Cuba Ball tour, March 2005

say what?

i've kinda dreamed about going to the dominican and yeah cuba too and watching me some baseball, but it'll prolly have to wait, like, a really long time.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050503/BCBASEBALL03/

Earlier this week I spoke with Orestes "Minnie" Minoso for about 30-40 minutes. ...I told Minoso about having met a Cuban minor leaguer, Mickey Montalvo, whose picture taken with Minoso in Municipal Stadium in Cleveland c. 1955 or 1956 is on display in the lobby of the Hotel Pinar del Rio. Those who participated in the 2004 tour will remember an amazing exchange between me and the security guard at the Hotel Pinar del Rio. I asked the guard who was standing next to Minoso (both in uniform) and he said that it was the local ballplayer, Montalvo, and that Montalvo had played with the Indians. I said that I thought he had not played in the bigs, believing that I knew the name of just about everyone who had played in the major leagues at the time. We agreed to disagree. Fifteen minutes later, the guard returned to our group, Montalvo in hand. He had gone to Montalvo's home to get him to tell me the truth. Turned out Montalvo was called up to the Indians late in the season, but did not get into a game! Montalvo, who spoke excellent English (he played for Indianapolois in the American Association with Rocky Colavito), came to the game with us and gave me a wonderful photocopy of the Minoso photo and inscribed it to me. Minoso told me that he had recommended that Montalvo be signed by the Indians and said that they were very close. I have asked that Montalvo join us again at the game we will attend in Pinar.

Milo, read The Wrong Stuff.

Do you mean the Spaceman biog?

Finally bought this documentary at the SABR convention, which was shot on the 2004 Cuba Ball tour. (I appear Waldolike in 5 or 6 shots.)

http://thebasesareloaded.com/

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/cuban_baseball200807?printable=true¤tPage=all

Michael Lewis on Cuban Baseball (with a lot on Kit Krieger mentioned above by Morb-o.)

cool! I heard from Kit this was coming. (Alas I couldn't contribute any photos of myself in Che's crypt.)

It's amazing piece. I'm only 3/4's of the way through it.

I'll probably buy a print copy. Would love to go again, if President Obama reverses course and lifts the travel ban!

he hasn't actually ruled out lifting it, you know

It's amazing piece.

(Bolding & quoting because I agree, not because of grammatical lols)

great portrait of KK (among others). "Mickey Mantle told me to fuck off once."

Cuban League strikeout takes 85 minutes:

http://bjarkmanlatinobaseball.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/12/85minute_strikeout_latest_oddi.html

Cubaball is planning a tour of the eastern half of the island for the first time, at the end of March -- to include Guantanamo! (not the camp) Cost (airfare separate) is $1,899 to $2099 US.

Also it may be the last-ever tour as majordomo Krieger may take a new job.

can we, as americans, take part in this?

ah ha. read the faq

the Bush Treasury Dept approved US visitors in 2004 (no other year)

don't think I ever posted the current URL:

http://www.cubaballtours.com/

Cubaball Tours will conduct two tours of Cuba in 2011. For the first time, the program will include a tour of the eastern provinces and games in Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo (the province and not the prison), Las Tunas and Camaguey. The eastern tour is scheduled from February 6-14) and the western tour, based in Havana, from February 15-23. The western tour features games in Havana, Matanzas, Habana province and Pinar del Rio and includes two games between archrivals Santiago de Cuba and Industriales. This is a rivalry that makes the Red Sox-Yankees pale in comparison. Fifty thousand will be seated at Estadio Latinoamericano four hours before the first pitch is thrown!

A highlight of the tours, as always, will be visits with veteran Cuban players from the Cuban winter leagues and Conrado "Connie" Marrero, the last surviving major leaguer in Cuba. We will visit Marrero at his Havana apartment to hear his stories and to celebrate his 100th birthday a little before its April 25th date. Both tours will include visits to La Tropical, home of professional baseball in Cuba from 1930-46 and the baseball monuments/graves at Havana's Cristobal Colon cemetery. Visit the Cubaball website (www.cubaballtours.com) for registration information.

O____________O

The tour will also play a friendly game of pepper on Castro's campo blanco field rendered from the alabaster skull chips of 25,000 state enemies.

No, but in '04 we had a catch in front of the Mural de la Prehistoria.

http://www.absolut-cuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/mural-1.jpg

the 85-minute Christmas Eve strikeout:

http://bjarkmanlatinobaseball.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/12/85minute_strikeout_latest_oddi.html

Very weird.

Conrado Marrero, now the oldest ex-MLB player, turns 100 on the 25th:

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=41255

Jan 18-26:

http://sabr.org/latest/sign-baseball-tour-cuba-january-2012

Connie Marrero, nearly 101 and blind, to get an MLB pension:

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/23/149080927/at-100-cuban-all-star-to-get-a-pension-at-last

I know the cost would be an obstacle for most of you (tho worth every buck imho), but this is still the best trip I've ever taken.

Cubaball Tours will conduct its 11th annual tour from January 25-February 2, 2013. As in the past, tour highlights include attendance at five or six games of the Cuban National Series, visits to history baseball locales such as La Tropical Stadium and the baseball monuments at Havana's Cemetery, and, schedule permitting, the grave of Martin Dihigo. The highlight of each tour is an audience with Conrado "Connie" Marrero, 101 years of age and the oldest living major leaguer. For more information and to register, visit http://www.prime-travel.com/cubaball_form_submit.asp or contact Kit Krieger at ejkrie✧✧✧@s✧✧✧.c✧.

btw Connie Marrero has made it to 102

http://sabr.org/latest/worlds-oldest-former-major-leaguer-turns-102

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/I5tuxw.gaZzbyc3sAm_YSw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MzU3Njtjcj0xO2N3PTUxMTI7ZHg9MDtkeT0wO2ZpPXVsY3JvcDtoPTQ0MTtxPTg1O3c9NjMw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/4063545ae5cf140d300f6a706700352d.jpg

shit, might be time for me to go back.

http://sabr.org/latest/sign-now-2014-baseball-tour-cuba

btw I probably saw Alexei Ramirez play for Pinar del Rio in 2004

how much was it?

I don't remember, but this year it's $2599 (with a supplement of $50 if you lodge solo).

http://www.prime-travel.com/tours/cubaball-tours/

that's a supplement of $450

So now what?

At one point Wednesday, M.L.B. became so concerned about the reaction to Obama’s announcement that it sent a directive to its 30 teams pointing out that it remained illegal to scout players in Cuba, or to sign them, because the American embargo of the island remained in effect....

Peter C. Bjarkman, a Cuban baseball historian, noted that the Cuban government had recently adopted a policy that allowed players to join teams in Mexico and Japan. But major league clubs in the United States are a different matter.

“The Cubans want their players to now have more experience and to play professionally overseas and earn some money,” Bjarkman said. “But there is a condition: They want those players to play in the Cuban league in the winter. Otherwise they will be throwing up their hands.”

Major league teams, however, would probably not agree to allow Cuban players to spend entire winters playing baseball back home, reasoning that the injury risk would be too great.

“This is an issue that’s going to be debated in Cuba now,” Bjarkman said. “They want to utilize baseball resources to bring more money into the country, but they don’t want to sell their league to North America.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/sports/baseball/for-baseball-cuba-is-front-and-center.html

http://ballparkdigest.com/2015/11/30/schwechheimer-bringing-milb-to-cuba

if you'd like to go in late September

https://sabr.org/latest/cubaball-tours-announces-2018-dates

so i'll be there in late Nov – but am having hard time divining if there are going to be any actual baseball games going on while i'm there.

i am confident that there'll be actual baseball games, but discovering when and where does seem awfully complicated. maybe ask this guy for tips? https://twitter.com/baseballdecuba

What we call the regular season, they call the National Series, and it runs from August thru late December.

http://www.baseballdecuba.com/2018-19-Cuban-Baseball-Season-Schedule-Released?language=en

There's a schedule link, but it only shows the results of the first half.

yup. i found that and found it mildly infuriating.

also - anyone have an idea what players might be worth checking out? are there any left?!

my understanding is the talent pool is not what it was when i went 14 years ago... or 5 years ago

i suppose it doesn't matter anyways since i cannot find an actual schedule to save my life right now.

you should definitely go to a game. write to Kit Krieger (Cuba Ball, based in Vancouver) if necessary.