Recently, Twins Daily had the opportunity to ask Ebersohn some questions so that our readers can get to know him.
Seth Stohs (SS): Tell me a little bit about your youth baseball in South Africa. Did you play Little League or other formal leagues?
Rowan Ebersohn (RE): The only formal leagues we played in was at baseball club level which were restricted to regional areas as financial costs limited inter-regional competitions. The annual South African National Baseball Championship comprised seven South African Provincial teams of age groups U12’s, U15’s and U18’s with the Senior Championship scheduled for the week prior to the Junior Championship. Little League World Series participation was always a dream of young players but financially there was no funding available to provide for Junior teams to tour.
(SS): MLB has a camp in Cape Town that you attended. What is that atmosphere? Is it games, or skills, or a little of everything?
(RE): I was fortunate enough to be selected to attend two MLB Academy Camps with one being in Cape Town and one in Durban. The atmosphere within the entire academy was that of “baseball heaven”, firstly by being exposed to direct contact with MLB players/coaches and secondly be given the opportunity to absorb all the knowledge they offered. The MLB Academy was split up into two parts with specific skills being developed in your position followed by the last three days playing games.
(SS): As an amateur, how much contact did you have with MLB teams and what was it that caused you to decide to sign with the Twins?
(RE): From the age of 13, I was “noticed” by MLB scouts while participating in the annual National Baseball Championships. Every year the scouts attended the Championships and made a point of establishing how much I improved and developed. From the age of 13 up and until 16, I was seen as a pitcher with the first MLB Academy held in Cape Town, having been selected to attend as a pitcher. It was only during the Durban MLB Academy my father and provincial coaches convinced the selectors to put me down as a positional player and more specifically as a batter. All of the interest was no longer with pitching but with batting power.
Signing with the Twins came about by having regular contact with Glen Godwin from the Twins organization during our National Championships followed by extensive research done on all of the interested MLB organizations regarding their farm system. It was obvious that the Twins organization offered the most attractive farming system for new signings and the choice was easily made. It was also valuable to talk with fellow South African players I played with on a regular basis that signed with the Twins. Hein Robb and Callan Pearce offered a lot of valuable information to assist in the choices to be made.
(SS): What was the adjustment like for you last spring moving from South Africa to Florida? What were the biggest challenges?
(RE): The adjustment moving from South Africa to Florida was meant to be difficult with people saying I would become “home sick” and I would be exposed to players/coaches of other nationalities. None of this posed any issues as I was too busy to think about anything else but baseball. I was living my dream and that made it so easy to adapt and enjoy every single moment of my time in Florida.
The only challenge I faced was to adapt to the exceptionally high level of baseball being played in the GCL. Back home in South Africa one or two pitchers had the capability to reach 90 mph with off-speed stuff not being too difficult to cope with. Playing in the GCL league I had to adapt very quickly to pitches approaching 95 mph with the off-speed pitches being very difficult to contend with. There were periods where I doubted myself as not being good enough but towards the end of the season became more and more confident and started making decent contact.
(SS): What was the highlight of your 2015 season, your first year in the Twins organization?
(RE): Without a doubt the highlight of my first season at the Twins was being coached by the calibre of coaches running our GCL side and being involved in a team with so many different characters. Every single “at-bat” was a highlight I treasured.
(SS): What type of hitter do you think you are and can be? What were your keys to your success at the plate?
(RE): I’d like to think of myself as a well-rounded hitter, by being able to make contact in a pressure situation and to be able to drive the ball in the gap with power to score needed RBIs. Some of my success came from being patient at the plate and picking a good pitch to hit in the strike zone.
(SS): Have you played in any international tournaments in a South Africa uniform. If so, what’s it like to play for your country?
(RE): I was privileged to play for the South African U18 side when we hosted a five-game series tournament against the Great Britain National U18 side. Playing in a Junior South African team against another National team is such a rare occurrence the moment was actually overwhelming. We ended up beating the Great Britain side 5–0 and apart from being signed by the Twins was without doubt the proudest moment of my life. Being selected into the last World Baseball Classic South African National training squad was my only other taste of National participation.
(SS): Away from baseball, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?
(RE): Any free time away from baseball is a scarce commodity and spend that time with my family and friends. Downtime is taken up by fishing and spending time with the family on the game farm.
(SS): Are there certain areas of your game or preparation that you’d like to focus on during this offseason, looking to 2016?
(RE): I would like to focus on all the areas that I can in order to give myself a better chance to make a bigger impact at the professional level. I will take a lot of time to work on speed and power as these are the most important aspects to my game.
(SS): Growing up, who were some of your role models in the game of baseball?
(RE): When I was growing up I learned of, spoke to and even played against Nick Dempsey who played professional baseball in the USA. That started my dream of following in his footsteps and making baseball my career. The achievements of South African batter Ian Holness formed a huge part of my drive to become recognized as a batter and became a role model in the way he batted for South Africa in the 1998 Baseball World Cup and the 2000 Olympics. More recently Gift Ngoepe made me realize that dreams are possible to play professional baseball.
(SS): What are some of your goals for the 2016 season? Are there certain statistics that you will focus on?
(RE): My goals for the 2016 season would be to be one of the top hitters in the side and to bat higher up in the order during the season. I’m looking to hit for a higher average and raise my power numbers up to a decent number .
(SS): What would it mean to you and your family to be able to reach the major leagues and put that uniform on for the first time?
(RE): My family’s dream of me being signed as a professional baseball player has already being achieved and whatever the future brings is now up to me. However putting on the major league shirt for the first time would without doubt bring about an event so memorable it will be carried forward in history and never be forgotten in generations to come. Personally, to me it would mean that I am privileged enough to be accepted into a select group of athletes that have worked so hard at attaining that dream that the only goal left is to work even harder to make that dream last as long as possible.
(SS): Are there certain people that you feel helped you get to this point in your career?
(RE): Firstly, the total support and sacrifice made by my parents to give my brother and me the opportunity to become the baseball players we are today. Secondly my eldest brother whose baseball career was cut short through injury and spent many an hour developing my swing into what it is today. And lastly taking invaluable advice from every single coach involved in my life and using what worked.
(SS): Favorite Baseball Movie?
(RE): 42
We would really like to thank Rowan Ebersohn for taking time to respond to our questions so thoroughly. Feel free to comment or ask questions below.
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