Rakkar is ready for whatever comes next
KITCHENER — For a long time, Jasvir Rakkar was driven by one goal: Be the first baseball player of South Asian descent to make it to the big leagues.
The Brampton-raised pitcher and son of Indian immigrants got closer than most, in a sport where you still see few people with his background. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2012, pitched four season in the minors, while winning gold with Team Canada during the Pan Ams in ’15.
But after getting released by the Cubs in ’16, despite a 3.34 career ERA, Rakkar found himself looking for a job. He pitched a year in the independent Can-Am league, but his dream appeared to take a step backward.
This summer, he’s pitching for the Kitchener Panthers in the Intercounty Baseball League while he works on finishing his business degree, holds down a day job and tries to figure out what comes next.
“I’ve had a pretty good run. Baseball has given me a lot of good experiences. I have no complaints,” said Rakkar, who has 27 strikeouts in 24 innings of work, with a 2.55 earned run average for Kitchener. “I’ll have to make a decision on what I want to do moving forward.”
Rakkar’s parents, who had never seen a baseball game before they moved to Canada, embraced their son’s love for the sport. They’re still hoping he can get another shot at professional baseball, but he said he knows the odds are against him.
“They support me no matter what,” he said. “My parents are actually pushing me to go back and play. But it’s actually me looking at my future and trying to be realistic. My goal was to make it to the big leagues, but I have to be realistic.”
Playing in Kitchener has meant a reunion with Panthers’ MVP centrefielder Tanner Nivins, who was his teammate with the Stony Brook University Seawolves who were the Cinderella story of the 2012 College Baseball World Series.
Moving on from his bigleague dream won’t be easy, he said, and it stung when no MLB teams opted to take a chance on him this off-season.
“My goal was to make the big leagues, and you can’t really make the big leagues from the Can-Am league,” he said. “This off-season, I worked really hard to throw in some showcases and get picked up by a few teams, but nothing really worked out.”
Still, Rakkar hopes other South Asian kids will be inspired by his career — and by seeing his name in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame — and try to follow in his footsteps.
“That’s one of the things I’m most proud of. The biggest thing for me isn’t just going and seeing my name, it’s seeing an Indian name. You have to do a doubletake, like ‘Is it real?’” he said.
“I didn’t make the big leagues. But hopefully somebody, someday, sees my accomplishments and they go and make the big leagues, and they’re the first South Asian player to make it.”
The Panthers, who’ve won four straight heading into Tuesday night’s home game against Hamilton, are just happy to have Rakkar for the season.
While he’s here, the 26-yearold right-hander says he wants a championship in Kitchener. And he’s enjoying spending a summer around his family for the first time in years, and getting to see his little sister play softball.
But he admits his heart remains back on the diamond, when he was a still a prospect with a dream. “I miss it,” he said. “I miss showing up at the field every day.”
The Panthers host Hamilton this Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7:30 at Jack Couch Park.