Much has been made of Brian Ragira—full name Brian Aosa Mogaka Ragira—being of Kenyan descent. It distinguishes him from most young U.S. baseball players, so it can make for an interesting angle as his star rises at Stanford in a season of big expectations.
But Ragira, born and raised in Texas, also reflects a classic American sensibility about the national pastime. He talks, for instance, about all his Saturdays that included watching national telecasts of the New York Yankees and the admiration he developed for team captain Derek Jeter. "It's the way he carries himself, the way he hustles, the way he runs every ball out," says Ragira, a sophomore who was the Pac-10 freshman of the year after hitting .329 with a team-leading 46 runs batted in.
Ragira, who speaks Swahili and Ekegusii (a western Kenyan language), passed up a chance to play professionally after the Texas Rangers drafted him in 2010. But he wants to be a major leaguer and might not play four years at Stanford if the right contract comes around.
This season opened with Stanford ranked No. 2 in the nation; Ragira was playing first base and hitting .347 with 18 RBIs through the first 23 games. He's also sampling as much as he can of everything Stanford has to offer, but nothing so far has changed the fact that "baseball is the most enjoyable thing I do."
