Joe Cook Brings the Game of Baseball to Cambodia

 

As a child, baseball helped save Joe Cook. Now, he is using baseball to do the same for others.

A little less than forty years ago a boy with the name of Joeurt was born in the country of Cambodia, and this story of his is long overdue because without it, Cambodian baseball would hardly exist, much less be understood. In the 1960’s, Joeurt’s father had worked secretly in a Cambodian government agency, but he was violently executed during the Khmer Rouge. Soon after, Joeurt was hurt in a land mine explosion, inflicting even more damage to his already weak body. Starvation, insect infestation, and dirty water all left undeniable traces: Joeurt’s head and tummy were swollen, his arms were stick thin, and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull.

That was when his mother decided to escape. Along the way, a couple of her children got separated, but she managed to bring Joeurt and his sister to Thailand. It was a miracle that they survived such a long trek, and Joeurt’s family even found a sponsor there, who relocated them to Tennessee on the 18th of May, 1983. For this young boy, America was “a whole new world,” because he spoke no English and did not even know what a toilet was. Additionally, Joeurt’s health continued to break down, and he failed to make new friends as a result of the language and cultural barriers between them. As Joeurt approached his adolescence, he started to crave others’ company, which he found on a field a couple of miles from his house. There was a strange game involving bats and gloves, and using his body language, Joeurt requested to play. The coach had him throw a ball around with another team member, and soon, he fell in love with this game called baseball. Through his experience on the field, he started to learn English and connect with others of his own age.

A few years later, this boy named Joeurt grew up to assume the name of Joe Cook. When reminiscing about his past, Mr. Cook said the following, “For me, tossing the ball back and forth was equal to friendship. I played baseball not to become good, but it was simply the sport that directly touched me at first.” These warm feelings prompted him to join a Little League, and though he was “never the best on the team,” he just wanted to play some “fundamental, fun baseball.” To Mr. Cook, this sport had no criteria for its players; one needs not to be of a certain nationality, nor does one need to speak a certain language. Baseball has a universal power that can reach everybody, despite a player’s background and despite a player’s identity. It simply, and continuously, inspires people to be better than they already are.

In 2002, just when Mr. Cook thought that he had lost all connections with Cambodia, his sister gave him a call from California. At the time, he was living in Alabama with his wife and two children, and no one was more shocked than he to hear about a second sister, one who had contacted them from their homeland. After much deliberation and many prayers, Mr. Cook decided to go to Cambodia and meet this woman. When he arrived, he asked her a lot of questions about their family history, all of which were answered perfectly by a seeming stranger. Not surprisingly, Mr. Cook wanted to do something for her, who had had used up all of her money to find him and had gone through unimaginable hardships. He started by buying back for her the son she was forced to sell to a brothel, and he acquainted himself with her other children – his nephew and niece. They grew to like him a lot, and they brought him to their old school, a place with many other kids who had suffered much too many injustices for their age. Mr. Cook approached them, and within their faces, he saw himself from thirty years ago, lost in the world and unable to find a way out. He remembered what had saved him then, and so he popped the obvious question to the little ones standing before him, “Have you guys heard of a game called baseball?”

“No” was the answer he received, and this simple word initiated a series of emotions within Mr. Cook, which then in turn led to a domino effect of events. He brought back to Cambodia many bats and gloves, and he started to teach these kids how to play. What he noticed was a transformation; the eyes of these fledgling baseball players no longer held the despair that had once been present. From there came a federation called Cambodia Baseball, and though it is not well known and not well-staffed, it is a first step. It shows how baseball as a game has the ability to penetrate all boundaries, and it can bring the much searched-for light to a place full of darkness. And now, Mr. Cook calls for our help, because he alone is still too weak. Nevertheless, the positive influence of baseball is blatant, and if enough people stand behind him, a country much less fortunate than most can benefit tremendously from the therapeutic effects of our favorite game. And who would have known? Who would have known that a simple phrase like “I am baseball” can heal the wounds left behind by an oppressive country, bestowing upon its believers a newfound sense of hope.

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