Dune of Dreams: Baseball league in Dubai begins with novel rules and camels

A baseball diamond emerges from the UAE desert, marking an ambitious attempt to bring America’s pastime to a region dominated by soccer and cricket. The inaugural season of Baseball United kicked off Friday at the newly constructed Barry Larkin Field, named after the former Cincinnati Reds shortstop who invested in the venture.

The field, located in Ud al-Bayda about 30 kilometers from Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa, replicates the exact dimensions of Yankee Stadium but features artificial turf to withstand the Emirates’ scorching temperatures. The 3,000-seat facility will host all games for the monthlong tournament, primarily during evening hours when temperatures are more moderate.

Baseball United’s four-team league strategically aims to tap into the sporting rivalry between India and Pakistan, countries with massive expatriate populations in the UAE. Friday’s opener featured the Mumbai Cobras facing off against the Karachi Monarchs, with the league also including the Arabia Wolves of Dubai and the Mideast Falcons from Abu Dhabi.

“People here have got to learn the rules anyway, so if we get to start with a blank canvas, then why don’t we introduce some new rules that we believe are going to excite them from the onset,” Baseball United CEO and co-owner Kash Shaikh told The Associated Press.

Those rule innovations could potentially attract American viewers now that the MLB regular season has concluded. The league introduced several novel concepts, including a golden “moneyball” that allows managers three opportunities per game to double the runs scored from a home run. A “fireball” automatically ends an inning when a pitcher strikes out a batter, and teams can deploy “designated runners” three times during each contest. If games remain tied after nine innings, the outcome is decided by a home run derby rather than extra innings.

Environmental considerations influenced the stadium’s construction. The artificial field eliminates the need for more than 45 million liters of water annually that would be required to maintain natural grass in the desert climate. League executive John P. Miedreich noted they “had to airlift clay in from the United States and Pakistan” to construct the pitcher’s mound.

Baseball’s history in the Middle East has been uneven at best. The professional Israel Baseball League launched in 2007 but collapsed after just one season. While Americans introduced the sport to pre-revolution Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE decades ago, it has never gained significant traction. Saudi Arabia has occasionally sent teams to the Little League World Series through the influence of Americans working at Aramco, the national oil company.

The region’s sporting landscape remains firmly dominated by soccer, which reached its apex with Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup. Cricket also commands massive popularity, particularly among the Indian and Pakistani communities. Dubai even houses the headquarters of the International Cricket Council near the city’s cricket stadium.

Baseball United organizers recognize these challenges. During Thursday’s news conference, they explained baseball fundamentals like home runs and center field positioning to the assembled media.

“The most important part is the experience for fans to come out, eat a hot dog, see mascots running around, to see baseball traditions that we all grew up with back home in the U.S. — and start to fall in love with the game because we know that once they start to learn those, they will become big fans,” Shaikh said.

Friday’s opening night revealed some of the hurdles ahead. A section of seats was filled with laborers bused in and given free Karachi Monarchs shirts, snacks, and water. While they joined more experienced baseball fans in cheering, the beer prices exceeding $13 were prohibitively expensive for workers who typically earn just a few hundred dollars monthly.

The game featured several memorable moments, including Monarchs batter Pavin Parks hitting the opening pitch for a home run. The “fireball” rule expedited play by ending three innings with single strikeouts. Parks later hit the league’s first “moneyball” home run in the ninth inning as the Monarchs prevailed 6-4.

In a uniquely Arabian touch, the starting pitchers for both teams made their entrances riding camels.

“Thirty years in the game and I’ve never seen a camel in the bullpen,” remarked Monarchs pitching coach Frank Gonzales. “I kind of like it though.”