by Amaury Pi-González

SAN JUAN PUERTO RICO– At Hiram Bithorn Stadium. The Cuban champion Vegueros de Pinar del Rio, won the first Caribbean Series of Baseball for Cuba since 1960. The Cuban team didn’t wait for President Obama and the Castro’s dictatorship to re-establish relations, they took matters in their own hands, as Cuba beat Mexico 3-2. The first Caribbean Series took place in Havana, Cuba in 1949, Cuba won it, and then dominated for the next ten years, but in 1961 Cuba’s Fidel Castro declared Cuba a communist state and barred all professional sports in the country. This happened because Cuba broke relations with the John F.Kennedy administration.

It was a home run in the eighth inning by Yulieski Gourriel that decided the game and the series for the Cubans. Dozens of major league scouts were in San Juan, Puerto Rico following this series. The Cuban squad lost two players who defected last week and asked for political exile, 19 year old pitcher Vladimir Gutiérrez, who was the Rookie of Year in the Cuban League in 2014, and 30 year old shortstop Dainer Moreira. They did not hang around to see their trophy, but will file papers and start their inevitable journey to the Major Leagues. The Dominican Republic were the favorites, Cuba’s victory is considered something of an upset. Venezuela and Puerto Rico were the other teams in the tournament.

Fifty-five years have gone-by since Cuba won the popular Caribbean World Series. In 1960 neither the Oakland Athletics or the San Francisco Giants had won a World Series for their Northern California cities. The Giants were 2 years old in San Francisco and the Atléticos were the Kansas City A’S. 1960 was the last year that the Havana Sugar Kings of the International League (AAA) played and won that league. Of all Latin American players these days, the ones from Cuba have a great advantage, as many of them rarely go through the minor leagues, but come directly from Cuba, after they defect,to play in the majors. Cuba’s Frederic Cepeda the 34-year old veteran outfielder, who played in Japan last year, won the tournament MVP.

In 2014 the Cuban team had an early exit, so this was a very sweet victory for the Cubanos since they returned to this Caribbean classic. The 2016 Caribbean Series is going to take place at Estadio Francisco Micheli in La Romana, Dominican Republic.

Even prior to Fidel Castro and Raúl Castro birth, baseball was the #1 and most popular sport in the largest island in the Caribbean. Baseball was introduced in Cuba in 1864, and Cubans helped spread the game throughout the Caribbean. Currently, professional leagues exist in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic. The seasons last from October to January, and since 1949 the winners of each of the four leagues have competed in the Caribbean Series each February.

Amaury Pi-González will begin his 38th season as a Major League Baseball play by play announcer as the Spanish Radio Voice for the Oakland Atheltics and also Fox Sports West TV Play by play for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Amaury was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2010. Amaury does News and Commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com