Considering his choice of career path, Gift Ngoepe could perhaps best be described as an unexpected gift. The place in history he achieved, however, will forever be his prized possession.
If you were to go in search of the chances of an African becoming an elite baseball star might seem about as likely to happen as the outbreak of a snowball fight in downtown Nairobi.
Yet that’s exactly the legacy that Ngoepe carved out for himself. When he suited up with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017, South Africa’s Ngoepe became the first-ever Major League Baseball player who hailed from continental Africa.
Unlikely Big League Path
Ngoepe calls Randburg his home. It’s an upmarket area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa in the vicinity of Johannesburg. Here, he fashioned the beginnings of his baseball career playing at a fence-less park with a few metal bleachers and a small wooden clubhouse in Gauteng.
Ngoepe’s mother Maureen worked as a clubhouse attendant for the local baseball team, the Randburg Mets. She and her son resided in a small room that was adjacent to the clubhouse.
He literally lived in a ballpark, so perhaps becoming a baseball player was simply kismet for Ngoepe.
He played cricket and soccer, two of the more likely paths to the pros for a South African athlete but baseball always held the fondest place in his heart. He was the first black player to play for the Randsburg Mets.
“I tell people I play baseball, and it's going to be tough,” Ngoepe told MLB.com. “They've never heard of any of the teams. It's slowly growing, though.”
His Randsburg teammates, recognizing Ngoepe’s unique ability on the baseball diamond, fundraised so that he could attend MLB's annual European academies in Italy in 2007 and 2008. It was during the latter year that Ngoepe was spotted by the National League’s Pirates and offered a contract.
“You could see he was a special player from when he was young,” Greg Gillman, chairman of the Randsburg Mets, told ESPN. “The first game I saw him play, I think it was a cup final, he was at shortstop.
“You don't see players with that sort of footwork or hand speed.”
A Long Journey
Being the best baseball player in Africa is one thing. Coming to America, Ngoepe was just one of the hundreds of talented prospects, all of whom benefitted from much more in-depth training on their path to the pros than he’d experienced. The road ahead for him would be a long one.
He spent over eight years in the figurative bushes of baseball’s minor leagues, playing over 700 games. Honing his craft, refining his skills, never losing sight of his dream.
Finally, on April 26, 2017, Ngoepe’s vision became reality. He was called up to the Pirates and made his MLB debut against the Chicago Cubs. In his first at-bat, he singled off Jon Lester, a three-time World Series winner and the 2016 NLCS MVP.
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle described Ngoepe’s achievement as “a great win for the organization and a great accomplishment by Gift.”
“I'm sure a lot of people have told him over the years that he would never make the major leagues: professional scouts, people in uniform, people out of uniform,” Hurdle continued. “But he didn't listen and persevered until he got here.
“He's representing 1.62 billion people. He's one of them, 1.62 billion. Everybody was pulling for him.”
Ngoepe’s History-Making Stay
Is the true measure of success the journey, the destination or the outcome? Ngoepe only played 28 games for the Pirates and batted .222. Traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, he spent 13 games with them, hitting only .056.
Still, he was and remains to this day, the only African to play Major League Baseball.
Currently playing minor-league baseball in Quebec, Canada, the day his big-league dream came true remains at the forefront of Ngoepe’s mind.
“I thought about where I've come from, making the journey from South Africa to pursue my dream of playing in the major leagues someday,” Ngoepe said.
“I thought about the struggles of being in the minor leagues for 8½ years and then to finally get up here and get a hit in my first at-bat. The whole thing was just awesome. That's the only word I can think of to describe it. It was awesome.”
