On Wednesday morning they defeated Hong Kong twice, with scores of 12-3 and 10-0 (knockout).

They also had no mercy in the two games against the locals. That night they were awarded the first super knockout of the championship (21-0) and, later, the second knockout of the date (10-0).

The Cuba team produced 53 runs on Wednesday (the third of the championship) and only received three.

The most outstanding were Orlando Amador, Briandy Molina and Roivelis Núñez, who reached base 56 of the 68 times they batted, for an OBP (on-base percentage) of 823.

The team manager, Pablo Terry, commented: “The team has gone from less to more. On this same day we started cold against Hong Kong and then all the technical-tactical instructions were followed to the letter. We try to make at least five runs in the first two innings to rotate the players with the substitutes and that they all arrive well in the decisive games”.

Briandy Molina, one of the best players in the tournament, referred to the objective of the Cuba team: “It cannot be other than to win the crown to dedicate it and share it with the teammates who could not be here due to health problems. Before the game we promised Coach Terry that we would give Mexico a super knockout and we did. We had very good preparation in Cuba and the results are already coming out in the competition”.

With the four victories on the third day, Cuba secured its place in the super round. They are followed by Japan (3-1), and Mexico and Lithuania, with 2-2. The bottom of group A are South Africa (1-3) and Hong Kong (0-4).

Group B is led by Venezuela with 4-0, followed by Taiwan (3-1), France and Tunisia (2-2), Kenya (1-3) and South Korea (0-4).

Cuba’s last match in the qualifying phase was this Thursday, at 12:30 p.m. (our country time) against Japan.

(With information from JIT)

“Pain in Cuban Baseball due to the death of Alejo O’Reilly Morejón. He shone for Ciego de Ávila during 16 National Series in which he batted for 303, with 240 home runs and 910 runs batted in, and represented Cuba with dignity. Our condolences to family and friends,” the agency wrote on the social network.

“Burnt of Güines is in mourning. Today he bids farewell to one of the greatest baseball figures in Cuba: Alejo Orrelly Morejón. The first baseman, who sealed the Intercontinental Cup with a decisive home run, today with the Cuban lineage worthy of him says goodbye to the field with the glory that leads him towards eternity. The deepest condolences of the people who saw him be born reach family and friends,” said the Santa Clara Telecubanacán television channel on its Facebook page.

O’Reilly was born on February 26, 1961 in Quemado de Güines, and was one of the best left-handed hitters who have passed through the National Series.

He shone in the teams of Villa Clara and Las Villas first (National and Selective Series respectively), and then with Ciego de Ávila and Camagüeyanos, and his playing skills also transcended in the national team.

He stood out in his career with the victories he achieved in 1987, at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis and at the Intercontinental Cup in Havana. The latter due to his hits in the final match that defined the victory of the Cuban team.

Cuban baseball has a sensible loss with his death.

There were too many mistakes for a game of vital importance: The opening pitcher failed again and was replaced in the first inning; the big hits did not arrive at crucial moments; the defense didn’t play its role, especially at home plate despite the efforts of Yovani Alarcón catching the devilish pitches of Yariel Rodríguez.

The Cuban batters made more hits than the opponents, but without producing runs, failing to do this job, because, among other issues, our players went with the same swing for every pitch, without considering the characteristics of each one. This should have been resolved before the tournament, during training, which was apparently inadequate, once again, as has occurred in recent years, leaving us with the feeling that we have missed opportunities and potential that is untapped.

The Canadians, on the other hand, were able to adjust their batting mechanics, responding differently to a fast or breaking ball, focused on making contact and not necessarily a home run.

Clearly we have not learned how to beat Canada since the last time we did so was on October 20, in the long-ago year of 2011, in the Guadalajara Pan American Games.

Yariel Rodríguez deserves our applause for allowing only two runs during the six and a third innings he pitched, making 11 strike-outs, giving up four walks and the same number of hits. His work was not matched by the offense given the shortcomings cited above.

Since baseball has its magic, Armando Ferrer made the courageous move to replace his man with the most contact, sending in Frederich Cepeda, who, at 2-0, went hard for the ball – because that’s why he was there – to bring in a run and give us another heart-stopping end, with Yordanis Samón swinging like a samurai. An error by the pitcher left home plate open for the fifth run, with the tie on base.

Lisbán Correa, making his debut on the national team, stepped up to take on the responsibility, only to suffer the most painful strike-out of his entire career. Although this is the image we are left, the last out, the worse had already been done.

But let us hold our heads high, because baseball will continue to call us, a game that has the virtue of giving us lots of joy, as well as suffering like this. We must rethink ourselves, based on the scientific assets that contribute to the organization of a competitive system that – on our own home field and with the contributions of our principal figures playing in professional leagues abroad – makes possible the jubilation we continue to expect, and do not renounce.

The score leaves Cuban baseball out of Olympic competition, for the first time, since the sport was included in the Barcelona Games of 1992. Now holding the record for participation is Japan, guaranteed an appearance as the host country.

(Taken from Granma)

“Cuba is grateful to all the institutions and individuals who, with good will and active interventions, contributed to overcoming the multiple obstacles to guaranteeing the participation of our national baseball team in the pre-Olympic in Florida,” stated Party Political Bureau member and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.

The FCB, for its part and in the name of millions of compatriots anxiously awaiting these games, also recognized the efforts of the World Confederation of Baseball and Softball, the Organizing Committee, the United States’ Olympic Committee and Baseball USA, for their support to “concretizing a right which is legitimately ours,” adding that the players will participate with “the dignity, team spirit and commitment to fair play which characterize the Cuban sports movement.”

The news was welcomed by players who have been waiting for this decision, which, as has been reiterated over the last few days, is imperative to realizing their aspiration to struggle for the dream of competing in

Cuba has scheduled training games with Nicaragua and subsequently the Dominican Republic, which are essential to fine-tuning details before the team’s first game of the tournament, with Venezuela as their rival.

(Taken from Granma)

Of all the experiences he has accumulated over his more than 50 years devoted to baseball – including 46 leading championship teams in Cuba – veteran manager Carlos Martí Santos will hold onto this memory with special affection: his third title with Granma’s Alazanes (Stallions), won with a fourth victory over the Matanzas Crocodiles in game six of the final series.

“I was very excited, I say it openly, because this victory is of great importance to Granma fans and, in particular, for the team, which won the victory without reinforcements,” the successful Granma manager told this newspaper, recalling the tight game played April 4, to decide the championship.

- You reached the final, but not as the favorite, how much did this influence the team?

- We always respected Matanzas as a rival and as the favorite, because they had the numbers, their players’ conditions and their status as champions in the last series supporting them, but we also knew that we were a team with plenty of ability and that is what we transmitted in every training session to the athletes.

Despite the setbacks we had before the final (several days of isolation due to COVID-19 and just a week of preparation) we were able to turn them into positive elements, to redouble our efforts and motivation on the field.”

- Although you are generally considered a very calm manager, how did Carlos Martí really experience that last tight game?

- Now that I am calm again, I can say that it was very difficult, especially when Matanzas, in the sixth inning, put the game at 5-1 in their favor, but the truth is that I never lost hope of winning that game. Then came Roel’s home run, and I said to myself: We are going to tie, because I saw the team’s enthusiasm, and I also studied the opponents who, in spite of their tremendous talent, were unable to recover psychologically from that hit. Then came the tie in the eighth and the victory we wanted in the ninth.

- If you had to define the key to the team’s success, what would you emphasize?

- We always tried to put together a machinery that would allow everyone to do what they were supposed to do on the field well. That is, a team in which cohesion between the most experienced players and the rookies flowed almost perfectly. That unity was the key.

Even Alfredo Despaigne, who was not physically with the team, had an influence, because, despite the 12-hour time difference between our country and Japan, he called every day during the meeting to give advice and support the athletes; that also counts.”

- After leading the Alazanes to take the title in 2017 and 2018, and keeping the team among the most stable over the last five years, this third trophy reconfirms your excellent career as manager in Cuban baseball?

-The Alazanes’ winning their third crown is not only a result of mine, but of the team’s management as a whole and of the Sports Institute (Inder) in Granma. Likewise, we must recognize the work done with athletes in the province, in the children’s leagues and sports schools. Many of these champions are products of these efforts.

- With this victory, will Martí return to lead the Granma team?

-That’s a difficult question to answer. I have devoted more than 50 years to baseball, and the wear and tear of so much time is felt, besides, there are plenty who believe we “veterans” should step aside, so whether or not I continue managing the Alazanes is a decision that still requires more analysis, since it is no secret that baseball is my life. Nonetheless, I am sure that, in baseball in my province, I will be useful until the day I die.

(Taken from Granma)

Higinio Vélez, head of the organization, told Jit that the tournament will include teams from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Panama, Peru, Chile and Aruba.

Ernesto Reinoso, national baseball Commissioner, reported that the Cuban team will include members of the pre-selection group to be designated at the end of the current season, with semifinals currently underway.

Reinoso specified that the selection of players will be dependent on the availability of athletes, since priority will be given to the recruitment process of other leagues, also in progress at this time.

“Our plan is to favor requests that arrive from other leagues, seen as part of our preparation, as is the case for players who represent us in Japan, and to travel to Curacao with a team composed of players not involved in these procedures,” explained the Commissioner.

He specified that under consideration are 16 proposals from Mexican and Italian leagues.

(Taken from Granma)

Ruslán Olivares, director of development for the Batos enterprise, told Granma, “The priority is the National Series, as one of the country’s major cultural events and what it means to Cuban sports.”

He reported that Batos has on hand all the essential prime materials to supply bats throughout the season, “The wood used is majagua, which allows us to avoid imports and contribute to the national economy.”

Carpenter-toolmaker Fernando Claro, at the Madera factory, added, “We make official bats, as well as children’s, for training, and softball. My personal record is 74 bats in a day. With the leftover wood, we make other articles like the little chairs used at child care centers, game tables and blackboard erasers.”

New this coming season is “a third baseball uniform, responding to a longstanding interest of Cuban fans: to include the mascot name on uniforms. The Cuban Institute of Sports, Recreation and Physical Education, Inder, approved our proposal and this shirt will be worn during home games,” Olivares noted.

As for the design, he said that these are based on team proposals, which may be accepted or not, explaining, “The technology we have enters into this aspect. At times, they make requests that technologically we can’t handle, given the machinery we have to process certain prime materials. There are designs that, from the aesthetic point of view, cannot be reproduced.”

WOMEN AT WORK

Odalis Martínez, head of the garment workshop, reported, “The processes associated with the production of uniforms are fundamentally manual, from the cutting of cloth to the embroidery of identifiers like the team name, number, player name, etc. Among the 16 members of the workforce, we produce an average of 150 to 200 pieces a day, depending on their complexity. We are working, as well, on producing the 1,600 facemasks that will be delivered to teams.”

Iskra Corratgé, the company’s adjunct director, emphasized, “This year, in addition to the National Series uniforms, outfits are also being produced for the Sub-23 division and the 13-14 age league, and shortly, we will need to complete competition wear for wrestling and boxing.”

For her part, the company’s commercial director, Dunia Civill, summarized the job explaining that each team competing in the National Series will receive 50 modules containing hats, socks, protective wear, short and long-sleeve jerseys, two pairs of shorts, a towel and duffle bag, in addition to 30 bats per team, 20 gloves, catchers’ gear, plus two uniforms per player.

OTHER PRODUCTS

“Inder, Cuban sports’ guiding institution, is the principal client Batos has, and most of our production goes there. The ministries of Education, Higher Education, and Public Health are other clients,” Olivares added.

In addition to all the articles manufactured for the National Baseball Series, the company distributes others including board games like checkers, chess and dominoes; balls for basketball, soccer, volleyball and hand ball; and baseball gloves, with a line for children under development.

“In 2019, our industry fabricated 25,000 balls, which were, as directed by Inder, distributed across the country to guarantee their availability in every municipality. Likewise, we produced some alternative board games to guarantee some level of availability in these places,” he said.

Loraine Gari, ball production analyst, added, “Around 300 are produced every day, of different kinds, depending on the requests we receive. During the manufacturing process, those that fail to meet quality standards

are not thrown away, but rather re-used in the production of therapeutic balls, as an alternative among our productions. These are sold to hospitals to be used in therapy and rehabilitation processes.”

Olivares noted that, last year, when the Pan American Games took place in Lima, Peru, Cuban athletes in more than a ten disciplines wore Batos uniforms. The company makes uniforms for the school league, the national soccer championship, and the country’s basketball league, as well, while also supplying sportswear to schools for promising young athletes across the island.

Iskra Corratgé added, “During this period as the country is confronting the pandemic, we received orders for 70,000 blackboard erasers for schools set to reopen in September. In addition to the factory in Havana, those in Santiago de Cuba, Florida (Camagüey) and Buey Arriba (Granma) are working on this task.”

(Source: Granma)

Ernesto Reinoso, national baseball director, spoke with Granma, to discuss the return to stadiums and eligibility of ballplayers for the season, stating, “The return requires maximum responsibility from directors, coaches and ballplayers, in complying with guidelines for this stage of the post-COVID-19 recovery.”

He stated that the hygienic-sanitary conditions have been created, including “the cleaning of equipment and surfaces, in gyms and dugouts; the medical triads (doctor, psychologist and physiotherapist) have been given instructions and trained.”

Reinoso noted that, although teams were authorized to begin training August 1, Havana’s Industriales and Las Tunas were obliged to delay their plans due to maintenance issues, including drainage on fields.

“The fields were re-conditioned, along with cushioning on fences, while public areas were beautified and work done to improve the clay,” he said.

Although athletes and coaching staff developed training programs which players followed in their homes during the height of the epidemic, when they arrive at training camp, it will be necessary to evaluate their condition and readiness to confront the 75-game season. “Assembly of teams will begin on the 17th and on that date the teams from Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba will be announced, although the final list of each team’s 34 players will be officially released at the 60th National Series Technical Congress, scheduled for the first days of September,” Reinoso stated.

As for the return of players with professional contracts in leagues abroad, suspended due to the pandemic, and how the National Directorate will consider requests to play in the National Series, Reinoso said: “First, the player must legally update his migratory status, according to the norms of our country, which some have already done, like Yadir Drake, from Matanzas, and Rubén Paz from Las Tunas. Secondly, the province, the level at which the request is made, decides whether to accept the request.” That is, a team may have conceived a strategy that does not include the player, no matter how professional he may be.

-If it he not accepted, can he play with another team?

-If he is willing, yes. In the last series, Cienfuegos native Erisbel Arruebarruena returned, but wearing a Matanzas uniform.

Some of them have contracts with winter leagues (the Pacific League in Mexico, to name one), so if they are included in the upcoming national competition, they would have to leave one or the other.

-Could they return for the Cuban post-season, when that other commitment ends in December?

-We are studying this and relevant regulations for our series will be established, because the first thing is that leagues must be respected. I don’t think there is one that would allow an athlete to play 20 or 30 games, leave to fulfill another obligation, and come back to play in the finals. These are issues that we value, since our baseball is not closed to any player, trained in our development structure, but based on a policy; we are going all out to improve our sports, but not at all costs.

(Source: Granma)

Left out of the event at Puerto Rico’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium, was the nation that hosted the first edition of the classic in 1949. Nor do we forget that, in 1966, the U.S. government denied Cuban players visas to participate in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico, an injustice that led to the historic Cerro Pelado adventure, when athletes reached Puerto Rican soil on this ship to compete in friendship, while besieged by U.S. aircraft.

The Series began, and despite the decision to exclude Cuba, Anaymir Muñoz, vice president of MBSports – the company promoting the competition – made the shameless assertion that, “We are doing everything possible to ensure that the Caribbean Series does not become political.”

For fear that fans would demonstrate against the hardship Puerto Rico has suffered under the administrations of former Gov. Roberto Rossello and now Wanda Vazquez, “People who insist on bringing signs that violate this code of conduct will not be allowed to enter the stadium, and those fans who display them inside the facilities, and refuse to remove them, may be removed from the stadium, if they do not comply with the first warning.”

The Puerto Rican people have not forgotten that amidst the destruction and despair left in the wake of Hurricane Maria, with almost 3,000 people dead, U.S. President Donald Trump appeared on the island throwing rolls of paper towels to the victims.

Anaymir Muñoz attempted to argue that this code of conduct in the Caribbean Series was not related to the demonstrations that “some” Puerto Ricans have held over the last year against Rosello and Wanda.

What is Muñoz worried about?

“Since foreign countries are coming, we are going to try to avoid it… We are going to try to make the series a sporting event, cultural, friendly, not political,” he insisted.

Do the Puerto Rican people, by any chance, believe him?

(Granma)

“Definitely, this is the biggest victory of my career as an athlete and manager,” he commented, anticipating reporters’ questions.

“I’m happy because we worked hard and I coached a battle-tested team that never gives up, and comes out to play nine innings… and here is the result,” he continued.

He was likewise able to appreciate the strengths of his opponent, saying, “The Cuban team is tremendous, with tradition, always puts up a fight. I congratulate them, as well.”

Two of Panama’s leaders, short stop Javier Guerra, most valuable player, and closer Manny Corpas, agreed with his evaluation, saying that their unity had won them the victory.

PANAMA’S BULLS VS LAS TUNAS

The Panamanian team, the Bulls from Herrera, came out to devour Las Tunas and was able to win the final game on February 10, 3-1, and capture their second title in the Caribbean Series.

Many commentators say that Panama surpassed its real possibilities, and that Las Tunas could have done better. Throughout the tournament they batted hard for the title in Rod Carew Stadium, with 12,000 fans in the stands.

Pitching was again key to the win over Cuba. An unexpected result, but a victory after all, and well deserved. Everything happened in the first inning. It was the beginning and, at the same time, the end of the game. They scored two runs that would have sufficed to take the title, but added one more in the seventh.

The Las Tunas offense folded again. Batters could do little to support Freddy Asiel Alvarez, who overcame a shaky start and stood firm for more than six innings without allowing a run.”We face high-quality pitchers, our athletes must gain discipline at the plate,” said manager Pablo Civil, summing up Cuba’s performance.
Most reporters considered Cuba the favorite, given its history and quality players, with several calling the Cuban team one to approach with care. Few imagined the outcome, it was unexpected, but this should take nothing away from the Panamanian team’s strengths. The Bulls thought otherwise and came out with the intention of winning.

They had the support of enthusiastic fans throughout the nine innings. Apparently, Cuba’s Saturday win – that paved their way to the final – didn’t give them enough momentum to win the last game.

ALL-STAR TEAM:

Most valuable player: Javier Guerra, shortstop (Panama)
Right-handed pitcher: Lázaro Blanco (Cuba)
Left-handed pitcher: Andy Otero (Panamá)
Catcher: Wilkin Castillo (Dominican Republic)
First base: Víctor Mendoza (Mexico)
Srcond base: Alexi Amarista (Venezuela)
Third base: Elmer Reyes (Panama)
Left field: Alfredo Despaigne (Cuba)
Center field: Junior Lake (Dominican Republic)
Right field: Moisés Sierra (Dominican Republic)
Designated hitter: Jilton Calderón (Panama)
Manager: Manuel Rodríguez (Panama)