Bishop, 17, who made his international debut for the New Zealand men’s softball team against Australia, will ink a contract in Auckland in Thursday and join up with Red Sox for spring training on March 1.
The catcher is taking a step in the unknown, but is excited by the challenge.
“I don’t know what to expect,” he said. “I’m just over the moon.”
Black Sox coach Eddie Kohlhase had earmarked Bishop for a big future in softball, but he has no qualms about the teen pursuing a baseball career.
“This is an opportunity that everyone dreams of and for a young man from Wellington to be given this opportunity says a lot for his family and the Black Sox,” Kohlhase said.
“We have one of our own off to one of the greatest sports organisations in the world and we are very proud that it has happened.”
No New Zealander has so far cracked the Major League Baseball ranks, although former Black Sox Travis Wilson spent eight years with the Atlanta Braves organisation while Aucklander Scott Campbell is currently on the books of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Editor’s Note: History repeating itself? A somewhat well-known story is that the Toronto Blue Jays sent a scout to New Zealand way back in 1989 to try to sign a young softball catcher by the name of Mark Sorenson. The Jays’ loss was softball’s gain, but you have to wonder what might have been …