CUBA CULTURE SECTION - Havana Journal > Sports & Cars
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By FREDERIC J. FROMMER | AP
“Pingpong diplomacy” thawed relations between the United States and China in 1971. Can “baseball diplomacy” help do the same for the U.S. and Cuba?
Americans ranging from 12-year-old ballplayers to softballing senior citizens are visiting the communist island to engage in their own kind of field work, and there’s talk of another trip by a major league team.
These bat-and-ball initiatives come as the Obama administration takes steps toward improving relations with the Cold War rival, such as loosening financial and travel restrictions on Americans with relatives on the island.
“I think it…
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By Jorge Casuso | Miami New Times
When Miami sports agent Juan Ignacio Hernandez Nodar, 51, flew into Miami Friday after spending 13 years in a Cuban jail, he felt a bit like Rip Van Winkle. The small children he had left behind were all grown up and Miami had sprouted a new skyline.
Hernandez, who tried to help Orlando “El Duque Hernandez” and other baseball stars defect from the Communist island, served “every last day” of his 15 year-sentence. (A Cuban jail-year is 10 months long.) And he believes what he did was right.
“What we did we did…
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By Bill Chastain | MLB.com
Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman arrived in New York on Wednesday seeking the opportunity to sign with a Major League team and cash in on what the market might yield for a 21-year-old left-hander with top-of-the-rotation potential, according to multiple reports.
Chapman showcased his abilities for Cuba in March during the World Baseball Classic before defecting this summer when Cuba played in a tournament in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. After defecting, Chapman established residency in Andorra. Several teams had planned to see Chapman throw in Europe, but upon the advice of his agent, Edwin Mejia, he decided…
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By MIKE SECCOMBE | Vineyard Gazette
As part of the deal to get into Cuba to make his movie, producer Kris Meyer had to take part in a baseball game, an all-ages, goodwill game with a Cuban team in Cuba.
He did not play well.
“The gentleman that struck me out was 75,” he told a packed house after the screening of The Lost Son of Havana, the story of Luis Tiant, at the Chilmark Community Center on Wednesday night.
He was crushed too, in left field, when he lost sight of a catch — “It went so high” —…
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Herald Tribune
Tapping into what seems like thawing relations between the United States and Cuba, the Sarasota Yacht Club is hosting a forum Thursday to discuss steps to rebuild nautical ties between the two nations.
The club has applied with the federal government for permission to compete in a sailing regatta off Cuba’s coast — something the club last did 15 years ago, before the U.S. prohibited virtually all travel to the island nation.
At Thursday’s forum, Timothy F. Ashby, an attorney with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP in Miami and national expert on Cuban-American trade issues, is scheduled to…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
On May 2nd, 2009, Palmares SA, the organization responsible for golf in Cuba, hosted the inaugural Montecristo Cup at the Varadero Golf Club in Varadero, Cuba. The competition, which was open to amateurs and professionals alike, was oversubscribed and exceeded expectations. The event was a truly international competition, with golfers representing many countries including the UK, Canada, Spain, Andorra, Korea, Vietnam, Japan as well as Cuba.
Guest of honor, Ernie Els, a three-time major championship winner and currently ranked among the top 20 golfers in…
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By Rob Biertempfel | TRIBUNE-REVIEW
The angry stares Rene Gayo used to receive from Cuban baseball coaches have begun to melt into smiles.
“In the past, if you attempted to communicate with Cuban scouts or coaches, you would get silence or heated confrontation,” said Gayo, the Pirates’ director of Latin American scouting. “Now, they are much more engaging and friendly, even though all communication still must be instigated by the Americans.”
Judging by Cuba’s success in international competition, its players are some of the most talented in the world. But only a handful have successfully defected from the communist nation…
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The Inaugural Montecristo Cup May 2-3, 2009
This is a pre-qualifying event for the 2010 Cuban Open.
On May 2nd, 2009, Palmares SA, the organization responsible for golf in Cuba, will host the inaugural Montecristo Cup at the Varadero Golf Club in Varadero, Cuba. This competition is expected to be Cuba’s biggest international golf tournament and will be the pre-qualifying event for the Cuban Open in 2010.
The main event will be held on Saturday May 2nd at the Varadero Golf Club. Limited to 72 competitors, the 18-hole tournament will begin with…
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Reuters
Cuban boxer Guillermo Rigondeaux, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who fell into disfavor with the Cuban government after trying to desert the national team two years ago, has defected, a boxing promoter said on Monday.
Rigondeaux, the bantamweight champion at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, is in Miami and has signed a contract with ARENA Box-Promotion, the fight promoter said in a written statement.
Rigondeaux, 28, was dropped from the Cuban squad for the Beijing Olympics in August after running afoul of Cuban authorities when he and teammate Erislandy Lara failed to turn up…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
The thirty fourth “Vuelta a Cuba”, a cross country cycling race from Baracoa to Habana Vieja is underway featuring over one hundred cyclists from five countries divided into fourteen local squads.
The competition began in the easternmost city of Baracoa Cuba and participants covered 1,780 kilometers in thirteen stages.
The first leg of the event was 153 kilometers running from Baracoa to Guantanamo to include the mountainous regions of Vivero and Alto de Cotilla. There were sprints in Imias, San Antonio del Sur and Yateritas.
Cuba’s main squad was…
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