Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — It was a big weekend for baseball and softball in the territory with the Sean Manaea Major League Baseball Pitching Camp and the Girls Softball Pitching Camp running simultaneously at the Tony Solaita Baseball Stadium last Saturday.

 Both camps were well attended, with young baseball and softball enthusiasts aged 7 to 18 eagerly participating.

For the Manaea MLB pitching camp, the young baseball players seized the opportunity to receive valuable pitching instructions and interact with their idol up close and personal.

More than 40 young players, both male and female, soaked up pitching tips from one of Major League Baseball's top starting pitchers. They also took photographs with Manaea and received his autograph on various souvenir items.

Sean Manaea, who recently opted out of a $28 million contract he signed with the New York Mets in January this year, posed and smiled for photo ops and patiently signed the numerous items his young fans brought to him.

Currently a free agent after opting out of his contract with the Mets on November 2, 2024, Manaea declined a qualifying offer on November 19, which his former club offered him two days after he opted out.

In an exclusive interview, Manaea stated that this is his second time in the Territory and that the pitching camp had been on his mind ever since his first visit ten years ago in 2014 but nothing really came into effect until he met up with Saipai Cassen and Malu.

"They spearheaded and collaborated the initiative with local authorities and sponsors, which made everything possible," Manaea revealed. "I'm hoping it won't be a one-time thing, and that I'll keep on coming back to help out with baseball development here for our young players."

He expressed optimism at the promising skills and natural athleticism of local players saying that there is a lot of potential in these young players.

"All they need is some good coaching and a belief in themselves," Manaea said. "I see a lot of good potential pitchers, basemen, fielders, catchers and batters. Some of these kids a big with broad shoulders and a lot of upper-body strength which is a necessity for a good slugger.

Young aspiring MLB players lining up for registration before the Sean Manaea pitching camp started last Saturday at the Tony Solaita Baseball Field in Tafuna. [Asi A. Fa'asau]

"These kids can excel in any part of the game if they train hard and always strive to push their game to the next level. Anybody can be a good pitcher if one has the ability to listen and learn from their coaches, and to want to be a good pitcher. If you want it that bad, you must have a good understanding of the game and figure out a way to improve your game and be the best that you can."

He spoke of why he chose baseball as a career deviating from the trend of many young Samoan athletes aspiring to be football players and playing in the NFL.

"We didn't have a football program at school in our little hometown of Wanatah, Indiana and the first sport I was introduced to was baseball," Manaea recalled. "I was about five years old then and I didn't enjoy it at first. Then as I grew older and started to pitch and I thought, 'Wow, this is fun!' So I really got into the game and absolutely love it!"

Manaea stated that like every baseball-crazy kid, he dreamed of playing in the Major League someday.

His MLB pitching idols while growing up included Johan Santana, a Venezuelan former starting pitcher for the Minnesota Twins from 2000 to 2007 and for the New York Mets from 2008 to 2012, Yu Darvish, a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres and Roy Halladay, who played for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies between 1998 and 2013.

Asked what his favorite Samoan food was, he named three — sapasui (Samoan chop suey), oka (raw fish in coconut cream), and palusami (taro leaves and coconut cream).

His favorite Samoan phrase was "Ou te alofa ia te oe." (I love you).

Recently, Manaea married his lovely wife, Talat Mirmalek-Manaea, a former San Francisco Fire Department paramedic who is accompanying him, along with his older brother, Dane.

"This is the first time my brother has visited American Samoa, and we are feeling a little overwhelmed with emotion to witness together the place where our father grew up, the places he frequented as a young man before he embarked on that long journey to the mainland, going off to Vietnam, returning and ending up in Indiana where we grew up," he said. "We're very excited to meet and connect with our relatives!"

He also expressed his profound gratitude and honor for being officially recognized by the American Samoa Legislature on Friday morning with the presentation of a Senate Concurrent Resolution commending and congratulating him on his accomplishments in his baseball career.

The resolution stated in its introduction that it aims to commend and congratulate "a son of Samoa, Major League Baseball player Sean Anthony Manaea for his accomplishments in his career and for his contribution to American Samoa, where he served as an inspiration for many aspiring athletes."

"I didn't really know what was happening until I got there," he said. "I feel very humbled to receive such a high honor from the Legislature and this is something very special to me and my family. Thank you so much."

Running simultaneously with the Sean Manaea MLB Pitching Camp was the Girls Softball Pitching Camp facilitated by Chester Tala, a softball coach from California who told Samoa News that he sees a lot of potential in the local players with which he was working.

"Samoan women are naturally well-built with strong broad shoulders and arms," Tala said. "When they pitch the softball, they try to inject that strength into their pitches which usually spoils their aim either pitching too high or too low," Coach Tala said.

Members of the Taupou Softball team hanging loose during a break of the softball pitching clinic last Saturday at the Tony Solaita Baseball Stadium. [photo: Asi A. Fa'asau]

"I'm trying to teach them to relax, and let the rhythm flow through their pitching and then they can increase the force but still maintain the flow. These girls are very coachable and still have that respect for their elders that coaches look for because that kind of mindset rubs off on the rest of the team and improves their performance."

Like Manaea, Coach Tala expressed his hope to return sometime soon to continue coaching clinics, especially in the years leading up to the Pacific Games and Mini Games to prepare local teams for the international arena.

The pitching camp was jointly hosted by the American Samoa Little League, Community Empowerment Organization, GFS, SEMBERFIT, and the American Samoa Government.

The Sean Manaea delegation will spend a week on island before returning to the mainland.