Luis Felipe Casañas told Brita García that he was “dismayed” and “sorry”
14ymedio, Havana, October 19, 2025 — Among the indiscipline and penalties happening in Cuban baseball, umpire Luis Felipe Casañas offered an apology to journalist Brita García. The apology came after she reported on her social networks that he called her “frigid” and “impertinent,” and he said that she “didn’t know anything” about baseball.
According to García, the umpire insulted her “in front of the Game Commissioner and all those present in the lower boxes of the Guillermón Moncada Stadium,” in the fifth inning of the game between Santiago de Cuba and Las Tunas.
García said that Casañas requested a meeting in which the rest of the umpires, the supervisor and the Game Commissioner were present. “Casañas was dismayed and sorry for his behavior,” she said. “The rest of his teammates showed respect for her work. All say that they work with respect and in order to to strengthen Cuban baseball, the Heritage of the Nation.”
The journalist said that she denounced the situation “in order to stop this type of behavior, which I have faced throughout my professional life.”
The journalist said that she denounced the situation “in order to stop this type of behavior, which I have faced throughout my professional life.” Machismo remains enthroned, and all the gender committees and other organizations for this purpose must be maintained and act with rigor,” she said.
Casañas’ annoyance was due to a Facebook post by the journalist. García considered excessive the seven-game suspension imposed by the Commission on Santiago native Jeison Martínez for protesting two of the judges’ decisions.
News of the matter spread like wildfire. “Some of us showed solidarity with Brita, because we are her colleagues and know her, and others because these topics ‘sell’ well,” wrote the specialized media on Facebook, DPorto Sports LLC. “Between posts and comments, you could say that it was the ‘most clicked on’ in Cuban baseball this Friday,” it added.
The same post regretted the absolute silence after the apology. “This is more than a criticism, it is a call to attention about our reality and what we have become,” it said.
“We’re more interested in the problem than the solution. We look at and react more to an offense/mistake than when the one who is wrong recognizes what he did and repents. We are at a point, I think, where we prefer confrontation to understanding. Or the personal banalities and controversies rather than physical or virtual acts that highlight our ethical and moral principles. Which, unfortunately, fade more every day.”
The National Baseball Series has been plagued by scandals in recent weeks. The National Institute of Sports Physical Education and Recreation announced that the following were suspended for five games for indiscipline: manager Vicyohandri Odelín and players Yordanis Samón Matamoros and Eglis Eugellés Antunez, all from Camagüey, in addition to the provincial Commissioner, Roger Jesús Montada Feria.
Penalties were also given to the manager, Vicyohandri Odelín, and to players Yordanis Samón Matamoros and Eglis Eugellés Antunez, all from Camagüey
From the game between Mayabeque and Las Tunas last Sunday, Yoelkis Cruz and Deismel Hurtado were suspended for five games.
Rigoberto Hernandez, a coach for the Mayabeque team, was suspended for five games”for addressing an umpire with bad words” after a decision on first base. The manager of Granma, Jorge Miranda, received 10 suspended games for “protesting in a very rotten way over an arbitrated decision.”
Eriel Sánchez, manager of the Los Gallos de Sancti Spíritus team and former manager of the Cuba team, was penalized for hitting with a “wooden object” (in the first version it was a bat, but Sánchez denied it) Miguel Rojas Rodríguez, a National Baseball Commission official and Cuban sports celebrity in late September.
The National Baseball Commission suspended Eriel Sánchez and Miguel Rojas for five and three years, respectively.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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