UD AL-BAYDA, United Arab Emirates – A little less than 20 miles south of downtown Dubai, which features the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, and the enormous Dubai Mall, sits the ballpark where professional baseball’s next champion will be crowned this weekend.
Thursday’s afternoon sun shone brightly over Baseball United Ballpark as the Mid East Falcons went through their final practice before the start of the best-of-three United Series, where they’ll face the Mumbai Cobras in Game 1 tomorrow evening. It’s the culmination of the short but intense inaugural season of a league that has brought pro baseball to the Arabian desert, a season where players and coaches alike have enjoyed the adventure.
“It’s still baseball. You know, we’re just a long ways from home. It’s been a lot of fun, a lot of new fans. And, you know, it’s not challenging for us,” said Falcons manager Dennis Cook, who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball with nine different teams. “I know it’s challenging for the management and all that stuff. They’ve done a fantastic job getting us to this point. But for us guys, the baseball people, it’s just baseball the long ways from home.”
It’s just baseball, albeit with some new twists. Among the experimental rules Baseball United has implemented this season are the “moneyball,” which gives a team the chance to double the number of runs scored if a player hits a home run, and the “fireball,” where a strikeout automatically ends an inning.
“You’ve gotta be prepared, because sometimes when you have the new rules, the fireball and the money ball, you have to go there and be smart and try to go there and not [over]manage your team,” said Cobras manager Mariano Duncan, who won the World Series in 1990 with the Cincinnati Reds and again in 1996 with the New York Yankees. “You try to see if he calls for a money ball, and you can call a fireball in that way. If that guy strikes out, the inning is over. But if that guy hits a home run with somebody on base, they double the runs. Sometimes it’s kinda tough, but I just started to get used to it.”
Duncan’s team finished the season 6-3 and were the first team to clinch a berth in the inaugural title series, while the Falcons, who feature league MVP Brantley Bell and won their final three games coming into the United Series, also finished 6-3. A sweep of the Arabia Wolves got them a date with the Cobras.
“We have a ton of fun. We have a ton of fun together. We play loose, we laugh a lot, and we have a tight -knit team,” Cook said of his squad, which includes former MLB players Alejandro de Aza and Munenori Kawasaki, as well as Hiroyuki Nakajima, who played 21 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball with four different teams. “We’ve been here for, what, four and a half weeks? And our team feels like it’s very much together. And like I said, we’re loose, and we’re going to go out and compete hard and have fun.”
There is no one in baseball who has more fun that Kawasaki, who, as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, created a number of viral moments while being interviewed, breaking the stereotype of the quiet, reserved Japanese player. With the Falcons, he’s the clubhouse leader of their 14 Japanese players, and has the mentor role in the clubhouse along with de Aza.
“I just think they talk baseball with them. You know, I think Kawasaki has taken the shortstop [Manato Tanai] under his wings,” Cook said. “He’s going to be a really good player. And I think just teaching him how to work. Kawasaki has really taken him under his wing and showed him how to work. And I mean Diaz is just a professional hitter. He’s talking hitting all the time and that helps everybody involved.”
While Duncan’s club may not have any former Major Leaguers, he does have three pitchers, Akshay More, Tushar Lalwani and Saurabh Gaikwad, who hail from India on his pitching staff, and they haven’t looked out of place – especially More, who pitched 11 1/3 innings with a 2.38 ERA and 10 strikeouts.
“I got an opportunity to pitch three of those guys from India, And those three guys, they’re now a hero in India,” said Duncan. More, he said, “opened the eyes to a lot of organizations… the New York Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays. …That guy is 6-foot-‘4, and in the beginning, when I came in in 2023, he threw 86 -87. Now he’s touching 93 or 94.”
Developing players from India, Pakistan, and the Middle East has been a stated goal of Baseball United founder and CEO Kash Shaikh.
“That’s something that I think that’s good about this league,” Duncan said. [We’ll] see if we can find some players around here [who] can go and play in Major League Baseball.”
Mumbai Cobras (6-3)
Manager – Mariano Duncan
Key Position Players – IF Brantley Bell (.441/.537/.676, 6 2B, 1 3B, 5 RBI, 1.213 OPS), OF Caleb McNeely (.313/.488/.688, 3 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 1.176 OPS), OF Lou Helmig (.296/.394/.556, 10 RBI, .949 OPS)
Key Pitchers – Akshay More (11 1/3 IP, 1.59 ERA, 10 K, 1.32 WHIP), Chandler Woodridge (10 2/3 IP, 1.69 ERA, 19 K, 0.380 WHIP), Brandon Kaminer (10 1/3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 11 K, 0.580 WHIP)
Mid East Falcons (6-3)
Manager – Dennis Cook
Key Position Players – IF Hiroyuki Nakajima (.400/.500/.433, 6 RBI), OF Alejandro de Aza (.375/.545/.542, 1.087 OPS, 4 2B), IF Jake Hjelle (.290/.324/.484, 1 HR, 9 RBI), IF Munenori Kawasaki (.367/.500/.433, 11 H, 2 2B, 7 BB).
Key Pitchers – Kazuki Yabuta (20 IP, 1.35 ERA, 24 K, 0.80 WHIP), Shingo Hirata (11 1/3 IP, 1.74 ERA, 9 K), Shotaro Kasahara (7 2/3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 K)
Where to Watch – All three games of the United Series will be streamed live on YouTube via the Baseball United YouTube page.
United Series Schedule
All times Eastern Standard Time
* – If Necessary
Friday, Dec. 12
Game 1 – Mid East Falcons at Mumbai Cobras – 11 a.m. – YouTube Live Stream
Saturday, Dec. 13
Game 2 – Mumbai Cobras at Mid East Falcons – 10 a.m.
Sunday, Dec. 14
Game 3* – Mid East Falcons at Mumbai Cobras – 5 a.m.
Photo: The Mumbai Cobras will face the Mid East Falcons in the inaugural United Series for the 2025 Baseball United championship. (Image courtesy of Baseball United)
