Chasing his dream: Diné baseball player hoping to make big leagues

By Santiago Ramos Jr,
Special to the Times

GRANTS — Like many aspiring pro baseball players, Shiprock’s Cameron Phillips is living his own “Field of Dreams” and chasing his MLB dream.

“It’s been a dream of mine since I was three years-old, playing T-ball in Shiprock,” said Phillips, who is full-blooded Navajo. “As far as I know, I’m the only Navajo in this professional baseball league. I’m proud to represent the Navajo Nation.”

The Shiprock graduate is making a statement, playing in his second season in the Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs, headquartered in Houston, Texas.

The league plays in 16 cities across eight states, from California to Nebraska with Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas in between.

The Pecos League plays in cities that do not have Major League baseball or even Minor League baseball and is not affiliated with either organization.

The 26 year-old Phillips plays for the Blackwell Flycatchers of Blackwell, Oklahoma. So far, he has been tearing up the Pecos League at the plate.

Earlier this week the 6-foot, 200-pound Phillips, who plays second and third base, blasted his sixth home run of the season, which is third-best on the Flycatcher team.

He boasts an impressive .425 batting average with 17 RBIs through 19 games and 41 at-bat appearances. His OBP (on-base percentage) is .500 and his slugging average is an even more impressive .925. His OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging average) is an incredible 1.425. The OPS shows the player’s ability to get on base and hit for power which are two important offensive skills that Phillips possesses.

After attending Northeastern Junior College for one year, Phillips finished his career at Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma City. Then he started playing pro ball for Blackwell. Last year in his first year of pro ball, he finished with a .267 batting average in 32 games with 24 RBIs, seven doubles, one triple and three home runs. The Blackwell Flycatchers finished the season 17-25 with 11 rainouts.

“Overall I’m at a super hot start to this season and looking to improve,” Phillips said. “We’re halfway through the season and my batting average and home runs have also doubled from last season. So far my second year of pro ball is going great compared to last season.”

The Flycatchers are sitting in second place in the Northern Division with a 16-10 record with 27 more games remaining.

Blackwell plays in the Mountain Division with Alpine, Austin and Pecos, Texas; Garden City, Kansas; North Platte, Nebraska; Roswell and Santa Fe, New Mexico; Trinidad, Colorado; and Tucson, Ariz. Six teams, all based in California, compose the Pacific Division: Bakersfield, Dublin, Martinez, Marysville, San Rafael and Vallejo all in California.

The Pecos League season starts play in mid-May and lasts until mid-August with 55 games in 60 days.

“It’s tough to play this many games in such a small amount of time,” Phillips said. “It’s important to take care of your body.”

Phillips explained the life of a pro baseball player.

“We get paid weekly and get reimbursed on travel days,” he explained. “Hotels are paid for by the league so when we travel, we have hotels. We take ourselves to the games. For our home games, we stay with host families.”

Phillips said he works multiple jobs during the off season to be able to continue playing.

“I worked three jobs this off-season to save up money for the season,” he explained. “I worked at a gas station, coached high school basketball, cut hair and did landscaping. My off season consisted of working, doing side jobs for extra money, working out and practicing to stay in baseball shape seven days a week.”

Phillips hopes that his hard work and dedication will lead to better things.

“I still have those dreams of playing in the majors,” Phillips said. “The goal is moving up the ladder. I hope to gain knowledge and hopefully get the call up to higher affiliated levels of professional baseball.”

Phillips pointed out that winning is the key to getting attention from the pro scouts.

“It all comes down to winning,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how good you are, they look for teams that win and that helps you stand out. If you’re good enough and your team is doing good, you will definitely get the call. Our goal is to win games and get to the postseason in hopes of bringing home a championship. We have a lot of talent on our team. So far I’ve played with guys who have been in the Orioles, Rays and Yankee organizations. When we make it to the postseason and get deep in the playoff there will definitely be a handful of guys who will get the call up.”

Phillips says his idols in MLB are former Pittsburgh Pirate and San Francisco Giant great Barry Bonds, Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altus and Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa.

“I had a lot of mentors growing up,” said Phillips, who likes to watch the Astros and the Yankees. “There are three – George Padilla, Dineh Benally and Fernando Santillanes. All were my former coaches and all three have guided me and taught me a lot about baseball and life. I respect each of them because I wouldn’t be the ballplayer I am without them. I kind of pieced things together little by little from each.”

Phillips also draws from his Navajo upbringing.

“I also look up to the Diné before me who excelled at the highest level they could possibly play at,” Phillips says. “Jacoby Ellsbury, who played for the Red Sox; Craig Littleton, who played college ball in Louisiana and was Player of the Year; Vincent Littleton, who won the College World Series with the University of Arizona; and Anthony Seigler, who is currently in affiliated baseball with the Yankees in their farm system. All of them have some sort of Navajo in them.

“And it’s cool that I’m on that list. Being a full-blooded Navajo from Shiprock, New Mexico playing pro ball, traveling around the country, doing good and putting up good numbers in hopes of moving up to a higher league.”

When he played at Shiprock High School, Phillips finished with a .591 batting average with 55 hits, 30 RBIs, seven doubles, five triples and one home run his senior year. Phillips was named to the 2015-2016 ALL-USA New Mexico Baseball Team.

Chasing his baseball dream, Phillips hopes to be an inspiration for the youth.

“When you come from a town like Shiprock, you gotta dream big. My dreams for the future are to play at the highest level possible, get married and expand my family. I hope to inspire the youth to let them know that anything is possible. How you do anything is how you do everything.”

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