From Fisherman in the Open Sea to Baseball Player Overseas

A nineteen-year-old fisherman from Belize City is about to embark on the opportunity of a lifetime in Japan. Delbert Hinds has been fishing with his father since he was just two years old, a trade he’s known all his life. But in 2021, Hinds tried out for a national baseball team and discovered a new passion. Since then, he’s been balancing his time between fishing and baseball training. Now, his hard work has paid off. A minor league development team in Japan has noticed his talent and offered him a three-month contract. This could be the start of an exciting career in baseball for Delbert Hinds. News Five’s Paul Lopez has more on this inspiring story.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

A Belize City fisherman is making waves in the world of baseball and has earned a contract to play in a minor league in Japan. Its commitment to baseball at all levels, from youth leagues to professional teams, and its cultural significance make Japan an important player in the global baseball scene. Nineteen-year-old Delbert Hinds has spent his entire life at sea with his father, catching and selling marine products at the Conch Shell Bay Fish Market. Hinds first tried baseball in 2021 when a U.S. national came to Belize to form a national team. As he recalls, he was supposed to go fishing with his father on the day of the tryouts.

Delbert Hinds, Baseball Athlete

“My coach Mr. Rene Habet came and said let us go to the tryouts. I came, I liked it and after that I came everyday to workout. I didn’t expect nothing from it. But for a while people started to say good job, good job and that kind of built up my self esteem and I continued to grow my level. I use to come out here on the field and they would call me big  for nothing, although they say that I take it as a positive reinforcement to try to prove them wrong, now I am good, up there with everyone and surpassing some of them. I don’t say I say I am better than anyone but hard work pays off. It beats talent every time.”

 

But Hinds’ stellar work ethics on the field is not the only reason why he has been excelling in baseball. He also has a strong support system. Jermaine Crawford, the organizer of the Belize Baseball League, has taken Hinds under his wing.

 

Jermaine Crawford, Organizer, Belize Baseball League

“I think we all know about the Cubs and Gary Mathews and all that lines up with that. In the late eighties, eighty-seven, Gary Mathews came to Belize and that started the little league baseball in Belize. But it only lasted until about ninety-two, ninety-three. Since then, we have been playing softball. Softball was before, it is still now, baseball is then, but we are back here in Belize. Not brining baseball back to Belize, but reviving the sport.”

 

One of Delbert’s coaches, Kazuhiro Shiiba, hails from Japan. Known as Kazu, he volunteers with the Belize Baseball League through a partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Thanks to Kazu’s guidance, Hinds has honed his pitching skills, reaching speeds of up to ninety miles an hour.

 

Kazuhiro Shiiba, Baseball Coach

“Specially I teach pitching mechanics for Delbert. He has good physical skills but not enough pitching skills, so I teach pitching skills. There is a team in Japan. They support players from foreign countries. So, they have a system to accept them to play baseball in better fields with better baseball staff. So he can go to Japan and play.”

 

Jermaine Crawford

“Delbert’s skills have reached the eyes of persons in other countries, primarily in Japan and through our JICA volunteer, Kazu he has gotten an opportunity with a minor league development team in Japan. So Delbert has been awarded a ninety-day contract, May one to July thirty to play in a minor league development program to play in Japan.”

 

Kazu hopes that Delbert will sign with another team in Japan once his current contract ends. For Delbert, this opportunity is a dream come true and a chance to support his parents in the long run.

 

Delbert Hinds

“My personal mission is to get somewhere to a higher level, to get signed and support my family. I have family here. I live with my mom only. So, to support her is my goal.”

 

Paul Lopez

“What do you think it will take to do that?”

Delbert Hinds

“Give it my best, a hundred percent, maybe a hundred and ten percent. I am going all out this time. I am going all out this time. I thought Mexico was my limit, like literally. I thought of it as fun, recreational sport. But people told me I could make it somewhere. So I took it upon myself to give it my all.”

 

Hinds is set to travel later in April. From fishing in the Caribbean Sea to playing baseball overseas, all his travel expenses and three-month stay have been covered by a generous donor in Belize. Now, all Hinds needs to do is showcase his determination and talent for Japan and the world to see.

 

Delbert Hinds

“I am relieved right now. I know I am going officially. So right now I am trying to stay injury free. But I give it my all here. We don’t have a baseball field to practice, so I practice softball. It is the same mechanically, then I have some of my friends that catch baseball for me.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez