Fidel Castro and the New York Yankees

Wow. What an interesting story I just read regarding the New York Yankees and a connection with former Cuban leader and Dictator Fidel Castro? Say it ain’t so? Rumor has/had it that Castro loved baseball and even tried out for the New York Yankees team before the Cuban revolution but this is no longer rumor, the record has been set straight and it’s an awesome read.

Adrian Burgos Jr., a history professor at the University of Illinois and the author of “Playing America’s Game: Latinos and the Color Line,” did the research and found out that this try out simply never happened. Burgos adds that Castro may have went and tried out for the Washington Senators at one of their many try outs held in Havana, Cuba but Burgos also states that Castro was not as talented as other Cuban prospects where scouts “went looking for him.”

The Yankees were not active in Cubs or Latin America for that matter until the 1960’s which immediately puts this myth to bed. It was a fun myth while it lasted and it’s always fun to play the “what if” game but this one goes to bed along with other folk tales like the demise of The Greedy Pinstripes. Heard that one too recently. We’re still here and kicking. Have a great day everyone. 

Dairon Blanco: The Latest Cuban to Defect That New York Won't Sign

The New York Yankees have been reluctant to sign big named and high cost talent out of the Cuban market for whatever reason despite the recent successes of multiple defectors in the Major Leagues of late. For this reason you can't really blame me for my pessimism every time a "can't miss" Cuban star defects from their native island country with the hopes of reaching the United States and the Major Leagues. The latest can't miss guy to leave the Castro regime is outfielder Dairon Blanco.

Blanco is just 23-years old so he will fall within the international signing rules and restrictions set forth by the league whenever they deem him to be eligible to sign as a free agent. Blanco is a speed demon, Ben Badler of Baseball America gave him an 80-grade on his speed recently, that played center field in the Serie Nacional and could also do so in the Major Leagues with some work. Obviously, like most Cuban stars, Blanco comes as a work in progress that needs a little work, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

His bat seems to hold it's own which may be evident by his Serie Nacional career .303/.369/.409 triple slash with 52 steals in four seasons. Blanco doesn't strike out a ton and is a high average hitter with speed which almost every team can find a spot for on their roster that isn't in dire need of power as well.

Obviously Blanco won't be approved to be signed before the international signing period ends on July 2nd but he could absolutely be in play for the next round of signings. The Yankees are under spending restrictions for one more signing period after this one meaning unless Blanco wants to sign for $300K or less he won't be coming to the Bronx unfortunately. Shocker there.

Baseball WILL Unify the United States and Cuba

For basically my entire lifetime the United States and Cuba have had little that the two countries actually agreed on. During the Cold War the Russians sided with Cuba, or vice versa but who is really counting at this point, while the United States countered with embargoes on the island country. These two countries, especially under former leader Fidel Castro, have never seen eye-to-eye and have never seemingly wanted to see eye-to-eye. Well until recently when President Barack Obama began lifting embargoes and restrictions on the country in hopes of easing the tension between the two countries diplomatically. President Obama may have opened the doors for a whole new set of possibilities between the two but it will be Major League Baseball that will unify the people of these two countries.

Recently Major League Baseball sent a goodwill tour to the country of Cuba in hopes of beginning a relationship and friendship between the league and Cuba. The US sent some of their own All-Stars, Clayton Kershaw being one of them, but also sent stars that defected from Cuba in Jose Abreu and Yasiel Puig to name a few. It was a great gesture by the league and it resulted in both the Cuban flag and the United States flag being flown side-by-side inside the Estadio Victoria de Giron. A stadium that features a massive scoreboard with a photograph of Fidel Castro on it. Castro’s youngest son, Antonio, like much of the Cuban population, has a passion for baseball and he may understand more than anyone what a working relationship between MLB and the Cuban government could mean not only for the sport and the game but for the working relationship between the two countries.

These two countries speak two entirely different languages, but one common theme is baseball. These two countries are led and run two entirely different ways. One is a democracy and one is likely still run by a dictator, Raul Castro, but one common theme is baseball. The vast majority of Cubans love the sport of Major League Baseball and MLB is the national past time of the United States. It’s these baby steps and good gestures built on mutual respect and willingness to work together that can and I think will lead to a prosperous working relationship between the two countries outside of baseball.

Let’s be frank, Cuba needs MLB just as much as MLB needs the country of Cuba. We need each other and this is just the beginning I think of great things that we are all going to be seeing. All because of the sport of baseball, the unifying power.

MLB Exhibition Games inside Cuba May be Closer than You Think

When President Barack Obama announced that the United States government and the Cuban government would begin talks and actions to eliminate the embargo and improve diplomatic relations between the two countries the baseball community went into a frenzy. Major League Baseball, more than the NFL, the NBA, or any other sport combined sees more Cuban defectors come to the United States to play their game so many around the league, fans and owners alike, wondered what this could mean to the game. One interesting change and addition that could come of it could be having spring training games, exhibition games or even regular season games inside the country of Cuba. These changes were thought to be many years down the road but after Rob Manfred talked to the United State government about playing exhibition games in Cuba we may be closer than we originally thought.

Of course Manfred would be a fool to speculate on a time frame for this to happen, and apparently he isn’t a fool because he refused to specify a time frame when asked about the subject, the MLB Commissioner seems to be really pushing for this to happen. Why wouldn’t he? There was 25 Cuban born players in the major leagues last season including Yasiel Puig, Yoenis Cespedes and the American League Rookie of the Year Jose Abreu.

This wouldn’t be the first time MLB visited Cuba as the Baltimore Orioles played the Cuban national team in Havana in March of 1999 and major league teams visited Cuba a lot before Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959. Major League Baseball has hosted exhibition games in Panama and Mexico City while playing regular season games in Puerto Rico, Tokyo, Monterrey, Mexico, San Juan and Sydney just in the past 15 years ad with Cuba a mere 90 miles from the tip of Florida we may be adding Cuba to that already pretty impressive list very, very soon.