Category: MLB

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Miami Marlins Break Glass Ceiling hire first woman GM in MLB history

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Kim Ng joins the Miami Marlins as the first woman MLB general manager. Ng formerly worked with the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers. (USA Today file photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

The Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball became the first team of any of the four professional sports leagues in the United States when they announced today the hiring of Kim Ng, a female executive as their new General Manager.

She is the first female GM in Major League Baseball history. Ng will turn 52 next Tuesday, after graduating from the University of Chicago Ng went to work as a Intern for the Chicago White Sox, where she worked for 21 years, later an executive with then NY Yankees and LA Dodgers.

“On behalf of principal owner Bruce Sherman and our entire ownership group, we look forward to Kim bringing a wealth of knowledge and championship level experience to the Miami Marlins”. CEO Derek Jeter said in a statement.“I entered Major League Baseball as an intern and, after decades of determination, it is the honor of my career to lead the Miami Marlins as their next general manager,” Ng said in a statement.

Just like the Brooklyn Dodgers were pioneers in 1947 when General Manager Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson as the first black player in MLB, the Miami Marlins are the first team to sign a woman as their General Manager. Florida is the third most populous State in the country and one of the most diverse.

Congratulations to the Miami Marlins organization and Good luck to Kim Ng.

Stay well and stay tuned

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s lead Spanish radio announcer on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baseball and Veterans Day

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Amaury Pi Gonzalez author in uniform with the US Army is one of five staff writers at Sports Radio Service who have served in the US Military. As Amaury writes about Veterans Day celebrated Wed Nov 11, 2020 (photo provided by Amaury Pi Gonzalez)

That’s Amaury’s News and Commenty

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

No sport is more intertwined with the US military than baseball. Through the years many baseball players have served their nation, during times of war or peace. Some volunteered for war, some were drafted, other served in uniform in the reserves, regardless of their circumstances all showed their patriotism and selfishness to their country.

Among Hall of Fame players that served are:

Cleveland Indians Bob Feller. He left an over six-figure contract and joined the US Navy right after the Japanese attack in Pearl Harbor. He was the first American professional athlete (among all sports) to enlist and served in the US Navy from 1941 to 1945. In 1946 Bob Feller’s fastball was clocked at 98.6 miles-per hour, by a US Army device. It was the fastest at that time.

Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams. Teddy Ballgame is frequently mentioned as the last man in major league baseball to hit over .400 when he ended the 1941 season with a .406 batting average. His military career was also exemplary as a pilot during World War II and the Korean War, he and Larry McPhail,(high ranking baseball executive) are the only two to have served in two wars.

New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio enlisted in 1943, and never saw combat. The Yankee Clipper served as a physical education instructor in the US Army Special Services, mostly stationed in California and Hawaii.

New York Giants center-fielder Willie Mays was drafted by the US Army in 1952 during the Korean War. Although he did not see action during the war, he was much valuable to the military participating in media campaigns and public exhibitions to raise troop moral. He returned to the Giants in 1954 and led the National League with a .345 batting average, winning the Most Valuable Player.

New York Yankee legendary catcher Yogi Berra volunteered during the assault on Normandy, France, during the famous D-Day. Berra was told not to mention his secret mission to his family. He was on a rocket boat during the first waves of the allied invasion of Europe, landing at Normandy, France, which began the eventual undoing of Hitler and his occupation.

The most famous #42. Jackie Robinson joined the US Army in 1942 and was commissioned a second Lieutenant in 1943. Honorably Discharged in 1944. While serving Robinson was arrested and court-martialed protesting segregation, but was acquired later. Pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm (He threw the best Knuckleball ever) pitched for the NY Giants and eight other teams, served in the US Army during the Battle of the Bulge, was injured in and received a Purple Heart

These Hall of Famers also served in uniform: Roberto Clemente, Tom Seaver, Rod Carew, Nolan Ryan, Don Larsen, Pee Wee Reese, Johnny Mize, Joe Gordon and many others.

Sandy Alderson, once Executive for the Oakland Athletics, new York Mets and San Diego Padres, served during the Viet Nam war as a US Marine Lieutenant.

My apologies to those I did not mentioned and the many more that also served the country.

On behalf of all the staff here at Sports Radio Service and our veterans we salute you and thank you for your support. past and present collaborators; Ken Gimlin, US Army, Joe Cronin, US Army, Tony Rentería, US Marines, Jerry Feitelberg, US Army, Amaury Pi-González, US Army.

Stay tuned and stay well.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio lead announcer on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baseball Is Cheating Rewarded?

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AJ Hinch gets a new lease on life after spending the 2020 season suspended from the Houston Astros scandal. Hinch will be at the helm for the Detroit Tigers for 2021. (photo from the Detroit Free Press)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Alex Cora was hired by the Boston Red Sox as their new skipper for the next two years running through 2022 with a two-year club option for the ’23 and ’24 seasons. In 2017 Alex Cora was the bench coach for the World Champion Houston Astros.

Because of a coordinated cheating of signs, he was suspended for a year, together with manager A.J Hinch as well as General Manager Jeff Lunow, who is a very good General Manager, proficient in Spanish who sat with us during a few innings of a broadcast, a few years ago as the Astros visited Oakland.

Alex Cora’s suspension expired immediately after Dodgers eliminated the Rays in this most recent World Series. Cora also assumed the manager’s position (during that 2017 cheating season with the Astros) every time manager Hinch was ejected; which was in three occasions. To refresh our memories: The 2017 Astros team won the West with 101-61 record, 21 games over second place LA Angels. A’s finished in last place, 26 games behind. Then the Astros took the World Series from the Dodgers. Obviously, the cheating paid off.

Not a surprise Cora is returning to Boston, he is well regarded by the Boston Red Sox organization. As a rookie manager Cora guided the Red Sox to 108 victories and a World Series title in 2018. However, the next season (2019) under Cora, the club ended with a 84-78 record, in third place 19 games behind the NY Yankees.

The most famous baseball scandal was that of the 1919 World Series, between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds, most well known as The Black Sox Scandal. In 1920 four players admitted to a Grand Jury they had thrown the 1919 World Series in return from a bribe by a gambling syndicate led by Arnold Rothstein and his associates.

A total of seven players were involved. “Eight Men Out” is an excellent movie about that most famous scandal. 1920’s and 2020, are two different planets in baseball. The highest paid player in 1920 was the great Ty Cobb, $20,000 a season with the Detroit Tigers. The Detroit Tigers franchise in 2020 is worth an estimated $1.25 billion.

Major League teams have the right to hire whomever they want, they are a private business and that is their right. And, granted, Cora won a World Series as Manager of the Red Sox and nobody accused the Red Sox of cheating that year.

However, I would think that the memory of the 2017 Houston Astros cheating and winning a World Series, still very much fresh in our minds. In a way looks like you can cheat and wait a couple of years and you are back in the game. I do not want Alex Cora suspended for life, that would be ridiculous, but coming back this soon? I do not think is a very good look for Major League Baseball. The wounds are not healed yet.

If there is cheating inside an organization, the most culpable are those in charge, from the top down, General Manager, to the Field Manager, then the players, and in some instances, maybe even the owner. During these times, owners are not that involved with what happens down on the field.

Unlike the days of black and white television, and prior, where some owners were really “hands on” with the teams. Not that very long ago, owners that come to mind are Charlie O. Finley with the Kansas City and Oakland A’s and George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees, those were hands-on owners, they were really bosses with lots of passion for the game and they were not shy to show it.

Back in the days of the Black Sox Scandal, things were different, teams were mostly owned by families with certain affinity to the game and not big corporations like today. Not to mention a record that will never be broken, that of the Owner and Manager of the Philadelphia Athletics for over 50 years. Connie Mack who won 3,731 games, tops in major league baseball, he also played prior to his managing-owner years and never wore a uniform while managing, famous for his white straw hat.

“Cheating is baseball’s oldest profession. No other game is so rich in skullduggery. -Thomas Boswell.

Stay tuned and stay well.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: MLB Owners and Winter Meetings Cancelled

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Major League Baseball calling off it’s winter meetings is a cause for concern after losing over $3 billion in revenue will MLB open the season and stand to lose more revenue again for 2021? (file photo from CBS Sports)

By Amaury Pi-González

2020 Baseball season is over; the Los Angeles Dodgers were crowned World Series Champion during an unprecedented 60-game season and Playoffs. However, the pain inflicted by this 2020 in baseball is not over yet.

The league announced the cancellation of both the owners meetings in November and winter meetings in December. The agendas will be conducted virtually as needed, by the now very well-known Zoom meeting. Owners meeting: Owners, presidents, general managers and managers from the 30 teams talk about economics, on-field issues as well as trades and free agents.

Winters meeting: All Major League baseball teams and their minor league affiliates convene each December to discuss business and conduct the off-season trades and all transactions.

According to The Wall Street Journal the 30 teams lost an estimated of $3 billion. The biggest blow, no fans in the stands, no ticket sales no parking revenues, no food drink or souvenirs sold. And we must not forget that some businesses in the vicinity of many parks also suffered, even if they were open.

No surprise that most MLB teams have reduced their staffs, some more than others, its early October MLB released schedules for all 30 teams for the 2021 season, however, the Office of the Commissioner Rob Manfred has still two biggest fears for next season which are, (1)-Are we going to have a vaccine, and (2) – Are we past the Pandemic. If both answers are yes, things could begin to return with a sense of “normalcy” of some form.

Even if 2021 is played with a 162 game schedule, like for example (2019 when nobody could predict this Pandemic) and everything went ‘honky dory’ there is another problem in the horizon. After the conclusion of the 2021 season there is bitter labor-management negotiations looming. The Basic Agreement between Major League Baseball and the Players Association expires.

Baseball fans do not sweat it. The greatest Baseball philosopher Yogi Berra once said: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future”.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead Spanish radio announcer for Oakland A’s baseball on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Tony LaRussa returns as Manager after Nine year Hiatus

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Tony LaRussa in 1979 in his first managing job with the Chicago White Sox (1979-1986) has come full circle after managing the Oakland A’s (1986-1995) and St Louis Cardinals(1996-2011) and after nine years (2020) LaRussa is back managing the White Sox once again (file photo from pinterest.com)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Tony LaRussa last managed in 2011 guiding the St Louis Cardinals to a World Series title. The Hall of Fame manager, now 76 is coming back as manager of the Chicago White Sox. During the wild card Series between the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago White Sox this past September, Tony was seated to my left a few booths away, by himself, taking notes.

I went over to say Hi. He has served in front office jobs for multiple teams since 2014. After the news of his hiring by the White Sox, he told ESPN “My heart was always in the dugout” He has always been a perfectionist who hates to lose a game, some might call him a “control freak”. During the recent national anthem protest he told ESPN Dan LeBatard Show, “I would not allow it on my team”, while he was the Chief Baseball Officer for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Tony LaRussa was one of the first managers to use everybody in his bullpen to win many games, with the likes of Gene Nelson, Rick Honeycutt and Hall of Fame close Dennis Eckersley. El Show de Tony LaRussa (about 5 minutes) was in Spanish preceding every A’s game during his years with the Athletics, he loved to talk about pitching and his great pitching coach Dave Duncan.

He was always talking baseball strategy and he loved each minute of it. The ultimate baseball professional. Many games he would ask a starter like Mike Moore to give him 5 1/3 innings and then he would turn it to the bullpen. Now that “style” is in vogue, but on steroids as in the recent World Series where there was more action in the bullpens than on the field.

When the White Sox parted ways with Rick Rentería after his White Sox were eliminated by the Athletics, they were looking for an experienced manager, with wisdom and success and the gravitas of Tony LaRussa. Tony is one of two managers in history to have won World Series with teams in both leagues, with the Oakland A’s in 1989 and with the St Louis Cardinals in 2006 and 2011. George (Sparky) Anderson with the Cincinnati Reds in 1975 and 1976 and then with the Detroit Tigers in 1984

Born in Tampa, Florida, Tony LaRussa will take over a young and very talented ball-club in the Chicago White Sox, who is loaded with young and established Latino stars and a team that could be very close to winning a World Series.

The White Sox hope Tony is “el hombre” to take them to the Promised Land, as he returns to the Windy City where he managed for the first time in the major leagues in 1979. Tony resides here in the Bay Area and is the founder of the Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, a non-for-profit organization with offices in Walnut Creek.

Questions like: At 76, would he be able to relate to his young ballplayers? He has not managed for nine (9) years, how would he be received in their locker room and with the media in Chicago? And many others. It will be interesting to see how his first season develops.

In Major League history, these are the top three managers in wins. 1-Connie Mack 3,731 2-John McGraw 2,763 3-Tony LaRussa 2,728

As of today the two oldest managers in MLB: Tony LaRussa, 76 and Dusty Baker, 71.

Buena suerte Tony.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Rays Snell goes up against Dodgers Gonsolin in game 6 tonight

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Los Angeles Dodgers Max Muncy rounds the bases as he’s cheered on by Cody Bellinger (35) and the Dodgers dugout in the fifth inning of the World Series game 5 at Globelife Stadium in Arlington. Both teams had Monday night off before game 6 on Tuesday. (LA Times photo)

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 Amaury it might have been a brief 60 game schedule for the regular season and a different format for the post season, and the Dodgers didn’t play at Dodger Stadium for the post season but none the less after losing three of the last three World Series the Dodgers have one more game to get a shot at the ring.

#2 Amaury Joe Pederson added to the Dodgers run tally with a home run in game 5 it proved to be important as the Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays by two runs 4-2.

#3 The Dodgers got some great pitching from starter Clayton Kershaw pitching over five innings and giving up two runs striking out six.

#4 Max Muncy also hit for a key home run in the fifth inning a 406 foot shot to center right and it was enough for the Dodgers to come away with the two run victory.

#5 A crucial game for both teams tonight at Arlington as the Rays need to win game 6 to tie and stay alive in the series and for the Dodgers to win game 6 to wrap their first World’s Championship in their last four World Series tries.

Join Amaury each Tuesday for an edition of That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

2020 World Series podcast with Larry Crino: Dodgers breath some new life take 3-2 series lead

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Its a bang bang play at the plate when the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw throws to the plate to catcher Austin Barnes to beat the head first slide of the Tampa Bay Rays Manuel Margot who attempted to steal home in game 5 at Globelife Park in Arlington on Sun Oct 25, 2020 (AP News photo)

2020 World Series podcast with Larry Crino:

#1 Larry how big is that come back for the Los Angeles Dodgers with starter Clayton Kershaw held the Tampa Bay Rays to just two runs.

#2 Larry, will the bobbled ball in center by AJ Pollock and the relay throw to the plate that got away from catcher Will Smith that scored two runs that was going to be an anti Kurt Gibson/Bill Bunckner moment for the Dodgers in a World Series but coming back in game 5 might help not reliving that game 4 follie.

#3 Larry, the Dodgers didn’t want to waste this one getting runs early with two in first and one in the second to get a leg up for the eventual 4-2 win.

#4 Larry, talk about Joe Pederson he’s been key in this post season and he got a home run to help in the Dodgers bid for the game 5 win.

#5 The Rays Manuel Margot tried to steal hone but it backfired when the throw from pitcher Kershaw who stepped off to catcher Austin Barnes beat him at the plate tell us about that play.

Join Larry Crino did the MLB podcasts during the 2020 season each Monday Larry will be back for the 2021 season at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: New MLB Rules Yes or No?

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The Los Angeles Dodgers Mookie Betts (right) and the Tampa Bay Rays Willy Adames (left) hug at second base during game 3 on Fri Oct 23, 2020 in the second inning after Adames stole second base. Betts and many MLB players say that Adames is one of the most liked players in the game. (AP News photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

We have seen this unique 2020 baseball season with a 60 game regular schedule as the games have been played under a slew of new rules. Some are popular, others are still up-in-the-air. Here are the most talked about. Would baseball want to keep permanently? With a rating of YES, NO or 50-50.

YES. The double-header seven (7 innings each game) Each extra-inning begins with a runner on second base, at the top of the eighth (I call the runner”a free runner”). The batter or a substitute for the batter who leads off an inning shall continue to be the batter who would lead-off the inning. Commissioner Manfred is very much in favor of this, because it keeps the game more interesting and also saves a lot of time. These games in 2020 averaged 2 hours and 30 minutes each. The reason for this rule? In the interest of player health and safety MLB and the Players Association jointly announced that both games of doubleheaders will be seven innings.(It became effective August 1).

NO. Sixteen Teams going into the Playoff. The jury still out on this, but best bet is that this is a 50-50 proposition. There is a school of thought that it should be fourteen teams, instead of sixteen. This will eliminate the possibility that (with 16 teams) teams with under .500 records would advance deep into the postseason, maybe the World Series. This season the Houston Astros (29-31) who finished in second place to the Oakland Athletics, seven(7) games behind the A’s, came within one game of representing the American League in the World Series.

50-50.Universal Designated Hitter. This will eventually will be the norm someday, but maybe not in 2021. Reports indicate some owners of teams in the National League have strong opposition. Originally the American League adopted the DH rule in 1973, with pitchers continuing to hit in games played at National League parks. That was not the case this 2020, both leagues used the Designated Hitter to avoid over-working pitchers by having them hit.

Universal lost of revenue. All 30-teams reported revenue loses. A ten (10) billion dollar industry, reported earlier prior to Opening Day, were each team was projected to lose hundreds-of millions of dollars with no fans in the stands.

No Bueno: World Series ratings for Game One according to Nielsen attracted 9.1 million viewers according to Fox Sports. The least watched World Series game ever since Nielsen began tracking ratings in 1968. It could be accredited to the protagonist, although they are the best teams by record this year, LA Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are not a well-known popular franchise for a national audience. There would have been a totally different audience if the New York Yankees would have met the LA Dodgers in the Fall Classic, two huge media markets with two storied franchises. The Houston Astros vs the LA Dodgers would have been a much more drama-driven series and most fun for all, for obvious reasons if you have followed baseball the last few years. However, television can pick schedules, but never will be able to determine who wins and who doesn’t. The integrity of the game still prevails.

NBA TV ratings for the final between the LA Lakers and the Miami Heat were also one of their lowest in their history. Many things can be attributed to this decline in TV audiences, the Pandemic, mixed with more politics that most people can tolerate infiltrating into the sport, which at the end is supposed to offer relief and escape from the daily events that cause anxiety in people.

Let’s face it, as much as we love sports, all this looks insignificant in the world we are living today.

Like the great Howard Cosell used to say: “Sports is the Toy Department of Human life”.

Stay well and stay tune.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s radio on 1010 KIQI Le Grande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s asst gm Owens up for Angels gm job; Introducing the Curt Flood Award

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Oakland A’s assistant general manager Billy Owens is looking to join the Los Angeles Angels as their new general manager. Owens is waiting for an interview with the Angels and former A’s first baseman Scott Hatteburg said Owens is an encyclopedia of baseball knowledge (photo from San Francisco Chronicle)

#1 Oakland A’s executive Billy Owens who is being considered for the Los Angeles Angels general manager job. Owens is a known for his vast knowledge of talent in MLB.

#2 If Owens was to leave Oakland and so with A’s vice president Billy Beane who is considering joining the Boston Red Sox this would be the dismantling of some of the best baseball minds in the game for the A’s.

#3 A’s owner John Fisher said he has preserved 90% of the A’s personnel for next season but with no fans returning that would put into question the A’s budget to keep employees, it’s real wait and see until spring training.

#4 MLB will have a Curt Flood Award which will be presented to either a living or deceased player who exemplified selfless devotion to the MLB Players Association, and advancement for players rights.

#5 Jerry for this World Series your getting two of the best teams in the game with the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Join Jerry F each Thursday on the MLB podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Randy Arozarena – His Escape from Communist Cuba

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The Tampa Bay Rays Randy Arozarena gives thanks to the almighty after he hits a first inning two run home run against the Houston Astros in game 7 at Globelife Park in Arlington during the ALCS on Oct 17, 2020 (AP News photo)
That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Randy Arozarena plays left field for the 2020 American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays; he recently won the Most Valuable Player Award when his team eliminated the Houston Astros last week. Today, Arozarena is playing in the World Series. But his journey to this land of freedom was not easy, as you will find here.

He was born in Pinar del Río, the Westernmost province of Cuba, one of the six provinces of the largest island in the Caribbean. That region is famous for growing the best and most famous cigars in the world, across many decades since Cuba was a colony of Spain. Because of the current system of government, communism, with no free-trade or private ownership, the Cuban cigar enjoyed their best days in the past. Now the Dominican Republic can claim their cigars are just as good, if not better. So the Cuban cigar, barely survives by its reputation of days gone by.

Arozarena played fúbol (soccer) but he was a very good baseball player in Cuba. He played for the Vaqueros (Cowboys) team in Cuba. His journey to the United States began in 2015, as he was playing for the Vaqueros, but was cut from the team just before they left to Puerto Rico to represent his country in the Caribbean Series. Why? Because the Cuban authorities feared he was going to defect the island, like most Cuban players currently playing in MLB have done.

He was a very good player in Cuba with very good numbers; he was not cut because he wasn’t good. Note: To this day after 60 years of the Communist Revolution in Cuba, no Cuban citizen is allowed to leave the country freely, unless is a government official a diplomat or in many cases sports clubs representing the country in tournaments around the world. In the past entertainers/musicians were allowed to leave to other countries for concerts, but that has also changed. Cuba is basically a closed society.

It was then in 2015 after the team in Cuba cut him from going to Puerto Rico that Arozarena decided to defect. He left the island in a small raft and headed to the West, towards the Gulf of México, a very dangerous journey in shark infested waters, which took him 8 hours to arrive to Isla de Mujeres, a small island of the coast of the famous tourist beach resort of Cancún. There in México the Mexican government granted him political exile. His family lives now in Mérida, México, his brother plays fúbol/soccer for the Cafetaleros de Chiapa. He talks to them all the time on the phone, says he plans to join them there where he is planning to live.

In an interview he gave to the New York Times, the young Cuban Arozarena: “I will not represent Cuba until things there change” and “the only thing that ties me to Cuba is my family and friends and country” plus “The situation in Cuba is bad” and added he hopes the situation changes for the Cuban people and for the Cuban baseball players.

As dangerous journey as Randy Arozarena had to endure to arrive in the US, this is common to many Cuban-born players currently playing baseball in the Major Leagues and all over the world. However (like most baseball players anyplace) their dream is to play in MLB, the best professional baseball league in the world.

I never forgot what the great Orestes (Minnie) Miñoso once told me. “When I came to the Major Leagues from Cuba in the late 1940’s I could travel in and out of the island, I lived in Cuba, but played mostly for the White Sox in Chicago, but these Cuban kids arriving since after the revolution had to go through many difficult situations before they achieve their dream”.

Perhaps one of the most incredible stories of defection by a Cuban player is that of ex-major league player Kendrys Morales, after trying and failing to defect 12 times, three of which landed him on three-day stints in prison when he was caught, finally was able to take a small rowboat to a larger vessel which then took him to the United States. He told me that story while he was playing with the LA Angels and is well documented and reported by many news agencies.

Amnesty International a reputable non-profit organization that specializes in human rights violations reports that Cuba remained mostly closed to independent human rights monitors. The government of Cuba does not allow its citizens to freely express their views, especially if they are negative to the government. Finally: There have not been free elections in Cuba for over 60 years, since the current government took power. Cuba’s government condemns free-market capitalism, yet the founder of the revolution, Fidel Castro died with close to $1 billion dollar fortune according to Forbes Magazine, who specializes in money issues.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com