Posted on Tue, Mar. 14, 2006
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 7, CUBA 3
Protests, refusal to meet media mar Cuba's WBC showing
The Cubans have been the center of attention at the WBC, and Monday's
loss to the Dominican Republic was no exception.
BY KEVIN BAXTER
kbaxter@MiamiHerald.com
SAN JUAN - It took five weeks of lobbying to get Cuba into the World
Baseball Classic.
Only to have them threaten to pull out after two games.
Since then they have drawn protests, nearly sparked a brawl, suffered
their most lopsided loss in 23 years and blown off the mandatory
interview sessions with the media three times in five days.
So you have to give the Cubans this: They have certainly made their
presence felt.
Take Monday, for example. In a 7-3 loss to the Dominican Republic that
pushed it to the verge of elimination, Cuba made two errors, gave up
three unearned runs and watched the Dominican's David Ortiz hit a ball
so far none of the fielders even bothered to move.
Yet that was nearly overshadowed by what happened off the field, where
anti-Castro protesters flocked to Hiram Bithorn Stadium by land and by
air, causing the Cuban team to sneak out of the ballpark in a huff and
angering tournament officials whose patience with Cuba's antics ran out
long ago.
It also left the victorious Dominicans, who can all but clinch a spot in
the WBC semifinals with a win over Venezuela tonight, to speak for the
vanished Cubans.
''I can see why they're dominating international competition,''
Dominican manager Manny Acta said. ``They are true players. Pretty good
pitching they throw out there.''
''To me,'' added Odalis Perez, who threw 4 2/3 shutout innings to earn
the win, ``the Cuban team is a great team.''
Which must make the Dominican team greater because Monday's game wasn't
really close until in the ninth inning, when Cuba loaded the bases only
to have pinch-hitter Joan Pedroso, representing the tying run, go down
on strikes.
But the turning point -- on the field and in the stands -- came six
innings earlier when the Dominicans scored four third-inning runs on two
hits, two walks, a hit batter, a balk and a Cuban error.
Shortly afterward, a single-engine Cessna made two passes over the
stadium trailing a banner reading Abajo Fidel (Down with Fidel).
Things were just starting to heat up, though, because in the bottom of
the inning a group of 10 protesters sitting in the second level behind
home plate stood and removed their shirts to reveal T-shirts, each
printed with one letter, that spelled out the same slogan.
''This is a good opportunity to show the world that we want free
elections in Cuba, the same thing as in the U.S.,'' said protester and
Cuban exile Carlos Leal.
''We want liberty for Cuba,''' added Raul Monteagudo. ``This is the only
way to help ease the suffering of the Cuban people under the dictatorship.''
It was the second time in Cuba's five games that anti-Castro
demonstrators have protested inside the ballpark, but the first since
Major League Baseball and San Juan promoters established a ''code of
conduct'' prohibiting political protest in an attempt to placate the
Cuban delegation.
Last Thursday a Cuban exile named Jose Garcia held up a sign reading
Abajo Fidel during Cuba's second WBC game, sparking an emotional
response from the Cubans who threatened to pull out of the tournament
without a ban on anti-Castro signs.
PROTEST ISN'T HALTED
But police did nothing to halt Monday's demonstration, and when the 10
protesters refused requests by stadium security to leave, officials
backed down and allowed the group to stay if they put their shirts back on.
The demonstrators didn't appear to have the backing of the crowd of
6,594, many of whom were chanting fuera, fuera (get out, get out). Ortiz
may have thought they were talking to him, though, because he drove a
2-2 pitch from Jonder Martinez an estimated 455 feet, over the
right-field grandstands and off a billboard, to give the Dominican a 6-0
lead.
Less than an hour later -- with the score 7-0 -- Cuban officials called
tournament organizers and told them they would not be talking after the
game.
''We're not happy with the situation,'' MLB spokesman John Blundell
said. ``We want people to come, but we can't force them. Every other
team has come, win or lose.
``If you win, you stand in front of the cameras. And when you lose, you
stand in front of the cameras.''
NEAR ELIMINATION
At least Cuba didn't threaten to pull out of the tournament again. But
then it might not have to. If it loses its Wednesday game to Puerto Rico
-- which beat the Cubans 12-2 in a first-round game stopped after seven
innings by international baseball's mercy rule -- their WBC stay is
likely over.
Yet even then the Cubans might not go quietly. In that first-round game
Cuban pitchers, who have a reputation as head-hunters, fired fastballs
over the heads of Puerto Rico's Pudge Rodriguez and Ricky Ledee, drawing
angry stares from both. Puerto Rico's Jose Santiago responded by hitting
Cuba's Juan Moreno, earning an ejection for himself and manager Jose
Oquendo.
With Cuba clearly frustrated by what's happened on the field and with
its reputation already sullied off it, officials are leery of Cuba --
whose batters have been hit a tournament-record seven times and whose
team has endured a tournament-record three protests -- taking things
into their own hands.
''The last thing we want to see is a brawl,'' umpire supervisor Richie
Garcia said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/baseball/14092956.htm
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