The Cuban Baseball Federation and the USA Baseball disclosed that early next July, in North Carolina, the traditional bilateral friendly match between Cuba and the USA Collegiate National Team. According to the official website of USA Baseball, as in previous years, the series is agreed to five games and will take place between July the 1st and the 6th in three cities in North Carolina. Again, northerners will be represented by its roster of USA Collegiate National Team (CNT), while Cuba will have its national team. The first place to host the match will be the National Training Complex, Cary City, meanwhile, games 2 and 3 will be in the Bulls Athletic Park, Durham. Meanwhile, the fourth clash d at Knights Stadium, Charlotte, with the last game on the premises of the National Complex. After 16 years of absence, the bilateral match between the two nations resurfaced three years ago with a victory for the Cubans after the visit of his counterpart at Estadio Latinoamericano. The following year, the American collegiate team took revenge in Havana and endorsed Cubans a sovereign swept. Identical result had Cuba then last year at the "Capitán San Luis" of Pinar del Río and the...

2007 ... His spine was broken on level four of the lower back. He had to undergo risk surgery. In his retina there is not as so heartbreaking image as the one of that day when he was wearing a green pajamas, lying on a stretcher pushed by a couple of doctors to the operating room, with flaming lights, which ended dazzling his sight. Goodbye all, he had been told. No more volleyball. When he opened his eyes, did nothing but mourn. He would not jump again from defense area for a spike, would not put his fingertips on the net for a block, and would not be able to launch again one of his terrifying aces. Goodbye all, he had been told. 2009 ... There is no omen to change my life, he said. And he scuppered everything predicted. A passage for framing, giant will. Michael Sanchez Bozhuleva returned to the court, he consecrated his will. After the boldness, "the Russian" had to turn back and leave. He could not stand to be crucified, could not stand his effort and morale to be reviled. 2013 ... The Incheon Gyeyang Stadium was crowded. He never believed what he saw. The...

When morning lights in San Juan find a gap in the Double Tree By Hilton and awaken the first of the Cuban players there will be no shock, this sudden feeling of jumping out of bed, breaking the dream to be inserted in real nightmare that Caribbean Series has become for Cubans, it will not happen. The event, perhaps to compensate the island for all the historical altruism to the world, its good will, has made the same with us. It was benevolent. Having a negative balance of a lone win with three losses, Cuba has received, without more, a ticket to Saturday's semifinals. Honestly, if it hadn’t happened, Cuba would be picking up its bags to return home. Now Pinar del Rio already has a guaranteed berth, has jumped on the bandwagon thanks to the comeback of the Gigantes del Cibao who defeated last night Tomateros de Culiacan. That game, left  host Cangrejeros de Santurce without any chance to fight for the qualification who have not won yet, so that Cuba, with its win two days ago gets to the next stage. Vegueros passes in last place and will confront the leader of the qualifier that it seems it...

Vegueros of Pinar del Río breathe, some vital signs still answer. Its hard-fought victory against the Cangrejeros de Santurce (Puerto Rico) returned its soul to the body. It was enough for them with their own hands, a couple of pats on the face and shake off a little terror that oppresses them. It is not easy to see death coming, front, quiet, tending its hand and whispering: " two shots, just two, you take it or you know". Alfonso Urquiola´s team has looked at the sky and has sighed. The first win in the Caribbean Series comes at the right time, when the water touched the ceiling and threatened to end the hopes, with the dream of returning to be protagonists in a respectable event. It was an exciting night full of excitement, of refereeing errors, rain, controversial decisions of managers, small game, again rain and stiffness, especially that. The boiling of Hiram Birthorn lasted until the board indicated that it was an extra-inning game, the bottom of the tenth inning opened, both campuses were tied at two runs at this stage of the game and if Pinar del Río score just once, Cangrejeros would be walked-off in front of...

Dainer Moreira, starting shortstop for the national team, will try to reach the MLB at 30.

The Cuban 54-year absence in the Caribbean Series has come to pass the bill. The return has been just that, a show, a mere ¨we have to do it¨. Last year in Margarita Island with the Azucareros de Villa Clara, last place, and now, Cuba has already received two hammer blows on the back. The Vegueros de Pinar del Río still needs to win one. While against Mexico, at times, it was somewhat close to success; against the Gigantes del Cibao (Dominican Republic) it had no room for doubt, for the futile innuendo. Since the beginning, they attacked the Cubans with a voracious offense with a lineup that did not have mercy of the wrongdoings of Norge Luis Ruiz on the mound. The Dominican batters showed no mercy. The Cuban starter didn’t suffer much, the collapse came with reliever Jonder Martínez, who, for the second consecutive day was beaten. This, coupled with the rickety Cuban production at zero hour, determined the outcome: a 6 to 1 loss. Losing just by one Pinar del Rio could not be effective with runners on base and his men were forced to hit three times for double play. That is all. A parenthesis to...

Vegueros of Pinar del Río just lost in its debut in the Caribbean Series to the Tomateros of Culiacan (Mexico). First outing to the playground of the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, first loss. A fast defeat, without anesthesia, perhaps to announce early that is not enough to go armed to the teeth, if ultimately cracks are eloquent. There is no one to hide them behind a brittle shell. It was a flash game that opened the floodgates in Puerto Rico, in less than three hours the Mexicans destroyed the forecast of a Cuban triumph. Nine innings side by side, without clear advantages, where those designated to climb the mound, in each case, didn’t disappoint. For Mexicans, it was the lefty Anthony Vasquez, for Cubans, Freddy A. Alvarez. Both were determined to fill with zeros the board, dominating all that came to the home plate. From the beginning, the duel was raised, the advantages that both teams would be drawn would be minimal, there would be no respite for the bats. But the Cuban Green sox took command, based on the swift legs of Yulieski Gourriel who reached first on dead ball and anchored in second base after stealing...

In this story, winning does not matter much, is in the anecdotes. The score only justifies the fact. Neither blue nor red repaired too on the board in the win. It is the softball stadium "Julio A. Mella" in Havana and another edition of "Friendship Games" between Cuba and the United States is taking place. An event of exchange between the two nations held in the Island for the seventh time-three have taken place in the USA-, an encounter which has become a ritual of good will to link the two countries taking softball as an excuse. A great connection that flies to fall beyond the outfielders, a hug, a harmless grounder to second base that becomes a blunder, a hearty slap on the shoulder. In the field one perceives the intent of the initiative, there is not an explicit challenge between the two campuses, the game itself serves as a bridge of friendship. Michael Eizenberg / Photo: Roby Gallego. The northern team player, Michael Eizenberg, president of Educational Travel Alliance (ETA) and one of the official sponsors of the project, says, "We do not speak Spanish quite well, but the language of softball unites us and thanks to that...

Cuba has passed immune the qualifying phase of the Central American and Caribbean Games in 2014 in Veracruz. They have rolled down the ramp at full speed under its own weight without breaking a sweat. Three smiles in a row anchor ashore and ticket to the semifinals. Not a thorny at all as we had anticipated in advance: the contest is far from being a gauge for this selection of players, no doubt, a bargain for those directed by Victor Mesa. The three wins by Cubans and what has been seen in the rest of the contestants from the other group in dispute, reaffirmed it. A lid that his body on the packaging and the cache of the players who have jumped to Mexico to participate in the tournament, externalizes no surprises, at least for us. No one doubts our obtaining the scepter, to say otherwise would be naive. The national team, which for some time now has had to learn that the sweet taste of victory is temporary and may disappear suddenly, now in Veracruz, goes easily to make it clear that the bar for these Central games is too low. First, they shutout Puerto Rico, then they crushed...

In these times of baseball tempest Cuba has no alternative, will have to win the scepter of the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico, or the tide will continue to rise, and it will become even worse. The 24 selected names betray the intention. Aside from the noose, that even a hypothetical win in the event will not relieve encysted nicks, it is necessary for the good of baseball, that possible palliative. Reasons abound, I will not stop to enumerate, it is enough to take a look at the roster to realize again that the Cuban team attends a minor tournament with the pressure of knowing they are, at least in paper, better than rest of its contenders. Here's part and part, because although the quality level of the competition is far below-not even remotely reach the rank of Triple A-, the international calendar no longer demand events abundantly as before and the national team does not have another than to go with his heavy artillery to fight in any event available. True, it also serves to keep trying men, formulas and strategies for the distant WBC IV, the bleeding of the Cuban baseball-I am talking of the...

José Dariel Abreu was chosen Rookie of the Year of the American League. Nobody doubted it was an open secret. His numbers and performance throughout the season were commissioned to mark the cross unanimously in each of the 30 ballots of the members of the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) selected to award the prize. It is the first time a Cuban who left National Series achieves the Jackie Robinson award, Tony Oliva did it before in 1964 playing for the Minnesota Twins and Jose Canseco in 1986 wearing the flannels of the Oakland Athletic. Meanwhile, in the National League, Jose Fernandez is the only Cuban player who could lift the trophy last season when he did it with the Florida Marlins. The Chicago White Sox did not see player from their franchise recognized for best rookie season since Ozzie Guillen was privileged in 1985. Pito Abreu is the first rookie to conclude the regular 162 games in Major League Baseball (MLB) among the five leaders in the stats in batting average, homers and RBIs (departments that are considered for the Triple Crown in batting). Offensive average of 317, the 36 homers, 107 RBIs, 176 hits, 35 doubles, 80...

Until a few months ago only, every day, without exception, Yoandy Leal lifted his phone in Belo Horizonte and called Havana, even for just a minute. It may seem routine, but it's the only thing he could cling to challenge loneliness. In Cuba he left his entire family, hence every day he was trying to find in those distant voices the balm of encouragement. He saw how his oldest son started walking and just heard his little cry. He left the island to pursue a career as a professional volleyball player. "It's the strength to be here," he says in a promotional material of the Sada Cruzeiro club of Brazil. Earlier, Yoandy Leal was a mainstay in the national Cuba team, a star inside hitter. He was a guy with a devilish serve with a respectable defense and had enough resources to avoid, from the air, opposing blockers fingers once he rose to attack. He was a player whose talent spilled from his pockets. A crack. But Leal was never liked by his coach Orlando Samuels. Perhaps because the odd turning point, say a match point when the Sports City´s Coliseum is a volcano erupting and the ball flew from...

The first half of the initial phase of the 54 Cuban National Baseball Series has left behind and surprises in the standings are obvious. Pinar del Rio, national champion, is still trapped in the rear, Granma and Isla de la Juventud animate the advanced group, while Matanzas, as in recent seasons, appears on the top. Undoubtedly, the free fall from a year to another of Pinar del Rio, coached again by Urquiola, is the most notable fact so far this regular season. The very low offensive production has condemned them to suffer in each output to the field and they are currently ranking 13th in the standings. A situation that has them in suspense, as although there are still time to react, their face on the ground gives their fans no much guarantees to believe in a recovery. Its main sluggers are cold, out of focus. Peraza, Saavedra and Duarte have not started at all well, and hence the team has achieved a very short runs production. Pinar del Rio´s best batter is the shortstop Luis A. Valdes, who stands out among the top hitters of the contest with an average of .403, from there on out, the other averages...

The Major League Baseball (MLB) and Cuba are divorced. None of them assume the other one. But both, sooner or later, will end up in a sublime dependency, full of actors and conflicts, to the point of interweaving, unaware, an apocryphal correspondence. Today, Cuban players raise their eyes to look at the MLB seeking a change. That scenario is where they can put a bound according to their talent and become valued by an economic amount adjusted to commercial logics that rule the sports universe. The jump from the Cuban National Series to the Big Show does not scare. Cubans who play baseball and believe they have enough capabilities to try their luck do not think it twice ; there are even those who , even knowing t heir lack of level for that elite competition, do not hesitate in taking that step . For a couple of decades ago , with a significant increase in recent years , an eloquent Diaspora of Cuban baseball has emerged, both in the United States, as in some Caribbean nations. Somehow, these athletes have found their legitimization in figures like Yasiel Puig, José Dariel Abreu and Aroldis Chapman, with their multimillion dollar contracts...

Iván Pedroso no longer lives in Cuba. He has changed Miramar for Spain. Not for France as many think. After absent for a while, he reappeared to Cubans a year ago, on the bleachers of the Luzhniki stadium during the world championships in Moscow, in a new role. He was shaping the career of Frenchman Teddy Tamgho, the one, two, three, the flight, and the final spurt. A technical sequence, so majestic, so neat, that was traded in gold. Now Pedroso is the coach of the triple jump world champion, an athlete absolutely unbelievable, the talent he scatters from his pockets, but outside the tracks without spikes and wearing Lycra is a too extravagant guy, even angry. Teddy, indoor world record (17.92), is not going through a good time sports wise, has been banned for one year by the French Athletics Federation for being absent in several anti-doping controls. Earlier, he had also been suspended for hitting a female athlete in the camp. Both coach and athlete decided to travel and get away from the shadows lurking Tamgho to regain fitness after this prolonged impasse which has also been marked by a serious injury to his right tibia. They have...

Jorge Luis Sanchez does not look to be the national commissioner of athletics, although that idea, that image is only a prima facie evaluation. It is not that his face contradicts his position or that his words do not convince enough when he speaks, no. The fact is that his attitude is not what one is accustomed to find in this type of position. The generality is a man with an attitude, cold as an ice box and withdrawn to the utmost, that feels besieged with your visit and tries to curtail that moment with a very predictable dose of dissimulation. The national commissioners are not as Jorge Luis, they are not as good-natured as he was; they don’t have kindness as their introduction card. They hardly come out to meet you in the middle of the hallway, and then they will take you to their office without you give up one iota of allegiance to talk to you for a while when they were not on notice of your untimely arrival. Jorge Luis works at the Pan American Stadium in Havana, east of the city. A mass of masonry almost ruined, suffering from the salty air and inattention, a...

Yasmany Tomas was above Cuban baseball level. He never shone entirely in the National Series, but you just had to look at him hitting or playing in the outfield or in third base for Industriales to realize that his skills-I’m not just talking about his physical-perfectly belong to those of an MLB player. And although due to a temporary matter I cannot yet say that the player from Havana is a MLB member-we all know that in the coming weeks he will, his skills, he is a five tools player, have led him to be ready to break into the majors. When it was announced his first showcase at the San Francisco Giants Academy, in the Dominican Republic last Sunday, more than 200 MLB scouts moved to the remote community of Boca Chica to see Tomas in action. The scouts were satisfied. They were forewarned. They knew their jump to Santo Domingo would not be in vain, that they would see a player who dazzled during the 2nd World Baseball Classic, that his appearance is that of a big leaguer but he is only 23, that he amazes when hitting but he is even more intimidating when using his strong...

Rusney Castillo has debuted in the big leagues. He jumped intothe grass of PNC Parkin Pittsburgh to play center field for the Boston Red Sox after a long wait.The premiere ofthe Cuban wasnot extraordinary, asappallingas otherCubans´, as Soler(recently) orPuig,but more importantly, at least for him, is that after so muchhype andso much paraphernaliaafter signingthe largest contractof aCubanin MajorLeagueBaseball (MLB), he has already succeeded in breaking thecellophaneand canbegin to weavehis own story. With the38on his back, numberthat onmemorable timesinthe franchise was worn by legendary right-handerCurtSchilling, Castillo hadone hitin fourat-bats.In his first appearanceathome platehe foundFrancisco Liriano as his rivalwhoforced him tohita harmlesstrapper thatstood in frontof the catcher who had him out at first. Afterthefirst failure, he came back and hit a hard drive that second basemanmanaged stop butRusney was safeat firsttobe accreditedwith his firstmajor leaguehit. Thenheflied out to centerand in the last at bat he grounded out toshortstop. Some say he fell to the pressure of the debut; that from today his work will always be under scrutiny of the explosive performance of his countrymen. What a task! Although all his statements indicate otherwise "it will not affect how I will face my games, it's obvious that I admire and respect those...

The Chicago Cubs released the statement on Monday: "The Cuban Jorge Soler will move up to the first team this week." That night in Tacoma, Washington, the man said goodbye to the Iowa Cubs with a long homer, his 15th in the minors. Two days later, the 22 years old boy showed his face for the first time on camera in Major League Baseball. Home plate at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, second innings, Mat Latos climbed the box, number 68 on the back, two strikes and a ball, Soler blasted a homer 423 feet away. A dreamed debut. The prospect No. 5 of the Chicago Cubs and 41 of Baseball America in 2014, did not disappoint his sheet. But beyond the fury of the directors of the Cubs for the superb premiere of the Cuban, beyond the pleasure of Soler to debut with such confidence, the performance itself is not surprising at all (4-2, two RBI and two runs scored). His promotion to the main team was an open secret; passing through the branch would be a mere formality of rigor, an obligatory internship. The Minors were being increasingly tinier for him. He was offensively averaging 340, plus...

With the decision, everything stopped for Raidel Hierrezuelo. He became a slave to time, prey to an overwhelming sense of despair. His last two years in Cuba were distressing. Then he presented his resignation of the national volleyball team in 2012 and that changed his life. Since then nothing has been the same for him. From being the setter, the brain behind a very talented generation of players who could comfortably have conquered all courts in the world, he went to be cramped in a little flirty house in one of the poorest areas in the neighborhood of Casino Deportivo, in Havana. To break away from the national team he had to stop taming balls after the first touch to turn against the wall, the nothingness, for over two years. He was away from competitive activity, even if in that period poked an offer from outside snooping on his record, he would abort it, he could not access it because the Cuban Federation is empowered to prevent such agreements until after the ruling is fulfilled. Two years is no small feat for a first class athlete; although his decision to go out of the Cuban team rested on the idea...

The Boston Red Sox just signed Rusney Castillo for 72.5 million dollars. The Cuban will play the next seven seasons in Fenway Park and his contract becomes the highest amount paid by a franchise to a Cuban in Major League Baseball, leaving behind the 68 million the Chicago White Sox paid for José Dariel Abreu earlier this season. Thus, in the Red Sox Castillo joins his compatriot Yoenis Cespedes who recently arrived on the team. According to the reports of the scouts who followed the player in the showcase, in recent weeks, the value of Rusney inevitably involves his versatility, both at bat and the defense. Castillo, 27-year-old and 5.9 foot tall is considered a five-tool baseball player, in addition to perform in any of the three outfield positions and in the infield. According to ESPNBoston.com, Castillo will make about 12 million dollars per year and is represented by the firm Roc Nation Sports, owned by rapper Jay Z. The report also states that the managers of the Red Sox expect " the player´s rapid adaptation to the franchise and this level of baseball, and he won’t have to stay and spend time in the minor leagues. " In Cuba...

Finally the impasse is broken and we can assert with more accuracy that the next week on Tuesday 26 Yulieski Gourriel will return to the DeNa BayStars line-up in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The medical staff of the franchise announced that the Cuban has achieved to overcome his physical problems and he is ready to return to diamonds. The return of Gourriel was expected this week, but manager Kiyoshi Nakahata and the coaches chose not to hasten his return to preserve the physical condition of the player and decided to give it more days of a recovery in the gym. In the last hours some statements by the baseman were known, who communicated via email with Jit online newspaper. "I read in Cuban newspapers that I would play this week, but I extended the recovery and keep training. I already feel good, but the doctors and technicians are who decide, “Yulieski said. Gourriel went to the disabled list in the Japanese league since last July 16 when, due to a swing, he started having severe pain in the left side muscles. The injury came at the best offensive time of the campaign by the third baseman, presumably when he...

In Brazil they want to make Yoandy Leal Brazilian. They want him to wear green and yellow. After the recent debacle in the final of the 2014 World League, now more than ever, the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV) wants him in their ranks as a banner, as the man charged in his shoulders the weight of the past two years remaining in the Olympic cycle to Rio de Janeiro 2016. His three exceptional seasons as assistant in the Sada Cruzeiro in the Brazilian league have improved him as a player and have put him in the orbit of the Brazilian national team at the request of DT Bernardinho Rezende. But first he has to obtain the nationality of that country; that paperwork the CBV has begun to make before the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB). On their side they have that Leal, 24, has not played an international match with Cuba since 2010. The men's national volleyball team in Brazil no longer intimidates as of yore. It has lost its ability to unnerve opponents with just its presence. There was a recent historical moment that green and yellow jersey worked alone as a method of extortion, so huge, that that was...

The 85th All-Star game in Major League Baseball (MLB) will be historic for Cubans. Five players born on the island were selected to participate in the upcoming July 15 game at Target Field in Minnesota. It is an unprecedented event that shows the Cuban impact in the big leagues. The winners in the respective ratings were outfielder Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who play from the start in the right field of the National League team and have flamethrower lefty Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds as teammate. In the American League outfielder Yoennis Cespedes of the Oakland Athletics, shortstop Alexei Ramirez and first baseman Jose Dariel "Pito" Abreu of the White Sox were included in the reserve list. Puig, with 4,959,746 votes, is the first Cuban that after playing first in National Series manages to be a starter in the All Star team and fifth Cuban who wins the award for most voted player in his position because before him Tany Perez, Tony Oliva, Campaneris and Jose Canseco, had achieved the feat. Currently, Yasiel is averaging .307, with 12 homers and 50 RBIs Meanwhile, Yoennis Céspedes, was until last moment struggling to seize spot as starter in...

Another Cuban just signed on the Big Show. The avalanche of contracts has been unleashed and Major League Baseball (MLB) has its hawk eyes on Cuban talent. Raisel Iglesiashas just signed a contract for the next seven seasons with the Cincinnati Reds in the amount of $ 27.7 million. The native of the Isle of Youth will be welcomed with open arms at Great American Ball Park by two other Cubans who are active in the franchise: Aroldis Chapman and Bryan Peña. According to the website of the MLB with Iglesias the Reds have long-term plans, he is a young pitcher with a strong arm and he shows an acceptable repertoire, attributes that support the abandonment of his performance as a reliever (what he did in Cuba) and his inception as a starter. Raisel had left Cuba last November after impressing on his international debut in the Third World Baseball Classic. He stayed in Haiti and began formal legalization to become free agent with Praver Shapiro, company that also collaborated with Chicago White Sox José Dariel Abreu. In this impasse he did not overlook the preparation, he perfected his moves on the mound and even scouts claim that there has...