MB Civic

Joseph A. Reaves
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 5, 2006 12:00 AM

The United States and Cuba play tonight in the gold-medal game of
the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Havana.

Both countries qualified this past weekend for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, so tonight’s game is mostly about pride – and about what should have been and what might yet be.

The recent hospitalization of 80-year-old Cuban President Fidel Castro raised speculation about the future of the island nation’s most precious commodity: its baseball players.

Once upon a time, Cuba sent the greatest number of foreign-born players to the major leagues. Even now, after nearly a half-century ban on players leaving for the United States, Cubans rank fourth on the all-time list of foreign-born major leaguers with 153.

Forget about politics. If a regime change in Cuba brings an end to the blockade, baseball fans everywhere will benefit.

“It will give you a chance to see the best baseball players in the world,the ones who didn’t defect like me and my brother and the other people,”says Diamondbacks pitcher Livan Hernandez, who defected in 1995 and two years later was MVP of the World Series.

“Everybody is waiting to see what happens. It’s better to have them come and play. Cubans play the best baseball in the world.”

Folks in some other strong baseball countries might argue with that. But there is no denying Cubans play some of the best baseball in the world They’ve proved it time and again. Since 1936, Cuba has won the World Cup of Baseball 25 times. Next best is Venezuela with three world titles Cuba has won three of the four gold medals awarded at the Olympics since baseball became an official sport in 1992.

And in the inaugural World Baseball Classic last spring, Cuba finished
second to Japan and ahead of powerhouse teams from the United States, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela – all loaded with established major league stars.

Part of the reason Cuba has excelled in international competition is because of the blockade. Its best players are concentrated on one national team,instead of being dispersed among major league clubs as they were before 1960 when such greats as Minnie Minoso, Luis Tiant and Bert Campaneris came to the United States.

That almost certainly will change some day. Maybe not the moment Castro leaves the scene, but some day, and perhaps soon.

Some of Cuba’s best players have managed to slip through the blockade Hernandez and his half brother, Orlando, are among the biggest. Jose Contreras, Vladimir Nuez and Danys Baez all made a big impact in the majors.

And Kendry Morales of the Los Angeles Angels is a superstar in the making.But some of the best baseball players of the past half-century never had the chance to prove they were as good as, or better than, their major leaguec ounterparts.

Third baseman Omar Linares might have been the best of all. He was the star player for Cuba’s gold-medal Olympic teams in 1992 and ’96, batting .488 (40 for 82) with 12 home runs.

Earlier this summer, Baseball America called Linares “the most influential amateur player of the last 25 years.”

“Not to take anything away from Brooks Robinson, Graig Nettles or even the greatest defensive third baseman that I saw play, Billy Cox, but Linarescould play circles around them all,” said Bob Weinstein of Goodyear, who has visited Cuba more than 100 times since 1997 promoting sports exchanges “Plus he (Linares) hit for average and power.

“He had several opportunities to defect but always remained true to his country.”

Linares once said the New York Yankees offered him $50 million to defect “(That) would be an act of treason,” he said. “It will never happen.” And it never did.

It’s too late for Linares. His career is over. But many think Cuba has some of the best young talent in decades ready for the major leagues if the opportunity arises.

“I can only say that after watching Linares (and some of the other greats) in their primes, I am not sure that the current group isn’t going to be the equal or better,” said Weinstein, who just returned from the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Havana.

He singled out of infielders Yulieski Gourriel, Eduardo Paret, Alexander  Mayeta, outfielders Osmani Urrutia and Frederich Cepeda, and catcher Ariel Pestano. All are on the Cuban team that will play the United States tonight.

And those are just the position players. Cuba is, as always, rich in
pitchers: Frank Montieth, Norberto Gonzalez and Pedro Luis Lazo Iglesias to name a few.

Will any of them ever make it to the major leagues? Time will tell. But not everyone is hoping they will. One who isn’t is Peter C. Bjarkman author of several books on Cuban baseball and a frequent visitor to the island.

“When that day comes, there will be little left that can be called Cuban baseball,” Bjarkman said by e-mail from the tournament in Havana. “The ending of this era will wipe out a glorious institution, despite some positive changes in terms of opportunity for Cubans in the majors – just as the signing of (Jackie) Robinson in 1947 meant the end of the thriving institution that was once the Negro Leagues.

“It is the inevitable march of time.”

Reach the reporter at (602) 444-8125 or joseph.reaves@arizonarepublic.com