Million Dollar Arm: Where are real life characters now?

Today, theaters across the nation will be introduced to two boys from India; two boys that took a country by storm and helped to have an influence that will last far beyond the game of baseball.  Million Dollar Arm, headlined by Jon Hamm, debuts on the big screen.

The story chronicles the career of agent J.B. Bernstein and his quest to regain status as a respected Los Angeles sports representative.  When he fails to land the big client to put him back on the map, Bernstein turns to a more creative endeavor, and develops Million Dollar Arm.

The contest runs of the premise that due to Indians being able to bowl a cricket ball at a high-speed, they in turn, should be able to pitch a baseball similarly fast.  Through the journey of the middle eastern country, Bernstein is met with mostly heartbreak, until he stumbles across Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh.  Singh and Patel, although never having played the game of baseball previously, clock pitches in the mid 80’s.  Bernstein finds his projects and brings them back to the United States.

Thanks to a training regimen developed by the revered University of Southern California coach, Tom House, both Patel and Singh are able to more fully refine their newly sought craft.  On November 24, 2008, both Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel were inked to minor league contracts with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  In doing so, Singh and Patel represented the first Indian players to sign a professional contract with Major League Baseball.

While their careers were long shots from the get go, the success was, arguably, more than to be expected.  Dinesh Patel started with the Gulf Coast League Pirates as a 20-year-old in 2009.  Appearing in 6.1 innings, he complied a 1.42 ERA, 0.789 WHIp, and 4/0 K/BB ratio.  Entering the 2010 season, still unrefined, Patel finished with only 7.1 IP, and an ERA of 8.59.  2010 marked the end of Patel’s career as he shortly thereafter, returned home to India.  He went on to help other young boys train for upcoming Million Dollar Arm contests as well as mentioning his gratitude for the opportunity to change his economic situation.

Dinesh, as of last report, continues to work towards competition in the Javelin.

Rinku Singh was the winner, and recipient of $100,000, of the Million Dollar Arm contest.  Singh was also signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates on November 24, 2008 and made his debut with the gulf Coast League Pirates in 2009.  By the age of 22, Singh had advanced to Class A ball with the Pirates affiliate, the West Virginia Power.  Of note, Singh was teammates with Jameson Taillon and Brandon Cumpton, on the 2011 West Virginia Power.  Singh’s career has yet to advance past A ball where he has compiled a 2.99 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and an impressive 126/41 K/BB ratio over 147.1 innings.  Singh is still with the Pirates, having not pitched in 2013, and is working towards progressing through the system to his goal of reaching the major leagues.

Both Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel are far more than the tag line of a movie.  While Million Dollar Arm is a strong insight into what it takes to develop a new pipeline of talent, and the sacrifice that must be made to do so, the movie and lives of the two pitchers from India tells a far more important lesson.

As choreographed by Disney, and witnessed first hand by J.B. Berstein, people are valuable assets, and success will only take someone as far as the empowerment they receive allows.  Although Dinesh Patel’s baseball story may be over, the message continues for time to come; and as Rinku Singh continues to work towards his goal, the journey down the path less traveled will be something he can capture forever.