English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
When he played Cuban baseball, Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz was called “the Cayo Mambi missile,” after the town in Holguin where he was born on February 28, 1988. Now, in the United States, they call him, “the new king of speed.” The left-hander recently made major league history, throwing a fastball at 105 miles … Continue reading “Aroldis, the Cayo Mambi Missile / Iván García”
14ymedio, Havana, 13 January 2023 — The participation of the Cuban Professional Baseball Federation (Fepcube) in the Intercontinental Professional Baseball Series is subject to “not singing the National Anthem or using the flag” of Cuba, nor the name “Fepcube Patria y Vida” during the event that is scheduled from January 26 to February 1 at … Continue reading “Colombia Counts on Cuba’s Vote in Its Attempt To Regain the Venue for the Pan American Games”
14ymedio, Havana, December 6, 2023 — “Patria y Vida” [Homeland and Life], the freedom motto that became the anthem of the 11 July 2021 ’11J’ protests inside and outside the Island, has been taken up by the Cuban Professional Baseball Federation (Fepcube) to identify the team of exiled baseball players that will participate in the … Continue reading “‘Patria y Vida’ — Homeland and Life — Will Be the Motto of the Cuban Team That Will Be Formed by Exiled Baseball Players”
Fernando Dámaso, 14 January 2019: Cuba’s history runs from 1492 to the present day, and men and women have contributed to it, for good or ill, throughout this period. Because of that, I have never understood why they talk and write about science, art and sport, to name but three examples, as being pre-January 1st … Continue reading “One Single History / Fernando Damaso”
14ymedio, 12 May 2018 — The sons of Victor Mesa — coach of the Industriales team and among the most recognized Cuban baseball players of all time — escaped from Cuba to pursue careers as professionals in the United States. An article published on the sports website MLB.com reports that Víctor Víctor Mesa and Víctor Mesa Jr. left … Continue reading “Victor Mesa’s Sons Leave Cuba for the Big Leagues”
There have been so many escapes by Cuban baseball players and boxers that they have stopped being news. The stories behind some of these defections could make a Hollywood script. From the late-90’s land and sea odyssey of Havana pitcher Orlando “Duque” Hernandez, who signed with the New York Yankees, to the unusual escape of the fabulous shortstop Rey … Continue reading “Not Everything About a Cuban Athlete is Worthwhile / Ivan Garcia”
Alberto Salazar, who was one of the most distinguish runners in the United States, today is a highly paid trainer in long distance running around the world. The best informed on the island know that Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s Executive Director and owner of the Washington Post Newspaper, had a stepfather born in Santiago de Cuba. … Continue reading “United States: Famous People with Cuban Roots / Ivan Garcia”
The facts and news about the sport of balls and strikes, learned during the recently concluded month of July, settle the dispute between amateur and professional baseball in favor of the latter. It started with the debut of Yovani Aragón in the World Port Tournament of Rotterdam, a less demanding event than the Olympic Games and the … Continue reading “Free Baseball vs. Slave Baseball / Dimas Castellanos”
As a result of the next baseball season, the State press and fans have unleashed a debate, looking to raise the level of ball played on the island. There were more than 170 proposals to design a new competitive structure. In a meeting with the national press, the Cuban Federation let it be known how … Continue reading “Cuban Baseball: Open the Gate / Ivan Garcia”
It is May twenty-ninth, the dawn creeps up and brings the end of baseball season with a new champion: Ciego de Avila. Amid the euphoria which caused this tight closing against the giants of the Industriales, the deficiencies of the national pastime were brought to light. Cuban baseball has been suffering for some time now … Continue reading “End of the Championships, End of the Soap Opera / Luis Felipe Rojas”
If the rumor about Cuban baseball is confirmed, I think the bad news for the national sport will exceed that having played a tournament in Rotterdam to forget, or that of having been deprived, for the umpteenth time in recent years, of an international title (this time, by Taipei of China). The threatening rumor is … Continue reading “The Passion Kills Us / Ernesto Morales Licea”
A storm is coming to the national sport in Cuba. In the last session of the monotone parliament in December, against all odds, the government maintained its strategy of not allowing ball players and other athletes to compete in foreign leagues. Since 1991, more than 350 ball players have fled the island. By maintaining the … Continue reading “Cuban Baseball Defections Could Increase / Iván García”
The formation of the ‘New Man’ has been a sterile task in Cuba. His precursor, Ernesto Che Guevara, was convinced that in the future society they were creating on the island they had to start by designing a human being from the laboratory. Che, a Maoist and radical revolutionary, dreamed and thought it possible, that … Continue reading “Of Che and His “New Man” / Iván García”
They can’t sleep easy at night. The millionaire salaries that they pay the ballplayers in the Big Leagues of the United States give the Cuban players a migraine. It’s no small wonder. Every time a newspaper from the other side of the pond falls in their hands, or they watch it through Florida TV Channels, they see the … Continue reading “Ballplayers Longing For Six Figure Salaries”
Anyone who claims to be from Havana has visited, at least once in their life, the old baseball stadium in the majority-black marginal neighborhood of Carraguao, in Cerro. On October 26 it will be 64 years since the Cerro Stadium opened. One Sunday in 1946 it opened with a game between the Almendares and Cienfuegos … Continue reading “Cerro Stadium, The Worst It’s Been in Its 64 Years / Iván García”