DUBAI: The Middle East’s first professional baseball league has completed the construction of a Dubai ballpark in just 38 days.

The Baseball United Ballpark is the first baseball ground in the region. It will debut to the public beginning this week with the Arab Classic Tournament, which will see nine nations from the GCC and South Asia take part in the largest international baseball tournament in the region’s history.

Baseball United Chairman and CEO Kash Shaikh shared the news of the ballpark — as well as several other record-setting milestones — at a press conference held in partnership with Dubai Sports Council and the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism.

Prominent figures attended, including Baseball United co-owners and Major League Baseball legends Barry Larkin, Mariano Rivera, Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus. Government officials from the UAE, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic were also present.

“We have come a long way in a short time,” said Shaikh. “In just two short years — fueled by the belief and support of the Dubai government, regional baseball federations, baseball legends, baseball fans around the world, and the will and resilience of our own Baseball United team — we’ve all made history. And we’ve made that history over and over again. I say that with no exaggeration or hyperbole, because everything we are doing together has truly never been done before.

“Together, we’ve transported a completely new sport to a completely new part of the world, and we’ve built another bridge to connect people to Dubai as one of the world’s greatest sports and entertainment destinations.”

Baseball United’s historic milestones include:

- The expansion of its ownership to 20 baseball legends. In addition to Larkin, Rivera, Beltre and Andrus, top players such as Albert Pujols, Felix Hernandez, Robinson Cano, Robinson Chirinos, Ryan Howard, Bartolo Colon and Ronald Acuua Jr. are part of the investment group. These players have more than 300 years of combined professional baseball experience, 80 MLB All-Star appearances and 15 World Series Championships titles.

- The launch of Baseball United’s official merchandise line in Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates and The Galleria Mall (Abu Dhabi) in partnership with GO Sport. Official baseball jerseys will be available for sale for the first time, including the jerseys of all four inaugural Baseball United franchises: Mumbai Cobras, Karachi Monarchs, Mid East Falcons and the Dubai-based Arabia Wolves.

- The formation of the first-ever UAE National Baseball Team in partnership with Emirates Cricket Board. The new UAE team will play its first-ever match at 1 p.m. GST on Thursday against India. It will also face off against Pakistan at 8 p.m. GST the same day.

- The completion of the first-ever professional baseball field in the history of the region. Baseball United Ballpark, with field dimensions mirrored after the iconic Yankee Stadium, is the only professional field within 10,000 km of Dubai. The field will be home to all Baseball United events, tournaments and its upcoming league season, as well as serve as a launchpad for international events with top baseball teams from around the world.

- The opening of the Arab Classic International Baseball Tournament from Nov. 7-10 at Baseball United Ballpark at The Sevens. Nine nations from the GCC and South Asia will take part in the largest and most competitive international baseball tournament in the history of the region with four consecutive days of baseball at the new Baseball United Ballpark. Twenty-one games will be played in morning and evening sessions, with the championship held on Nov. 10. Evening games will be streamed for free at baseballunited.com.

Tickets for all sessions are available via Platinumlist. Ticket prices begin at AED49 ($13).

“We are so excited that — for the first time in history — all these national baseball teams from the subcontinent and the GCC will finally have a stage to showcase their passion, their talent and their development,” said Shaikh. “Growing the game at the grassroots and national team levels is so important to our mission at Baseball United. We know that this is where and how we build the foundation of this sport in the region. We transformed an empty oval of dirt and dust into a world-class baseball field in just 38 days so that these national teams and their players would be the first to play at our new ballpark.

“Our new field will enable so many other opportunities like this one for so many countries, communities and athletes,” he added. “It is truly a game-changer for Dubai and the region. We can’t wait to host everyone at the ballpark.”

ABU DHABI: Rory McIlroy can finish a season as the European tour’s top player for the sixth time with a win at the Abu Dhabi Championship this week.
He’ll attempt to do so with a new swing.
The No. 3-ranked McIlroy said he has been hunkered down in a studio — first in Florida, then in New York — for three weeks, just hitting balls at a screen with a modified swing and not even looking at the flight of his shots.
He hasn’t liked the shape of his swing for a while, he said Wednesday, and wanted a more robust one that could hold up in the most pressure-filled moments following a number of missed chances this season. The most notable was at the US Open in June, where he missed two putts in the 3-foot range in the final three holes on Sunday to pave the way for a victory for Bryson DeChambeau and extend McIlroy’s decade without a major title.
“The only way I was going to make a change, or at least move in the right direction, with my swing was to lock myself in a studio and not see the ball flight for a bit and just focus entirely on the movement,” McIlroy said.
“It’s something, he added, “just to make my golf swing more efficient, and then if it is more efficient, then it means it’s not going to break down as much under pressure. If I look at my year, the one thing that I would criticize myself on is the fact that I’ve had these chances to win.”
McIlroy has won twice this year — at the Dubai Desert Classic and the Wells Fargo Championship — and has had four second-place finishes, including recently at the Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship on the European tour.
That has left the Northern Irishman frustrated but well clear in the Race to Dubai rankings that determine the best player of the year on the European tour. A win in Abu Dhabi can seal the title and remove some suspense — at least for McIlroy — from the final event of the season, at the World Tour Championship in nearby Dubai next week.
“If I go out and win this week, obviously you know, it makes it a bit boring next week,” the four-time major champion said. “But I won’t find it boring. It will be lovely.”
A sixth Race to Dubai title — it used to be called the Order of Merit — would put McIlroy level with the late Seve Ballesteros on the all-time list and only two behind Colin Montgomerie, who has a record eight.
“I’m a European player,” McIlroy said. “I would like to go down as the most successful European of all time. Obviously Race to Dubai wins would count to that but also major championships and hopefully I’ve got a few more Ryder Cups ahead of me as well.
“So that’s something that I would like to (do). I think (it) is a goal that’s quite attainable over the next 10 years.”