By: Mathew Scott in Shanghai
Even after 15 years of plying his trade across the far reaches of the globe, Denzel Richardson admits his latest port of call has come as somewhat of a surprise.
It’s arguable that not many outside pro ball’s inner sanctum even knew that Chinese Professional Baseball existed when an offer came in to the 32-year-old Sint Maarten-born slugger to join Shanghai Orcas. CPB has big dreams of a nation-wide competition – but the date set for that launch is 2028, and in the interim the league is staging annual Spring and Summer seasons as it builds its foundations.
Still, Richardson was intrigued.
“I've been a little bit all over the world and I think this league is going to become very interesting,” he says. “It's a new market and I can see the potential and I see what it can be. I’m grateful for the opportunity and happy to be here.”
It’s already proving a canny move. At the time of writing, Richardson was hitting .353 with three homers after four games for the Orcas, who sit at 5-5 with about two weeks before the playoffs for CPB six-team truncated Summer league.
The timing of the call to China could not have come at a better time for Ricardson, too, and he tells a story that lays bare the sometimes-harsh realities of life for a pro sportsman.
“I’m a guy with future dreams and I was just trying to work my way up, to get into the bigger leagues,” he says. “I was playing in Japan [independent leagues] and I’d had 11 home runs, second in home runs in the league and fifth in RBIs. I was doing pretty well but it’s not a place where you make money. It's a place that you're going just for an opportunity and you actually might have to spend money. And when I heard that Shanghai were interested, I didn’t even know how I was going to pay my bills that month.”
Richardson asked around, and heard good things about what was going on in China. “Before coming here, Shanghai had lost four in a row, were 0-4, and we won my first five games here and was MVP in my first game [after a HR and a double as the Orcs beat Fuzhou 5-1],” he says. “I'm a believer in God, and God just surprised me there and put the person in touch with me at the right time.”
Richardson has settled into an Orca’s line-up that is being coached by the South Korean veteran Kim Yong-dal and features a mix of veterans from the Korea Baseball Organisation and rising local talent. After a career that began when he signed a contract at 17 years old with the Colorado Rockies – and has so far taken Richardsons from Mexico to the Netherlands, – with plenty of pit stops in between - Richardson has been drafted into Orcas for more than just his hitting.
“I love this game and I can pass that on,” he says. “In baseball, it's either you better yourself, you get yourself on another level, or you just go home, you know. I love that aspect of the game. Parts of baseball are harsh sometimes but it's like either you perform or you don't, and then you work hard to make sure you do.”
It’s about now that the conversation turns to where Richardson’s journey all began, as a nine-year-old island kid unaware of his own potential.
Today, he’s part of a franchise representing a city of 25 million people. Back then he had no idea what lay ahead – and Richardson’s eyes light up at the memory. He says it’s a story he wants to share – once again – with all the kids back home, to show, if nothing else, just how quickly life can change.
“I remember these kids playing stick baseball with a stick and a tennis ball yeah and I saw the older guys hitting the ball hard,” he says. “I was just so competitive. I wanted to run faster and hit the ball further. I’d never hit a ball before!
“I just fell in love with it because I thought that I had a lot of power – even at nine. My first organized game I hit a grand slam and they put my photo in the paper. I was just so proud, showing my family. That’s when everything changed for me – and that is still one of the highlights of my life!”
