New Americans

Here's a different bit of international baseball writing of mine, a short newspaper story about a middle school baseball team in Queens that features players from 9 countries (plus Puerto Rico).

When I.S. 235 baseball coach Jeff Cohen makes out his lineup card, he finds himself choosing between natives of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

For the record, that's nine countries, one United States territory and four or five languages; there are also five girls on the team. At that, it might just be the most diverse ball club in Queens, and if the borough is America's most diverse county, what does that make the Astoria middle school's baseball team?

"It's like a family," said Cohen, who lives in Glendale with his wife and son.

Click here for the whole article.