be one of the most easily recognizable men in Gwangju.”

There are nights, says KIA Tigers pitcher Henry Sosa, that he waits in the stadium after games instead of going directly home, even if it is very late. He does it to avoid the fans; he loves them, of course, but that is the problem.

“Some players can ignore them,” he explains, “but I can’t do it.”

If a group of fans recognize Sosa and ask for autographs or pictures with him, he knows he will simply have to grant all their requests – and as one of only two foreign players allowed on the Tigers by the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), as well as the only black sports star in Jeollanam-do, Sosa may be one of the most easily recognizable men in Gwangju.

He uses the time he spends waiting in the stadium to write. “Movies. I already have an agent in America and someone interested … [The script] is about a baseball player in New York getting involved in fights.”

“Write what you know, huh? That’s pretty impressive,” a Gwangju News staff member says. “It’s hard to get into the movie business.”

“Not really. It was pretty easy,” he answers – and maybe for him it is. After all, it is pretty hard to become a baseball player too. For over 10 years now, Sosa has shown himself to be very good at getting people who are looking for talent to notice him.

Born in the rural El Seibo province of the Dominican Republic, Henry Sosa Esther (his full name includes his mother’s family name) may never have had the opportunity to impress baseball talent scouts, if his family had not decided to try city life when he was 16. But he certainly made use of the opportunity when he received it, showing off a 150 KPH fastball.

In 2004 he accepted an offer to play minor league baseball in the U.S. for the Arizona Giants as a pitcher. The year afterward he joined another minor league team, the San Jose Giants. His relationship with San Jose had its high points. In 2007 he won recognition for having the best fastball in the South Atlantic League and recorded a 2.58 ERA over 27 games total (an ERA is an “earned run average,” the runs given up by a pitcher every nine innings. Sosa’s 2.58 ERA would generally be considered quite good for a minor league starting pitcher.

His association with the Giants would turn out to be a very long relationship, though. He spent six years on that team, waiting year after year for a promotion to the Major Leagues that gradually seemed less and less likely to happen. According to My World of Baseball, his prospect status fell from number 5 in 2008 to 13 in 2009, number 16 in 2010 and finally, number 29 in 2011.

Injuries also played a part in the career troubles. Sosa needed patellar tendon knee surgery in 2007 and strained his shoulder in 2009. But sources indicated that Sosa may have been a victim of mismanagement by the coaching staff. If you read past examinations of Sosa by baseball analysts and fans in the U.S., you will find most of them have the same opinion: Sosa was valuable but wrongly used.

A sampling of reports from Sosa’s time with the Giants include: he was “a solid late-game reliever” (Grading on the Curve). He “ultimately probably better profiles as a reliever” (Roto World). “The Giants still need to decide how they want to use him, be it as a starter or a reliever, where he may be more valuable” (Bleacher Report). He “may be best suited for the bullpen” (My World of Baseball). Instead of finishing games for his team, however, he usually started them.

When Sosa did receive the unexpected chance to play Major League Baseball in 2011 as a pitcher for the Houston Astros, his new team made the same mistake as his old one. The Astros made him a starting pitcher in 10 games. That year Sosa registered a 5.23 ERA. On May 18, 2012, Houston sold him to the KIA Tigers. By May 25, he was playing games here in the ROK.

No, no, don’t get the wrong idea: Sosa didn’t start a new life in Korea with only one week of notice. He, his wife and his cousin moved to Korea with only three days’ notice, because he needed to practice with the Tigers before playing with them the next Friday. He did not expect that those practices would be more difficult than American ones. “They work so hard! I mean, my other teams worked hard, but these guys [work] like… double.”

Sosa describes team practices that can last until 11 p.m. Most of his life is spent with the team, which unfortunately means he does not have much opportunity to get out in the Gwangju community. He is interested when he is told that Gwangju has a writing club. He asks if Tequilaz has authentic Central-American food. Tragically, he has never come across an issue of Gwangju News.

Fortunately he likes his teammates. Communication with them is not a problem, he says. The coaches know enough English to communicate with him and he knows a little Korean, so he can encourage others. Like the team’s other foreign player, Antony Lerew, Sosa has endeared himself to the team and fans by clearly enjoying Korean food. In particular, Sosa is reported to like Korean-style fish so much that his teammates have nicknamed him “Fish Killer.” Sosa also likes Korean barbeque but mainly eats his wife’s Central-American cooking at home.

The KIA Tigers’ Public Relations Departments likes to share this story. Before boarding a flight back to the Dominican Republic in 2011, Sosa learned that his bags full of Major League souvenirs was over the passenger weight limit. He opened the bags and quickly distributed their contents to surprised and delighted travelers around him, even giving away his official winter coat.

It is easy to imagine Sosa doing that, once you have talked to him; he is the relaxed sort, even about the current season. As you might expect, the KIA Tigers are using Sosa as a starting pitcher this year, but the Tigers’ difficult team practices (and their fish dinners) may have helped Sosa to improve in the position. The man’s stats keep getting better, albeit incrementally. The KIA Tigers certainly appear content that he is giving them what they want in return for his $160,000 annual salary.

He is not hoping to return anytime soon to the Major Leagues in the U.S., although it is probably nice to know the foreign pitcher he replaced – Horacio Ramirez – is now pitching for the Chicago Cubs. The KIA Tigers have given him a good home, along with some great material for his movie scripts.