"Baseball is not Political"

By José Reyes   3/19/2006 

             I'm writing this article on the eve of the final game of the WBC and I am writing it here, where politics has no forum, unless there is cheating involved, then I will let politics intervene, like they did with the steroid controversy. The "World Baseball Challenge" final game between Cuba and Japan will be played tomorrow, there will be two very well coached teams with a lot of enthusiasm and loaded with great athletes. The key word here is "Athletes", because after all, this is, plain and simple, a sport. This has absolutely nothing to do with politics, it is all about competition and the will to win. When I look at athletes compete, I don't care what country they come from, what the color of their skin is and what language they speak. I don't care about the flags the fans are waving in the stands and the signs they are displaying either. Communism, Democracy and Socialism has nothing to do with it. As long as they play fair and the "Politicians" do not try to corrupt the game, everything is alright with me. If a team beats everyone and is crowned the victors, I will accept it, if they won fair and square, that's what it's all about, fair competition. As I see this incredible Cuban team wind down to the final and this strong Japanese team fight to win it all, I feel disrupted by all the rhetoric going on in the  media, how they are capitalizing on the situation and bringing politics to the games. I don't understand, Cubans have been playing baseball since 1864, Fidel Castro has nothing to do with the success of this team at all, baseball is in every Cubans blood, that is the only sport that Cubans have been playing before and will be playing in Cuba, way after Fidel and his  bloody, murderous regime has been eliminated. I'm glad that everybody in the world is recognizing how much talent there is in Cuba because it's athletes were never allowed to be showcased with all the great players around the world, the Castro regime rejected this.       

            Imagine how many baseball teams would be playing out of Cuba now, the fan base is certainly there and remember we have a team that is located in Canada, so this is very possible. I wish Japan was geographically closer to the USA, there would definitely be some teams from there also. Castro always seems to be diminishing and discrediting the ability of the Cuban athlete and not because of political reasons but because of Human Rights issues occurring in Cuba for the last 47 years. I say this because it is so evident when you see the guards and the special Gestapo-Type of protection that is exhibited before and after every game, around the players, before and after the game. It reminds me a lot of the movie "The Longest Yard", when  the inmates are allowed the freedom to play a game but after it is all over, they are returned to jail to finish their term of punishment. The only difference here is that these fine Cuban athletes are not criminals but their leaders are. It's a shame that this baseball challenge is almost over because the world will have to wait 4 years to see these Cuban baseball players perform again in this elite type of atmosphere. Maybe if we could terminate the leadership of the tyrant Fidel Castro and his regime, then we will be able to see them on an everyday basis, God bless the Cuban people! I would also like to remind all the readers of this article, the good old game of Baseball was invented in the United States, it was Americans who introduced it to the world, God bless America too!

Note to Readers:

All the pictures are a courtesy of Cubanball.com a complete and accurate history of baseball in Cuba.