Teenage Baseball Stat Overcomes Tragedy to Bring Racial Unity
Sixteen year old Coby Kamish lost his mother to cancer in 2019. Kamish's mother had dreamed of seeing her son pitch in the MLB. However, Kamish attends a private Jewish School without a baseball team called Rabbi Oscar Fasman Yeshiva. Kamish desperately needed to find a team to showcase his incredible baseball talent. Kamish resorted to playing for a larger Jewish school that wasn't giving him the innings on the mound that he deserved, as he wasn't officially enrolled in the school. The whole experience of playing for a school where Kamish was by far their best pitcher but didn't get the same opportunities as other kids, was frustrating. Kamish's father, David, had instructed him to be silent and accept whatever innings he could get on the mound. In fact Kamish's numbers were astounding. He had pitched 6 innings over four games for this school with 15 strike-outs and not allowing a single base-runner.
When Kamish wasn't on the field, he found himself preoccupied by the unprecedented racial divide in this country and especially in professional sports that he follows closely. Kamish wanted to make a difference and help bring racial unity to Chicago but didn't know what he could possibly do. Every day Kamish watched people become more and more divided. He saw countless examples of racial inequality nationwide. He saw police brutality and lawlessness plague his home town of Chicago. Kamish also saw politicians pointing fingers and saw the country that invented baseball, the one he loved, in shambles.
But as fate would have it two weeks ago a program called "The Show" discovered Coby Kamish and that's where Kamish's chance to change the world forever, finally began. Kamish, 6'1 with sandy colored hair and a shy smile was welcomed with open arms to "the Show." "The Show" is a Black American travel baseball team which is comprised of some of Chicago's finest players from the far south side of the city. "The Show" recognizing Kamish's baseball talent jumped at the opportunity to seize Kamish after an impromptu tryout that they gave him after "The Show" decimated Kamish's former team. The director of "The Show" Coach Ernest Radcliffe described Kamish as, "a rare find with a live arm." Radcliffe's 16u head coach Daccarius Chapman added, that Kamish, "has an electric arm and he has confidence and he's the type of player that every team wants."
Kamish journeys several times a week for two hours in the car to play with his all Black American team who are now embracing him as a member of "The Show" family. Kamish wants to prove to the world that we all should look beyond the color of one's skin and learn that we are in a nation that is capable of all getting along. Kamish does do his homework to those who may wonder on his commute and he hopes to be a role model to kids in both black and white communities while showing them that we are all the same. His new found family at "the Show" will also hopefully be getting the national spotlight they deserve in the months to come with their star white pitcher leading the way.
Every time Kamish steps on the mound he feels he is one step closer to fulfilling his shared dream with his late mother. Incidentally, Kamish, always has his father by his side, often fielding his phone calls and giving him the advice he needs to handle his newfound national spotlight. Kamish also has two sisters and 3 brothers to root him on and they all hope to continue to be instrumental in his rise to stardom. Kamish, beyond his years in maturity, quickly pointed out that there are many lessons to be learned on the baseball field such as playing as "a team" as we all should do as a country. Hopefully, Kamish will serve as a beacon of light to a country that needs more people like this young man who is trying to bring racial unity to a city that is longing to heal.
https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-baseball-youth-south-shore-the-show/6425017
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/teenage-jewish-baseball-player-breaks-down-racial-barriers-in-chicago-643022