For Phildrick, the baseball bat is more than just an instrument – it’s a key that opens doors, you know? According to Phildrick, it brings multiple opportunities. “Coming from islands where we were once enslaved and had very few opportunities, I found a sport with a ball that I could throw, practice, and grow in – in a way that lifted both me and my family to a completely different level of life.”

It changed Phildrick’s mindset and taught him a new way of living. This bat doesn’t just represent the sport – it embodies the sport itself. It opened doors to opportunities for islanders to go out and explore the world, to become something greater. Especially coming from Curaçao, with a direct connection to Bonaire, you are born with the understanding that sports are a key activity to escape the limitations of island life, to create a better future, away from the island’s history of oppression.

The best thing to do is to focus on one thing, and for Phildrick, that was baseball. He dedicated everything he had to this sport for 24–26 years. Now at 31, he can proudly say that he has traveled the world, found success, grown as a human being, and become a better Bonairian, a better Curaçaoan, and a better Antillean.

The pressure, obstacles, challenges, and experiences that this baseball bat brought into his life have made him who he is today.