Omar Arif

Omar Arif

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.

• School California State University, Long Beach, Texas Christian University
• High School Ralph H. Poteet High School

• Born September 3, 1984 in Dallas, TX USA

BR register page

Biographical Information

Omar Arif was the first former minor leaguer to pitch for the Pakistani national team.

Arif was taken by the Houston Astros in the 27th round of the 2003 amateur draft out of high school but did not sign. Going on to college, he was 0-1 with a 6.52 ERA as a freshman at TCU. He improved to a 5.06 as a sophomore and 1-1, 4.62 with 3 saves as a junior. Transferring to Long Beach State, he was 6-5 with a 2.99 ERA, tying Bryan Shaw for second on the staff in wins.

The Arizona Diamondbacks chose him in the 29th round of the 2007 amateur draft, the same round Andrew Cashner was picked. He had a short pro career, going 1-2 with a 4.56 ERA in 24 games (3 starts) that summer for the Yakima Bears. He tied for 9th in the Northwest League in games pitched; only Billy Spottiswood appeared more on the hill for Yakima. 15 years later, he joined the Pakistani national team for the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers as their second-oldest pitcher (after Tariq Nadeem). Interestingly, he was not the only member of Cal State Long Beach's 2007 pitching staff to appear in the Qualifiers as Vance Worley had suited up for Great Britain. Pakistan had turned to many Americans and Canadians of Pakistani descent that year; in their prior WBC Qualifier, they had gone to a more authentically Pakistan-born team, but took the path in 2022 that many of their competitors were taking. Arif relieved Amir Asghar in their opener versus Argentina, with a 1-0 lead in the third, one on and one out. He retired Eduardo Zurbriggen on a grounder but a wild pitch and a passed ball let Argentina tie it. He walked Jacinto Cipriota but retired Julian Pedrouzo to end the inning. In the 4th, he hit Matías Robles, then Lucas Nakandakare singled and Andres Kim walked. He struck out Sebastián García and got Agustín Tissera on a liner to almost end the threat. He walked Exequiel Talevi to give Argentina the lead and Eduardo Zurbriggen to make it 3-1. Adam Khan took over and escaped further damage, but Arif took the loss to Lucas Ramón. He walked the most batters on Pakistan's staff in the event, one ahead of Amaan Khan.