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How an 18-year-old Ugandan achieved baseball dream with the help of 'Flippin' Bats'

Published May. 1, 2023 1:39 p.m. ET

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When "Flippin' Bats" host Ben Verlander logged onto Twitter one day in November 2022, he ended up helping a major-league hopeful take a step toward his dream.

Verlander happened upon Kasumba Dennis, an 18-year-old from Uganda. He saw Dennis in a video doing catching drills while in pouring rain.

"I did a deep dive on his Twitter," Verlander said. "What I found was this guy is an extremely hard worker, wants it as much as anybody and is in a place where the path to baseball isn't exactly carved out for you in Uganda. There's so many videos of him with tires on his back, using paint cans as weights for drills, a piece of cardboard to catch with while standing on bricks, a brick tied to his glove and it's pouring down rain. … You've got to see it."

Verlander instantly followed Dennis on Twitter and began direct messaging with the hopeful professional player, seeing if there was any way he could help.

After some exchanges, Verlander received a direct message from Dennis in February asking for some help. 

"Good day sir hope all is well," Dennis wrote to Verlander. "[I] would like to share some good news with you. [I] got possible links to the embassy where someone inside is willing to help me get a visa. But my main challenge is getting the invitation from any college now. Is it possible to help get for me a college willing to send me the invitation letter I can present at the embassy? Thanks so much."

Verlander immediately wondered what he could do to help Dennis. So, he went to the place where he found out about the kid: Twitter.

"Wanted to spread awareness," Verlander wrote in a tweet. "My man @KASUMBADENNIS4 is one step closer to accomplishing his dream of playing MLB. He is a catcher from Uganda and has a 1.89 POP time. He is a stud. If any colleges or coaches see this, reach out to him. Or to me to pass along."

Verlander instantly received feedback from coaches and members of the college baseball community as they were impressed by the pop time, which indicates how quickly a catcher throws the ball from the point it hits his glove to the point it hits a defender's glove. For reference, the major-league average is 2.00, so Dennis would be above-average in that regard. 

After receiving numerous direct messages from college baseball teams, Verlander said he became "sort of the middle man" for Dennis and college admissions offices along with college baseball coaches.

"They're all asking me questions of, ‘How is Dennis’ English? What is his education level? Is he able to get over to the United States right now?' I went back and forth between him and all of these colleges answering their questions, just hoping something works out," Verlander said. It was truly so special for me to even be able to do that and throughout this process to continue to talk to him, hearing from coaches, going through some ups and downs of getting a response."

Finally, after months of efforts to get Dennis over to the United States to help him reach his baseball dreams, Verlander heard good news over the weekend.

"I got another DM from Kasumba Dennis that said he's officially been signed to play in the MLB Draft League," Verlander said. 

The MLB Draft League is still in its infant stages. It began in 2021 with six teams playing 30 games over the month of June. But even though it's a young league, it's already competitive. It consists of some of the top college, junior college and high school players in the country with 86 participants already being selected in the MLB Draft.

The remarkable story of Kasumba Dennis & his journey from Uganda to MLB hopeful

Ben Verlander shared how an 18-year-old from Uganda will be able to achieve his baseball dream with the help from the "Flippin' Bats" community.

Dennis was taking part in drills in miserable conditions just months ago. He will soon be playing games "in some of the nicest professional baseball stadiums that the United States has to offer."

"Why is this a big deal for him? Well, the obvious: Exposure, exposure, exposure," Verlander explained. "Everything he's wanted exposure-wise is finally happening. There will be pro scouts. There will be college scouts. The competition is great. The instruction is top-notch. The coaches in its league are former major-leaguers. Best of all, in his words as well, he's accomplishing his dream of playing baseball in the United States."

Dennis was grateful for the help he received in helping to make a dream of his come true. 

"Okay Mr. Ben [praying emoji] thank you so so much," Dennis wrote to Verlander in a Twitter message. "I really really appreciate and I'm very very happy because I'm going to achieve my dream sir."

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