|
| White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, from Cuba, gives a baseball clinic to children in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015. A group of Cuban-born baseball stars once disdained by the island's government for defecting to the United States taught their craft to some of the island's youngest players on Wednesday as part of a triumphant return to Cuba. |
HAVANA
(AP) -- More than 100 Cuban boys wearing the uniforms of local baseball
teams stood in rows, smiling nervously Wednesday as they got tips and
training from some of their major league idols - men who were born on
the island and were once disdained by the Communist government for
defecting to the United States.
Los Angeles
Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, St. Louis Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena
and Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu were among those who ran
10- and 11-year-old Cuban players through a three-hour skills camp on
the second day of a three-day mission meant to warm relations between
Major League Baseball and Cuba.
Joined by
pitcher Pedro Luis Lazo and other Cuban baseball stars who have stayed
on the island, the major league stars divided the youths into five
groups and ran them through calisthenics and batting, pitching and
catching drills. And they offered their advice.
"We're
going to give our best on this visit and we appreciate the opportunity
we've been given," said Yasiel
Puig, who left Cuba illegally in 2012.
"Everything else we leave to God and destiny."
Eleven-year-old
Yassel Veranes grinned widely as he waited for the clinic to begin.
"It's my dream to be here to see them," said the boy, who was brought to
Havana's Latinoamericano Stadium by his father, Elio Veranes, who
watched the proceedings with pride.
The
official return on Tuesday of baseball defectors earning millions in the
major leagues was a landmark in the new relationship between Cuba and
the United States and a dramatic manifestation of Cuba's shifting
attitude toward the hundreds of players who have abandoned the country
that trained them.
One year ago this week,
Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced that their countries
were restoring diplomatic ties, opening the door for better baseball
relations between the countries.
Cuba and the
United States always have shared a love of baseball, despite deep
political and ideological differences over the years.
From
the Negro Leagues to the current crop of Cuban stars, the communist
island and the U.S. are linked
by century-old baseball ties.
During
their current trip, Major League Baseball Players Association
executives planned to talk business with their Cuban counterparts,
saying they were optimistic about sealing a deal by early next year for
the Tampa Bay Rays to play two spring training games in Cuba. They also
hope to make progress toward creating a legal route for Cuban players to
make their way to the major leagues.
"There's
some hurdles to negotiate, there's no question, and hopefully this trip
of goodwill will make the conversations work better," said Major League
Baseball chief baseball officer Joe Torre.
When
they weren't getting tips or training, the boys asked their idols to
sign baseball, or have their photograph taken together.
Pena, dressed in his St. Louis team jersey, said he was happy "to come back to see my family, to share with them."
The
player said he also enjoyed meeting with his young fans in Havana.
Another clinic was planned Thursday in Matanzas, east of the capital.
Traditionally,
Cuban state television has avoided airing games featuring defectors but
fans watch their idols' performances on pirated recordings distributed
on computer USB drives. Most sports experts agree that the future does
not look bright without a solution to the problem of baseball talent
fleeing the country. But fans who gathered to see the Cuban baseball
stars said their return to the island filled them with optimism.
U.S.
teams played spring training games in Cuba before Castro's revolution
but none appeared here from March 1959 until the Baltimore Orioles faced
Cuba's national team in Havana in March 1999. MLB has not returned
since.
Under Castro, a passionate baseball fan
who saw sports as an expression of national glory, defectors were
banished from official memory, never mentioned on Cuban television even
as they made headlines on U.S. sports pages.
Castro's
brother and successor, President Raul Castro, has eased the treatment
of players who leave as part of a broader relaxing of social controls.
That included the 2013 removal of a required exit permit for all Cubans,
except those considered essential to the country.
Some
major league players have since been allowed back on low-key trips to
see family. A few others, like star infielder Yoan Moncada, have
received permission from Cuban authorities to depart legally to start
careers in the United States. Moncada agreed to a $31.5 million signing
bonus with the Boston Red Sox in March.
Cuba
also has been allowing some stars to legally play in countries such as
Japan and Mexico during the offseason. Similar policies for the major
leagues would be far more difficult due to the U.S. trade embargo on
Cuba and Cuban fears that broad legalization of departures to the U.S.
would make the talent drain even worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment