In the blink of an eye the first quarter of tournament is already behind. And there is something to note in these first National Series challenges is how passionate they are playing baseball. Perhaps the strategy of the Cuban Federation (BPF) has nailed it in that sense, the struggle of 16 teams to win 8 berths to the second round in a very short span of 45 games, has given at least to the way they play, a more balanced tone in principle hides the rough edges of our baseball and shows a more praiseworthy face of the domestic championship. The National Series needed a good start up, striking, a top notch opening to ensure audiences. One, for the nth level players’ absences and two, because of the exalted Cuban wins away from homes that somehow have a contradictory impact on the show of the series. Thus the season started with unknowns, with many changes of structure and function, and with a bar higher than Everest. But after the first ball thrown simultaneously on Sunday November 4 in all the stadiums of the country, the event was back on track and crystallized a start not seen in Cuba for a...

The Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB by its Spanish acronym) has just issued a press release announcing that Pinar del Rio´s Jorge Fuentes will be the manager of the Campeche Pirates this season in the Mexican Professional League . In the note, the FCB clarifies that this was an agreement between them and the Aztec franchise. Thus, Jorge Fuentes is added to the already extensive list of Cubans who are part of this baseball organization which featured last season Cuban players such as Michel Enriquez, Alfredo Despaigne and Yordanis Samon. The Campeche Pirates has also received technical advice from Cuban specialists Miguel Borroto, Rigoberto Blanco, Eduardo Martin and Adiel Palma, along with Pedro Luis Lazo and Ariel Pestano as part of the Coatzacoalcos Industriales, branch team of the Pirates. Without doubt, the buccaneers have found in Cuba their best business partner to strengthen their squad, an employing company able to ensure enough quality to survive in the Aztec league. On this occasion, the signing of Jorge Fuentes witnesses the intentions of the c lub to increasingly rise in the standings to leave bottom positions and find a place among the teams that try to advance to the postseason. Fuentes is one...

Just a week from the opening of the 53rd National Baseball Series, OnCuba knocked at Lazaro Vargas’ home (the manager of Industriales baseball team) to talk about the training of the team for this event. There, we commented on the ups and downs of its players, on their weaknesses and strengths and on the main goals of the blue team for this season. How has the team´s training developed? Industriales is well prepared, they have had excellent training and the boys are in perfect condition, fortunately, none of them has had any injuries and their arms are strong. I am happy with their training from the tactical and the technical viewpoints, we are ready and looking forward for the Series to begin. Industriales has managed to have an extremely offensive lineup; however, pitching is not so good, which is probably their Achilles’ heels. What can you say about that? People will have to wait to see the blue pitching; we have very young but very talented boys. Of course they lack competitive experience, but they pitch hard and they have good speed; they just need to develop their technical and tactical thinking. They pitch a change up when they shouldn’t,...

The man with the bat at home plate is Ariel Pestano. The image dates back from last Saturday in Mexico, in Veracruz Winter League. Theplayer wears the uniform of the Coatzacoalcos Industriales, his left knee is dirty, smeared with mud, maybe he tried to steal a base before the snapshot was taken or just one of his sublime juggling behind the plate has damaged the neat presence of his uniform. That day the season opened and with it the walk of Pestano in that league. Remember that a few weeks ago the Villa Clara’s player arrived atAztec territory with a media uproar that denotes the longing of thousands of followers, the departure, perhaps, of the last of the Mohicansamong catchers, one of the greatest catchers born in this country . He is so great that few have been able to say goodbye like him, with the emotion resulting in tears, I do not remember anyone who has said goodbye hitting a decisive home run on a National Series, and it is not just what that hit meant, which is already epic in Cuban baseball annals, but the undeniable connotation of the fact of giving back a title to a province that dreamed of that night during 16 years. On the background of the picture, i.e. in the Coatzacoalcos Industriales´ dugout, you can appreciate part of the team watching what will be an at-bat and I say will be because I'm not sure Pestano to have made swing to that pitch specifically. Within that group must be Pedro Luis Lazo Iglesias, and if he is not there is just because he has always been too restless to sit on the bench. A giant of the mound, a machine gun throwing sliders, supersonic fastballs and changes up, a man made to face battle and with the chest...

More good news for Cuban baseball and today we opened the day with the news that The Sporting News magazine has declared Jose Fernandez, pitcher with the Miami Marlins as winner of the Rookie of the Year Award in the National League. This vote is not final, voting criterion only picked players of all MLB franchises. We still have to wait for Fernandez to take the prize home, but certainly this is a breakthrough for the final decision. The last word will be for the reporters, those correspondents accredited by the older members of the Association of Specialized Baseball Writers (BBWAA) . In the vote, Fernandez edged out fellow Cuban Yasiel Puig, a sensation this season playing the right field for Los Angeles Dodgers. Jose Fernandez season was endorsed with 64 votes, while Puig was supported by 4 players. The award will be presented in November, once the BBWAA make their respective picks. The Dodgers added another warrior After a tremendous season, the Los Angeles Dodgers were eliminated in the ticket to the World Series. But a team led by Cuban Yasiel Puig did not want to rest on their laurels and already has begun to strengthen their squad for...

During this weekend OnCuba attended Santiago "Changa" Mederos stadium in the Sports City which hosts "Antillana de Acero" Cup, which brings together important squads that subsequently measured forces in the 53rd National Baseball Series. We first hand met some details of that competition and aspects of the preparation of the teams that are involved in this event, gearing up for the start of the season.   About the squads   The tournament has served for the technical staffs of the teams to close ranks within their payrolls and also for them, since now, to objectively outline strategies and roles their players will assume.   For Dany Valdespino, Artemisa´s coach: "Antillana Cup is a great opportunity to be seized; the National Series is just around the corner and this competition allows us to shape the final preparation we´ve done. The only way to assess the preparation of a team is competing and that's why this cup helps us a lot, it tells us where and how we are to start the 53rd Series. "   While, Iday Abreu, Cienfuegos´ manager, considers these games have another kind of importance . Abreu has a big challenge this year: rearming the legion of elephants...

The regulations for the 53rd National Baseball Series have just arrived in my Gmail box before the Cuban National Commission made them official. Its subject states: New Rules, it has an attached document with headings and sub ​​- headings, with resolutions, with the rules that according to this email should govern the new tournament. The file is long. Now I will just point out its main topics, what it is really relevant and glaringly obvious at once. Of course, the payments to players are already included with their shares in reliance on individual leaderships. It was also easily assumed that this step would also bring fines. In this case, the regulation clarifies that the players guilty of indiscipline both on and off the field will be fined. The amount to be paid by the sanctions will be 200 Cuban pesos (CUP) for offenders. In this section there is a subsection devoted to clarify that if the indiscipline is an attack on another person with an object, this player would immediately be expelled from the tournament. Another major new feature is the increase of the reinforcements for qualified teams once completed the regular stage. Now each manager could ask for 7...

Maybe his hands do not have the charm or the exquisiteness that Raul Diago, but also in the World League nights in Havana they used to draw huge and precise parables with the ball from the subtle tips of his long fingers up the rocky palms of the hitters. Raidel Hierrezuelo is not a lofty setter, those who swing in the air with style to put a ball end to end on the court, back, no angle on the contrary, the lefty is dedicated to building without extravagance, to put the balls easier to sacrifice style for that of his recipients for when his passes are unable to be sent to ground otherwise, have the power needed to take the law into his own hands. He has a second touch that is evil, atrocious, with the power of a crusader. All setters of the world throw the soft Mikasa looking for some remote place, Hierrezuelo no, he attacks, represses the ball against the Mondoflex and then stir his jersey, soaked with sweat that hits the chest, and then screams. He shouts because it is one of the leading athletes in the last glorious Cuban men's volleyball team. To learn firsthand...

Pito Abreu has completed his demonstrations in the Dominican Republic and has made it clear that his talent will park nowhere else than in the MLB. Now, he only needs to wait and meditate on the rain of offers that will fall on him from the big leagues. During Monday and Tuesday sections the Cienfuegos became involved in training at the sight of dozens of scouts who traveled from the U.S. to Quisqueya only to see the Cuban live. The press, that was delighted to be allowed to witness the tryouts, notes that first baseman without much complication, passed over the game exams. According to Baseball America, Abreu was showcased at the plate; hit the ball hard at pitches at more than 90 miles per hour. In the home plate he was seen serene, passive, showing good hitting zone, making them feel the power of his wrists. "With the bat he was very good, better than I expected, faced live pitching. There they were throwing all kinds of pitches and he hit hard. I'm talking about balls at over 90 miles per hour and he looked comfortable at the plate,'' said Juan Alvarez, scout for the Cleveland Indians to the...

The Major Leagues have spoken about the new change of direction that the Cuban sports movement has taken. The famous MLB has raised the issue with much suspicion, with tact, almost side looking the new implementation of policies that have been adopted on the Island According to a cable from Associated Press (AP), MLB considers impossible to predict the impact of partial professionalization of sport in Cuba "Given that we do not have any details of this change in policy, it would be premature for us to speculate what effect it may have," the commissioner's office said in a statement. It turns out that now after the thousand and one obstacles that prevent Cubans from being associated to major league franchises, the organization said that "There are no provisions in the major league rules or bylaws that make it more difficult for Cuban ballplayers to play Major League Baseball, but MLB and its clubs have and will continue to act in accordance with the laws and policies of the United States government." Meanwhile John Sullivan, spokesman for the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said that "Our policy has not changed. Cuban players need to be unblocked by...

José Dariel Abreu will come closer this week to arriving in the MLB. After sorting the intricacies of official documents the player will show big league scouts his skills in the  Dominican Republic   . According to SB Nation and Baseball America, this week will be when the Cienfuegos player will showcase his talent to the Major Leagues specialists. The showcase was agreed for the Academy of the New York Yankees in Quisqueya where Pito finally will be able to display his worth. In these demonstrations is customary for players to play in the game essences therefore, José Dariel have to catch a couple of groundouts in first base; receive occasional short shots from the most complex areas of the diamond and get to the home plate to anchor his spikes on the ground and show bat in hand what has caused all that speculation about his talent. A talent he will have to prove to the dozens of scouts that will gather on the lower decks in the training ground. For these scouts rumors are not just enough, not the accumulated statistics in the National Series or international IBAF tournaments (International Baseball Associated Federations), or what is said in the...

In November the 53 National Series begins with a couple of modifications that encourage at least keeping track of it. In times of intense debates on the future of Cuban baseball, no doubt, this edition will serve to calibrate just where we are. Some skeptics say the ball in Cuba hit bottom, that its domestic tournament has lost its cache, all the pomp which had a couple of decades ago. Other, perhaps too romantic, are still hugging the past, defending the idea of self-advancement, of empiricism, as sole provider of talent to achieve development and prosperity of the athletes. Maybe those views have influenced some new implementation details for this tournament. It turns out that following the swap of the Gourriel family to Havana, or what is the same in Industriales, have uncovered the movement of players between teams. These months before the tournament almost has become a summer transfer market. Besides the trio from Santi Spiritus, other determinants players have moved out their territories. And I say decisive players in previous seasons because these movements were happening before too, but they were of somehow athletes who were indifferent to the eyes of the National Commission. For this series a...

Cuban Volleyball executives have reconsidered, have fulfilled the promise made a couple of months ago of trying to rescue some players of the island that for various reasons have left the national team. Those sports officials have held a dialogue with at least three players who legally emigrated with the aim of evaluating a possible return to the national squad. "The Cuban volleyball national commissioner, Ariel Sainz, called me because they are talking to players that did not affect the team when leaving it" and "I said I was ready to return" to play for Cuba, Fernando Hernandez told the website of Radio Havana Cuba. In addition, the former outside striker of Cuba during the 2011 World Cup explained that "the officials also discussed the matter with Raidel Hierrezuelo (still in Cuba)", who dissociated himself from the team in the season of 2012 for reasons still unknown to the public opinion. Another player that has been consulted to return home is Osmany Juantorena, stellar opposite hitter of the Italian club Trentino, champion of the league and considered one of the world stars of the sport. In his statements, Fernando Hernandez who recently signed for Japanese club Nagoya also explained that...

The idyll of playing in Major League Baseball (MLB) is becoming further complicated for Cuban players. Those who try to leave the country illegally could face a bigger problem than the one of venturing through the dangerous waters of the Florida Straits. The very famous MLB has decided, in addition to the regulations that are already known, to delay the process of signing players from Cuba. The sanctions of the U.S. government, as part of the economic blockade, indicate that a Cuban baseball player needs to be declared "national unblocked" by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, for him to be able to sign for an MLB organization. According to Baseball America, Cubans must present two documents of permanent residence in another country, such as Mexico or the Dominican Republic, to a prospective employer. This new regulation will hinder the contract signing process for Cuban players, who will be forced to wait up to six months to get a license, delaying their professional careers as well as increasing their training time, which implies an extra spending on their wages. The concerns of the MLB come in the wake of the signature stamped...

They want to hide all and at the end everybody learns about it. They keep everything behind locked doors, but everything comes to light. They practice the religion of silence and at the end their confessions become public knowledge. That's the Cuban Baseball Federation, an open book, though its scribes they playing seek and hide with their decisions. It would appear that within the offices of the Federation is a hidden mole, an informer, which at every elusive step the entity takes he follows its footsteps without leaving a trace, and leaks everything to the public. The last story has been declassified by EFE, that has published a cable which states that directives of the Monchis Cañeros team of the Mexican Professional League will travel in the coming days to Cuba in order to observe some players and sign them for the 2013-2014 season in the Mexican Pacific League in. According to the report, a source from that team (doesn’t say who) confirmed the interest of recruiting some players from the island after three National Series figures became involved last summer with Piratas de Campeche. After reading the story without much precision, ordinary readers can meditate based on several elements....

The Belgacom Memorial Van Brussels Danme lowered the curtain on the 2013 edition of the Athletics Diamond League. Thus, Cubans said good-bye to the main European venues of the track and field, closing a task according to the forecast before the start of the league. In Belgium, only Omar Cisneros, Yarelis Barrios and Pedro Pablo Pichardo participated, the rest of the Cuban party had already ended the tour of the continent. On the day of goodbye marks brushed the ordinary and the rally ended with a rather poor overall balance in terms of the quality. Best for Cuba came through the elegant stride the long hurdler Omar Cisneros who stopped the clock at 48.59 seconds, surpassed only by the world champion of Moscow, the Trinidadian Jehue Gordon. Thus, Omar ended its best season for life by lowering his personal records, in addition to finishing fourth in the World Championships and in the ranking of the Diamond League itself. The only female who enlisted in this stop was the discus thrower Yarelis Barrios, bronze medalist at the last World Championship. This time, her strength was enough only to send the disc to the 63.02 meters, valid to settle fourth in the...

In Cuba the construction sector is one of the most interesting, both by the direct impact it has on other economic sectors, as well as being an indicator of development and growth by itself. As immediate precedent of the current year, you have the picture Construction in Cuba offers. Selected Indicators, published by the National Bureau of Statistics and Information, which provides a sample of the value and volume of construction activities carried out in the period between January and December in the years 2011 and 2012 and, in particular, the performance in 2012. There are recorded in this report indices finished works, the value of construction by economic activity, number of houses completed by sectors and provinces, domestically produced basic inputs for construction, among other indicators. It also presents graphs illustrating the evolution in each. Of particular interest is the total number of works completed in 2012, of which 14232 were residential works. (After these, the majority was concentrated in electrical networks, with 5386). The economic activities where the value of building * are the largest were the actual construction and those of public administration, followed by defense and security, business services and supply of electricity, gas and water....

Havana stores are empty. The difficulties in finding the needed or desired products is a constant cause of unrest in the city. "What we really need is never there:  food, toiletries and household items, to make a long list, only appear when we’re approaching   mother’s day or the end of the year," Elena, an old woman nearly 70, tells me near the central Coopelia corner. For Magaly, a clerk at the Adidas Boutique in the Habana Libre Hotel, the company is going through one of its worst moments in terms of sales. "Our store has a good selection of shoes and stockings, but we have lost many customers due to the mechanisms established to bring the goods to the market. This year we almost didn’t receive any products” Behind the scenes Following the trail, we found Yenisey Hierrezuelo, Commercial Director of a branch of the Caracol Retail Chain, which owns the Hotel Habana Libre shops. She said: "All we do are the plans according to the demands in the shops and sales history of a particular product. We send them to the Head Office of the company, responsible for preparing the record of purchase of goods, which then must go...

Despite the instability of recent international presentations, Cuban judo regained its old strength and finished in third place in the World Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cuba ended with a balance of two gold medals, hung around the neck of portentous Asley Gonzalez in the 90 kg and Idalis Ortiz in more than 78 kilos. Furthermore, in the team competition, the women’s squad won the bronze, leaving the island located in the third overall place in the table by nation, surpassed only by Japan and France. The lavish Maracanazinho gym of Rio de Janeiro, did nothing but applaud the actions of the Cuban athletes, that despite not having representatives in several men’s divisions and some of best women were injured, achieved a "surprising" result for specialists. Before competition the predictions indicated with suspicion that Cuba, without the usual cache, would be subjected to a test again check after its nth renewal. The press, faithful lover of the result per se, did not even print a few lines on the Cuban judokas. They, without the pressure of previous events and the usual limitations, and as weapons their coaches Justo Noda and Ronaldo Veitía, managed to make a lot in...

Roniel Iglesias, Olympic and world champion boxer, was separated for discipline issues from the national team, according to a report made by Cuban Boxing Federation (FCB) to news website Jit. The pugilist from Pinar del Rio was the main star of Los Domadores squad that is getting ready to participate in a match against Los Guerreros of Mexico today and tomorrow in that country. "Iglesias was sentenced to a year out of the national team due to several misconducts” Alberto Puig head of the FCB holder explained, without specifying the details of the misconduct committed by the champion of London 2012 and Milan 2009. His place in the 69 kg will be taken by Luis Oliva, Cuba’s second man in the 60 kilogram division, who represented Cuba in the last World Youth Championship. Alberto Puig said that "during this time the athlete will keep his preparation in Pinar del Rio, his home province, unable to compete in international events, and will have the opportunity to join the national team back based on his comprehensive good behavior. " It is not known if Rosniel Iglesias traveled to Mexico or was left on Cuban soil. The match against Los Guerreros marks the...

We had to wait till the World Athletics held in Moscow to finally know the whereabouts of Ivan Pedroso. Many did not know that for a little over two and a half years, the Cuban Olympic and world champion has been the coach of French triple jumper Teddy Tamgho. The image of Pedroso perched on the decks of the Luzhniki stadium giving advice, surprised some on the island.  The cameras showed the Cuban former star repeatedly in the triple jump final that his pupil won. Above all, the remembrance of that passage will be stored forever in the retina at of those enjoying that moment when Cuban athlete Pedro Pablo Pichardo was competing. And not because of Triple P and his 21 years, who was the best of Cuba in Moscow, nor because his 17.68 m jump with was a very respectable leap, no. The fact is that those who witnessed that excellent Cuban’s hopping sequences were perplexed with his rival, Frenchman Teddy Tamgho. Beyond the amazing French stretching to 18.04 meters, the third man to exceed 18 meters in history, the competition generated a dual meet between the two jumpers. In the stands, with polished white sweater with blue...

Yasiel Puig continues hitting the headlines in Major League Baseball (MLB). He has been on fire so far this season, but right now, he is the biggest media seduction  of MLB. In a luxurious city like Los Angeles, where stars emerge literally from the floor, Puig has emerged as an iconic figure. I previously said he has been formidably well at hitting, fielding and running the bases, but now he is also the host, the man in charge of receiving the illustrious guests arriving to the mega -city. First, some days ago, rapper Jay-Z dedicated him a song, later his name becomes national debate in the United States to include him in the all star game and now he receives on home soil at DodgerStadium the athlete with the most followers on Twitter, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo. The context was more than sung. The soccer club Real Madrid is having its preseason in L.A. and this same city is, casually, or not as casually as merchandising demands, the venue of the game between the Dodgers (locals) and the New York Yankees. CR7 was the special guest of the night and Puig, together with the famous actor Samuel L. Jackson, would be responsible for welcome the Lusitanian and introducing him to Magic Johnson, NBAemblem and current General Manager of the Dodgers franchise. After the preambles, photos, greetings and poses . Cristiano Ronaldo and Yasiel Puig delighted the public making fancy footwork with a soccer ball and the Cuban also proved to be in tune with soccer. "Pass me the ball, pass me the ball ..." Puig said while throwing his cap to the ground. Trying to imitate, on his own way and shamelessly, demonstrating Cuban street soccer he once practiced in the island, at some point in life, will be worth of something. Later Puig tried CR7 to catch some balls thrown by him: "Hey, throw hard, fearless, as when you kick the ball, "the Cuban told Cristiano, but the posture and face of the Portuguese showed an absolute...

Simon Aties Roberlandy can talk without opening his mouth, not moving a lip. His face will tell you all, he has Cuba embodied in his forehead. He still shows in his face the unbearable fatigue of having left behind the island. At 26 and with an ocean in between, Simon still has not been able escape the authority of his mother. One notices that, without Nancy Aties, Roberlandy had not been Simon. His mother is one of the many reasons why he decided to take flight to a strange city hundreds of miles from the peripheral  Havana neighborhood of Alturas de la Víbora. When we got home, he was napping; slow and sleepy he sat in front of me, impressive with 2.06 meters of height. Near a corner brimming with shiny trophies and medals, lying in the light of its success, we started talking. Your parents were great basketball players. Why volleyball instead of basketball for you? Basketball is a sport that has no match, is one of my favorite sports. But volleyball was the one that opened the doors for me, let me in to the Sports School and at the time I tried to go as basketball player...

Roberlandy Simon Aties is back in Cuba. He crossed the Atlantic from Italy to feel the warmth of his land. His monumental physique has dusted the memories of those who often boasted of his prowess on the taraflex of the Sports City Coliseum. He had his pictures taken with anyone who wanted, through the entrance and paralyzed the line, people flooded the front door and when he walked to the mezzanine he was leaving a long row of speechless fans after his passage. A little over a year Roberlandy decided to depart from the national volleyball team (2011), very short time to forget his ecumenical power. Still in the venerable Coliseum corners resonate the shots of this Guantánamo man, 2.06 m tall, yet the shadow of his presence in the lower walks simulating on the court the enigmatic orders by the former captain of Cuba, Cuban fans still, grieving and saddened by the events of the World League, shout themselves hoarse in praise for Simon. And it is because he is a monster of volleyball. For years is if not the best, only the Russian central Muserski Dimitri can perch near-, one of the best center  attackers on the planet. Once...

A completely unprecedented event is being organized for late July: the Industriales team will arrive in Miami to celebrate its 50th birthday. Thousands of followers of this emblematic Cuban baseball team will be able to enjoy a reunion they have craved for years. The team’s most illustrious stars will once again put on the venerated blue jersey to celebrate a half century of existence. Some of the 13 Industriales players—both veterans and active members—who will travel to the United States to participate in the festivities agreed to give OnCuba their impressions leading up to this event. Rey Vicente Anglada, who was first a sublime second baseman and then a prestigious manager, said that “reuniting with teammates who accompanied you for years wearing the Industriales jersey is a real achievement. I am extremely excited about celebrating the Blues’ 50th anniversary with everybody who has contributed in one way or another to their history. Hopefully this celebration can also be held in Cuba; it would be wonderful, spectacular.” A historic leader in stolen bases and triples, told us that “in this event, politics is not an issue. We’re all Cubans; the ones that are here and the ones that are there. The...