The Cuba baseball team will be able to attend the next edition of the Canadian-American (Can-Am) League after getting the visas to travel to Canada next Wednesday, after having faced difficulties with that process, the National Baseball Commission (CNB) reported this Monday.
The Cuban baseball players will participate in the Can-Am from June 14 to 30 “as a result of dialogue and bilateral efforts,” said the head of the CNB, Yovani Aragón, quoted by the sports website Jit.
At the end of last May, the CNB had announced that the Cuban team would not attend the Can-Am event because the Canadian consulate was not processing Cuban citizens’ visa applications since last January after reducing its diplomatic staff in Cuba to a minimum, after several of its officials reported health incidents, whose origin is unknown.
The Cuba baseball team will debut next June 14 against the Ottawa Champions, and also has scheduled games with other teams of the Canadian League like the Quebec Capitales and the Trois Rivieres Aigles.
Aragon, also vice president of the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB), confirmed that the presence in Canada will make it possible to arrange for the visas to travel to the United States, where the island’s team is scheduled to play against a university team in North Carolina next July 2 to 6.
The team that will compete in the 2019 Can-Am League will be managed by Rey Vicente Anglada and will take players Frank Camilo Morejón, Yosvany Alarcón, Yunior Ibarra and Alfredo Fadraga as catchers.
The pitchers will include star players Lázaro Blanco, Freddy Asiel Álvarez and Roberto Hernández, along with Wilson Paredes, Frank Medina, Pablo Guillén, Pedro Álvarez, Yariel Rodríguez, Misael Villa, Yosimar Cousín de la Rosa, Rafael Sánchez, Norge Vera and Yudiel Rodríguez.
Yoelkis Guibert, Yuniesky Larduet, Yoelkis Céspedes and Fréderich Cepeda will play as outfielders, and as infielders Yordanis Samón, Carlos Benítez, Raúl González, Jorge Alomá, César Prieto, Orlando Acebey and Andrés Hernández.
