Farewell to the illusion. Cuba took leave of the World Classic III through the back door. Millions of fans suffered another defeat of Cuban baseball, the nth since 2005. It is now the Dutch the Caribbean team’s nemesis, as at other times in that period were Japan, South Korea or the United States.
Led this time by the restless Victor Mesa, this generation of players emphatically confirmed an open secret: they always lose the important match, the decisive, always. Although the press to strive to find or fabricate bugbears, the reality is that the national team of our times is tailored for defeat.
The cataclysm finally arrived for Cuba in WBC III, despite going through the easiest way in the qualifying games that only a few could have dreamt of. Playing against teams from China, Brazil, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands, and avoid Japan in the playoffs is the best we could ask from fortune.
Right now, after seeing the weak level of most pitchers, it would be difficult to imagine the fate of Cuba if it had competed in Group C along with the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, which was what logic indicated.
Well, Cuba lost 6-7 to the Netherlands, his new nemesis; increasingly the executioners of Cuba have less hierarchy, and returned to disappoint its fans with an early phase leave in the WBC. In its defense it is worth mentioning that they fought hard till the end, although most critics will remember that they were only four outs from victory.
Victor Mesa, controversial strategist, adored by some and criticized by others, was guilty of suspicious and instead of giving the ball to first starter in the staff, Ismel Jiménez (days before he had failed, ok, so?), he preferred to improvise and gave the responsibility to the supersonic Vladimir Garcia, a pitcher of remarkable talent, but one who had not started a game for almost six weeks. A sin of all Cuban managers of late, whose love for the specialization of pitching is just cheap talk.
And Vladimir failed. The pressure overcame him; you only had to look at his face. Four runs and five hits allowed, plus two walks in three and two thirds of an inning him give him away, and on top of that, his defense left him at crucial moments, like the third base steal by Randolph Oduber in the fourth inning, when Yulieski Gourriel innocently forgot to go cover the base, and the Netherlands scored its fourth run thanks to the “error” by Cuban catcher Frank Camilo Morejon.
Cuba, batting hard, included huge homer by José Dariel Abreu, and good performance from reliever Norberto Gonzalez made it 6-4 with advantage at the end of the eighth inning but the compass changed in favor of Holland, and this time it would be final.
In the eighth inning, Andrelton Simmons tied the game when blasted a two-run homer off Gonzalez, a fact that changed moods in both teams and did presage the final outcome, which would just one inning later, when the Netherlands produced a run(aided by a fielding error by a disconcerted Gourriel) to qualify to the semi-finals.
After this result, Holland got his fifth victory against Cuba in the last six games between the two, and achieved a historical qualification of a team from Europe to the round of four in these tournaments.
Now the Cuban team will face a barrage of criticism. From Victor Mesa for his excessive changing of pitchers and meaningless moves in the line-up (he ran out backup catchers in the fifth inning and that he took three!) to Yulieski Gourriel with his infamous defensive errors in several climax moments of the game. The list of shortcomings is endless.
I will not blame the players. Some things could be done better, Mesa said in a press conference after the match.
For the second consecutive year, Cuba is unable to overcome the second round of the Classic. In my humble opinion it will be very difficult to achieve in future events of this magnitude. Cuban baseball must recreate itself from scratch. This defeat wasn’t accidental. Eight years without a major title is too much for a country of tradition.
Holanda acompañará por el grupo de Asia a Japón, doble campeón defensor, en la ronda semifinal, prevista en la ciudad estadounidense de San Francisco. El equipo Cuba hará sus maletas de regreso a La Habana. Triste adiós para la armada de la Mayor de las Antillas y sobre todo para los amantes del beisbol en la tierra de José Martí.
Holland will represent the Asian group along Japan, double defending champion, in the semifinal round, scheduled in the U.S. city of San Francisco. The Cuban team will pack their suitcases back to Havana. Sad farewell for the Cuban squad and especially for baseball fans in the land of José Martí.
