We will be playing five games and spending 7 nights -- just met many guys who have been there and finding out many amazing stories of what to expect -- what I know so far is the people are extremely happy and friendly -- I also know that many of the people in Cuba are very frustrated with the government -- in fact the shuttle driver (from the hotel this morning) asked me where I was headed -- "Cuba" -- he said, "My home country" -- I replied, "I hear it is very beautiful", He said, "Yes, but the government is messed up" -- and then I was on my way. Many people who live in Florida really dispise Cuba and what it is all about and even though many people think the embargo of Cuba is silly -- a strong group of Cuban-Americans think the embargo is good -- in fact if the US would lift the embargo (which most of me disagrees with....) they would be very angry -- so for "probably" political reasons -- the embargo is in place.
So we get to Miami airport this morning and I finding some interesting things -- first of all it was recommended to me that I saran wrap my bags. The Miami airport is rampant with theft and corruption (evidently they have a show on the Travel Channel about it – I may have to set the DVR when I get back home). So I paid $15 for a guy to wrap my bag in neon green wrap! (see picture)….I guess call it lesson number one in international travel – or in this case, travel from Miami Int’l – so my advice, drive to Miami – don’t fly in or out of there. Our plane was delayed (which is quite frequent) as we are catching a charter flight from Miami to Cienfuegos – we eventually take off at 5:00pm (originally supposed to be 12:30pm) and land in Cienfuegos about an hour later. Many passengers on the plane are going to visit family (one young lady noted she is going to see her mother for the first time in four years – we had to clear “customs” and then on our way to grab our luggage (thankfully all in one piece – nothing stolen) and to the bus to our hotel in Cienfuegos.
Our schedule is as follows:
Friday – fly into Cuba (Cienfeugos)
Saturday – 10am game in Rodas
Sunday – 10am game in Abreus
Monday – Travel to Havana
Tuesday – 10am game in Matanzas
Wednesday – 10am game in Havana
Thursday – 10am game in Havana
Friday – Fly home
I will admit the first 12 hours here in Cuba I was asking myself – “what the heck did I get myself into…..” – the next 12 hours went alittle better.
Cuba is a third world country but it has more amenities than a typical third world – our hotel in Cienfuegos was “nice” – definitely not 5 star – but more like 2 star, but for Cuba – a 4 star hotel easily. We did not have any internet access while there and also since I did not bring a power adaptor I was unable to pull anything in the walls since all the power was 220 V – which would burn out anything I could even get into the outlet. I do get a good nights rest and we head out to Rodas (about 30 mins away) to play some Cuban locals. Rodas has a population of about 13,000 (Cienfuegos is a city of around 200,000) and as we drove over to the stadium we stopped twice to pick up some of the players we were going to play against. A few of them are actual ex-professional Cuba baseball players – one of them was the pitching coach for the current Cienfuegos Elephants team (which interesting enough were playing a playoff game that evening). We also were playing against one of the best home run hitters from the Cuban baseball league – Miguel (and guess what – he hit a home in the bottom of the 2nd).
We get the stadium and that was interesting – the stands were full of people! (free entertainment!) As we made our way out to the dugout children were on top of the dugout (more or less asking for stuff) as typically these trips produce a fair amount of potential handouts for the spectators & players. We let the kids know they need to get away and after a few times they ended up finding the way back to the stands – we start our game and I end up batting like 8th and playing 2nd base -- you never know where the team needs you to play – of course many of the guys are wondering why a left handed fielder would be playing 2nd base (and many of the Cuban players were making fun of me as well – as the game went on). The 2nd batter hit a hot shot to my left – I was able to back hand it and flip it over to first on my knees to make the play – I hate making a spectacle of my play but that play alone was pretty cool because many of my teammates and the other players knew I was there to play some ball – the Cubans are amazing players – they had all the ages represented – they had a 14 year old pitching and guys in their 60’s playing as well – they all can play. They all look very natural, whether it is throwing and catching or in the batter’s box. This is what they do here – they play baseball. This country is VERY poor – in fact many of the guys do not have gloves – they certainly do not have batting gloves, cleats, bats, or even hats. They score one on a home run in the bottom of the 2nd and we score one in the top of the third – then they started hitting – eventually scoring 7 runs (topping it off with a 3 run HR) to take a commanding lead. We could not find our swings and we called the game after we hit in the top of the 7th – ending up losing 12-1. The field was adequate (but in US terms in rough shape) but a few interesting hops. So we get to the end of the game and now the mob appears just outside the dugout. Tradition has been when the guys from the US show up (this trip has been going on for at least 10 years now) they give away (hand out) many items, well the locals (and especially the children) know this – they are like a swarm of bees ready to sting. I personally brought a number of shirts and hats (later I found out batting gloves and sunglasses would have been a great item to hand out as well) and found out quick how to disburse these items and how not to give them out. First of all you need to zip up your bag – otherwise the swarm will take thing – if you zip it up, they won’t go in there, but if they see something they like, they will go for it. You also have to be careful not to reach into your bag on the ground – you could get swarmed under and more or less trampled, this is a big deal for the kids. While I love to give to charity and especially the poor – I get turned off on the “swarm” effect. But at the end of the day – we, humans, are animals and one way the people of Cuba survive is any attempt to make an extra buck by either begging or bartering can make live a little easier for them (or in many cases – survival).
~~ "You can observe a lot just by watching." - Yogi Berra ~~
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