By Mike Forde
Curacao's flag features two blue lines, cut nearly in the middle by a yellow stripe representing the sun. Under the hot, bright sun and between the brilliant blue waters of the Carribean Sea is where Queens Kings left-handed pitcher Diegomar Markwell grew up. He has yearned for the game of baseball since he was a little boy at the age of 10.
All Markwell wanted to do on the tiny island off the coast of Venezuela was play baseball. He got good, too. He was snatched up by the Toronto Blue Jays as soon as he turned 16, the age when a player is considered a free agent. The Blue Jays paid the visit to Curacao and with his mother's permission, Markwell signed with the team.
“I grew up watching the Blue Jays a little bit,” said Markwell. “I root for them.”
His favorite team as a kid was the Oakland Athletics and his boyhood hero was Rickey Henderson. It's almost like Markwell has a Henderson-type passion for speed; the lefty's fastball registers in the low 90s.
Markwell, now 19, had reached the pinnacle of his young life. At 16, he was a professional ball player. Everything was going Markwell's way.
Then the date Markwell will never forget rolled on the calendar, March 12, 1999. His life changed forever. His mother, who gave her blessing to do what he loved, died of cancer. Markwell was left alone in a country he didn't know and to live in a world that he thought he knew.
“When she died, I realized that I was all by myself,” Markwell said. “I have to do everything for myself.”
When she was alive, Markwell made a pact with his mother that he would make it in the big leagues.
“I dedicated extra time to work,” Markwell said. “I made a promise to my mom. After this year and two more years [I'll make it to the major league] if everything goes well.”
Markwell is still getting a feel for Single A baseball. He started off the season with the Haggerstown Suns, the Toronto Single A affiliate in the South Atlantic League. There he went 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA.
After his short stint with the Suns, Markwell moved to his current team, the Kings. He's posted much better numbers in Queens. After Sunday's loss to Utica, Markwell is 1-2 with a 3.43 ERA in 21 innings. As of Monday, he has the team lead in strikeouts with 24. Before Sunday's game, opponents were hitting a paltry .182 against him.
Markwell throws three pitches, a fastball, changeup and curveball. He says his best pitch is a fastball, which registers anywhere from 88-91 miles per hour. He also keeps a wicked curve ball in his bag of hurling tricks. It has a nasty left-to-right break.
“I usually use [the curve ball] most on right-handed batters and on left-handed batters a little bit,” Markwell said. “It's my strike out pitch.”
The southpaw used all his pitches against Hudson Valley on June 23, when he threw seven shut out innings, giving up only one hit.
Markwell still has some work left to do before he reaches his goal. Playing in Single A is much different than playing in the majors. He does have one thing going for him – he can be strong even when he doesn't have all his pitches working.
“I thought he did a nice job of battling without his best stuff,” said interim manager Pat Kelly of Markwell's performance in the loss on Sunday against Utica.
Of the 3-2 loss against the Blue Sox, Markwell said, “I'm happy, I got five innings in and I'll come back next time.”
In Single A ball, a lot of what counts is the work you get in during a game.
Markwell knows work has to be done. After all, he has a pact to keep.
