For eight years, baseball has been quietly taking off in Egypt, with an increasingly well-known cast of characters involved. Kemp Gouldin founded Because Baseball in the autumn of 2017 to use baseball as a tool to build understanding and unity between cultures, with Egypt the first stop. Since then, baseball has been introduced in schools, as part of summer camps and events, and through special programs. Last month, MLB and the MLB Players Alumni Association partnered with Because Baseball for the fourth annual PLAY BALL Weekend in Cairo, and Hunter Pence was the headlining guest instructor.
From June 13–15, the Pyramids of Giza became the backdrop for baseball activity, and not for the first time either. Albert Spalding’s second World Tour stopped by the pyramids for a game on Feb. 9, 1889, while the Giants–White Sox world tour of 1914 also stopped in the iconic Egyptian location for a contest on Feb. 2. This time, however, the event was focused on teaching the game to local children, rather than putting on an exhibition, and built on the hard work of Gouldin, Because Baseball’s Coaching Ambassadors and guest coaches, and coaching exchanges over the last near-decade.
Pence, along with Yale pitcher Amir Eltaki—who, in 2024 became the first player of Egyptian descent to make a NCAA Division I roster—and Coaching Ambassadors Dustin Ward, David Upchurch, and Rachel Upchurch, spent a week in Egypt exploring the history and culture before hosting the PLAY BALL Weekend. These events, which have been held all over the globe, including before MLB’s London Series, are dedicated to introducing baseball to children who have never played or encountered the sport before.
Over the course of the weekend, Pence and volunteer coaches held clinics to teach baseball skills to Egyptian children, with tutelage in catching and throwing, running the bases, and playing as part of a team. Pence also told stories of his career to the children in attendance, and listened to their dreams of where baseball might take them. The youngsters then took the field at the American University of Cairo’s athletic facility for a series of mini-games, giving them their first taste of live baseball.
“We want to show kids that baseball is about more than just a game,” Pence told MLB [link]. “It’s about teamwork, resilience, and having fun.”
This abides well with the vision of Because Baseball, which promotes “learning and playing the game, finding shared purpose and common humanity on and off the playing field.“
Gouldin summed up the event by saying, “Something special happened on the fields of Cairo last month – something that has been months, even years in the making. For two magical evenings, fourteen American men and women joined six Egyptian and one Bahraini coach to deliver two electric nights of expert baseball instruction wrapped in love.“
The event in Cairo was part of a worldwide PLAY BALL weekend, with more than 200 events on six continents. Other international locations included U.K., Australia, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Japan, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines.
Previous guest coaches of Because Baseball and MLB for the PLAY BALL Weekend in Cairo include Brian Jordan, Giancarlo Stanton, Jarrett Parker, Cory Gearrin, Asher Wojciechowski, Brandon Bantz, David Hale, and 2023 Swedish Pitcher of the Year Tim Brown. For more on Because Baseball, see the organization’s website [link].
By Gabriel Fidler.