For three years, the Havana native has sought to establish himself as the main figure of the northern nation in the 81-kilogram division.

On April 17, 1946, the Havana Cubans made their debut in La Tropical Stadium. It was a Cuban team founded by U.S. scout Joe Cambria which participated with that name in eight U.S. organized baseball series. A year later, with the inauguration of the Cerro Gran Stadium, they would transfer their venue to the island’s most important stadium. The Havana Cubans made their debut with a 5-4 victory over the Miami Beach team all thanks to Rafael Rivas. The Puerto Padre southpaw pitched 12 outs that night and finished with a cero record when striking out two batters with full bases. This first game had the peculiarity that it had two home umpires. Bill Klem, an outstanding Major League umpire and who was already retired, was invited to the game and only took part in the first inning. He was replaced as the principal umpire by Cuban Raúl Morales, who thus became the first Latin umpire to perform in the U.S. baseball circuit. The peculiar team assumed the slogan of “One more step and we’re there” to jump from the Florida International League to the Triple A. It belonged to the franchise of the Washington Senators, a team in which...

Barack Obama will be the second American president to visit Cuba during his term in office on March 20, 2016. The only other American president to do that so far had been Calvin Coolidge, in 1928. James Carter visited Cuba but at a time when he was no longer the president, in 2002 and 2011. It’s been 88 years since Coolidge visited Cuba. The United States has had 14 presidents between the 1928 visit and this new one. Coolidge was the 30th president of the United States. He came into office in 1923, when he was vice president and had to replace late president Warren Harding, who passed away only two years after his election. Coolidge held the post for 6 years, (1923-1929), and visited Cuba only a year before the end of his presidency. On April 27, 1927, Cuban President Gerardo Machado travelled to the United States to invite Coolidge to the 6th Pan-American Conference, that took place in January, 1928. The last months of 1927 were agitated in Cuba. On December 1st, 1927 the members of the University Students Directorate, an organization opposing Machado, were expelled from the University of Havana and other higher education institutions. The university...

The remnants of the Jose Rene Riquelme Sugar Mill in Quemado de Guines, in the northern part of the central province of Villa Clara, could be the remnants of any of the 70 sugar mills that were dismantled in Cuba by the beginning of the present century. The remains of the iron structures that were left following the restructuring of the sector are a symbol of the end of a long tradition - a form of life that revolved around the mill. The smell of the bagasse, the sound of the loud whistle that signalled the beginning of the work day, and the constant noise of the machines only live on in the memories of the locals.

In Cuba, you can run into a talented athlete who’s just traded kicks with New York’s Cosmos and fraternized with soccer legends Pele and Raul and who, after wiping off the sweat worked up by the match, returns to his native city to continue roughing it with his private “business.” Jeniel “El Croqui” Marquez, captain of the Cuban national soccer team, seven-time national champion, a man who’s participated at the Golden Cup on seven different occasions and has been named the year’s best soccer player, is also a motorcycle taxi driver. Many fans in Villa Clara find it hard to believe that their idol is behind the handlebars of this vehicle (a very Cuban mix of motorcycle and coach). When the initial shock wears off, however, they pay the 5 pesos that the ride costs. OnCuba trecked the distance, all the way to the parking lot where this “scooter” rests, in the city of Santa Clara. There we found an unassuming Cuban who has shed the familiar jersey, eager to push his business forward. Why did you take out a self-employment license? My main objective is to guarantee that my two kids have a future. I have an 8-year-old boy...

Pablo Millán Fernández started on the right foot his story in Cuban baseball. He was one of the pitchers of Cuba team that won the Junior Pan American Championships in Ixtapa Mexico in 2007. However he could have made the grade in 2006 but his 13-2 in the national youth did not give sufficient guarantee, something that he did get with the phenomenal 0.50 ERA in his second year in the category. He was so fortunate that this team swept in Ixtapa with six consecutive victories. I remember some names: Fredy Asiel Alvarez was the MVP of the tournament by defeating United States and Canada, Yozzen Cuesta and Dayan Viciedo dominated average and RBIs with figures of 667 and 8 respectively, and lefty Onelkis García went scoreless in the tournament. Besides Cuesta, Viciedo, Fredy Asiel and Onelkis, the All-Star of the event included catcher Yaniel Cabezas and outfielder Yasmani Tomas. What's more, also part of the team were shortstops Jose Iglesias and Adeiny Antonio Echevarría and pitchers Noel Arguelles and Reinier Roibal. Of all of them only the right-handed pitcher Fredy Asiel Alvarez remains in Cuba. With this background he debuted at the highest level of Cuban baseball in the...

This March 13 marked the 120 years of the birth of one of the best players in the history of Cuban baseball. Cosme Alejandro Oms, or simply "El Caballero Oms' (The gentleman Oms) - has been one of the great figures of Cuban sports. Beyond a street named after him in Santa Clara or his election by the people among the hundred best athletes of the Cuban twentieth century little is known of the sublime player. Historian Felix Julio Alfonso, always attentive to the rich baseball history of this country, reminds me about him, and early morning does not prevent the performance of work. Oms, Cristóbal Torriente, the Black Diamond and Adolfo Luque deserve memories as great ancestors of the sport. Alejandro Oms participated in 16 championships of the General Baseball League of Cuba and three separate tournaments. He was, along with Pablo «Champion» Mesa and Oscar Charleston, architect in the triumph of mythical Leopardos de Santa Clara that in the 1923-1924 season equaled the difficult record of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1894, batting collectively for 343. To make that feat even more impressive they had an eleven and a half lead over second place Havana. In the Cuban tournament...

One of the twelve immortal Cuban inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Caribbean Series is a little media figure for Cubans. The pitcher Diego Segui, with a long career in Latin American baseball has that huge and contradictory privilege to be an unknown immortal. The Holguin player Segui tossed in three Caribbean Series with the Leones del Caracas (1973, 1978 and 1980). In his first series he went scoreless in 9 innings and two thirds of action, and his K / 9 was 15.82 imposing a record that remains for these tournaments. That same year he struck 15 Puerto Ricans, champions, which is the second best in Caribbean Series. In the three series he had 35 strikeouts in 28 and two thirds for excellent K / 9 of 10.99. He won four games and his ERA was an excellent 1.88. Unquestionably, he is an immortal in Caribbean Series This hurler had a long career in the majors. For 15 seasons at the highest level of the ball he compiled 92-111 with 1298 strikeouts (his K / 9 was 6.8), a good 3.81 ERA, and saved 71 games as a reliever. In 1969 with the Kansas City Athletics he...

As time passes, many fans lose interest in the National Baseball Series, a show which quality suffers by questionable refereeing and especially for the absences of important players leaving Cuban baseball en masse for various reasons. The Matanzas Crocodiles, all of a sudden, have lost their centerline. The first players to leave the swamp during the current tournament were the catcher Lazaro Herrera and infielder Jose Miguel Fernandez. Especially the latter was a hard loss because mainly because he was expected to become the regular second baseman of the national team after his performance in the Third World Classic, where he hit for . 524. José Miguel debuted at the 47th National Series and set a record for rookies in Matanzas teams by totaling 90 hits, breaking thus the record set by Ariel Sánchez (81). His great explosion came in the 49th National Series (NS) where he took the historic mark of hits in Matanzas squads to 132 (excluding the 140 achieved by Wilfredo Sanchez in the season 1968-1969). Meanwhile, Herrera was the regular catcher and hit .288 in thirteen series with 89 homers. Then it was the turn of Guillermo Heredia, Cuba’s leadoff hitter in the Third World Classic...

During the celebration of the Caribbean Series in Puerto Rico two Cubans have been inducted in the Hall of Fame of that event. This unique hall, the only one a baseball event has in the world, is headquartered in the Puerto Rico Sports Museum in Guaynabo. Precisely the Cuban Camilo Pascual was the first elected to this hall in 1996 by his three titles (1956, 1959 and 1960), and also for having the biggest amount of wins in this tournament with six. In 2015 Cubans Conrado Marrero and Napoleon Reyes are inducted. The privilege is even greater because they have been inducted with great icons of world baseball as Puerto Ricans Roberto Clemente, Juan "Igor González ', Hector Villanueva and Bernie Williams. Marrero was late for these events, at 37, but was one of the key pillars of the Almendares in the triumph of the first version in 1949. He threw the first shutout in these events, and was instrumental with another Cuban pitcher, lefty Agapito Mayor, who won three games in the tournament and set a record for Caribbean Series that has not been equaled. Paradoxically Agapito Mayor has not been exalted. Conrado Marrero will add this recent induction...

The Cuban National Baseball Hall of Fame after its revival and after 53 years without inductions seems it will be inclusive. No matter which path the big players have taken if they are Cuban and had an outstanding performance in the sport of balls and strikes, anywhere in the world. During the ceremony of 2014 two players who did most of his career in the majors were immortalized, and that's a good sign. Orestes Minoso and Camilo Pascual deserve for inclusion in their own right in such a selective list. Although, according to some sources, they have been denied invitations by the INDER to both Cubans to be in the ceremony held in the province of Granma. At the gates they were names like Atanasio 'Tany' Perez and Luis Tiant (Jr). What is inconceivable is that these two players have figured in the list of the first selected period (1864-1961) when in fact they had their greatest achievements in the professional ball from the decade of 60. If the second stage is only the revolutionary baseball what about figures like Antonio Oliva, Orlando Hernandez and Jose Ariel Contreras? I was casting my vote for sure for the first listing to...

One of the main resolutions of the Symposium on the re-founding of the Hall of Fame and the creation of the Museum of Cuban Baseball held a few months ago was to create a space to worship the history of the sport at the "Jose Antonio Echeverria" Social Circle, the former Vedado Tennis Club. The decision brought heavy polemics with the Matanzas people who defended with tooth and nail the mythical Palmar de Junco, where the famous game of December 27, 1874 was held, and still remains active as a playground. But at the event the Palmar de Junco was recognized as an enduring place of Cuban baseball but it does not meet all planning conditions to accommodate a project of the magnitude of the Cuban Museum and National Baseball Hall of Fame. Reasons for selection Now why did they choose the former Vedado Tennis Club (VTC)? The Havana city installation, besides having favorable conditions for the ambitious architectural project, has a rich history linked to baseball in Cuba, as well as other sports. The Vedado Tennis Club was founded on June 9, 1902, and had among its presidents in two terms Porfirio Franca who did much for the sport...

In the refounding of the National Baseball Hall of Fame also were inducted five athletes of the second stage, from 1962 to the present. Here the task was very difficult considering the historical gap of over fifty years without induction, and the amount of outstanding players who have gone through the 54 national series. Would players from the sixties and seventies take precedence in voting or specialists would go for the astronomical statistics in the era of aluminum bat? The finalists that were selected at this stage: Manuel Alarcon, Ramón Carneado, Pedro Chavez, Jose Antonio Huelga, Victor Mesa, Braudilio Vinent, Luis Giraldo Casanova, Orestes Kindelan, Antonio Muñoz and Omar Linares. It is very difficult to compare eras and not succumb to the overwhelming statistics of the honorees. The most voted was Omar Linares, for many specialists the most complete player who has been through national series. El Niño, in his passage by 20 Cuban classics, is located in the top five in all major offensive departments except stolen bases, in which he is tenth. His historical average of 368 seems an insurmountable barrier and the .644 slugging is only outdone by Alfredo Despaigne´s .650 without counting the last series but...

Reynaldo Cruz Díaz is one of the millions of Cubans who love baseball. But he is not an ordinary fan. The reflection of the most relevant news about the sport, whether in Japan, the Caribbean or in Major League Baseball (MLB), through his personal page on the Internet (Universo Béisbol), has become him one of the most important sports bloggers in Cuba. His blog is the only recognized by the MLB blogs community. He lives in Havana, a Cuban northeast city and works as an English and French translator in the local newspaper. But his greatest work is this, making visible from social networks and the Internet some deep ties between the peoples of Cuba and the United States. "For several years, I have contacted people around the world who are passionate about baseball. One of those cases is that of Haley Smilow, a twelve years old girl who makes interviews to big leaguers. On July 22, her father, Marc Smilow asked me to allow him to use Universo Béisbol as a backup , as in digital form MLB Credentials asked him to fill out, it appeared a space in which he had to write the name and description of...

A few days ago the Cuban National Baseball Hall of Fame was refounded, and after 54 years without exaltations five players of the period from 1864 to 1962 were elected, and another five from 1962 to the present. I was not so bad. The immense fortune to be among the initial 67 voters helped me coincide with eight finalists from the 1864 to 1962 period. The ten players with the most votes reached, and were evaluated by the Selection Committee were: Atanasio "Tany" Perez, Luis Tiant (Jr), Willy Miranda, Pedro "Natilla" Jimenez Esteban Bellan, Roberto Ortiz, Amado Maestri, Camilo Pascual, Orestes Miñoso and Conrado Marrero. Conrado Marrero was the only player who won election his unanimously. El Guajiro de Laberinto arrived in baseball late, and shined at all levels. That short peasant from Sagua la Grande was great in the amateurism with Cienfuegos and had a balance of 128-41. The highlight of his career is that debuted in the majors in 1950 at the age of 39 years with one of the worst franchises in the majors: the Washington Senators. In four seasons with the club he won 39 games and lost 40. Big hitters of the era had anemic...

The colloquium "Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: from utopia to reality" will be on session on November 7 and 8 at the Adolfo Luque Hall of the Latinoamericano Stadium with the participation of over a hundred guests from all provinces of the country. During the event, sponsored by the Cuban Baseball Federation, a project for the creation of the Cuban Baseball Museum and re-founding of the Hall of Fame will be presented. Cuba had a Hall of Fame opened in 1939 which received 68 inductions until January 1961. This project was carried out by the Group of enthusiasts for the re-founding of the Hall of Fame, which is coordinated by the filmmaker Ian Padron and integrated by historians, chroniclers, statisticians and individuals related to baseball in dissimilar ways. In addition, this group aims at rescuing December 29th as the Day of Cuban Baseball, date instituted before the triumph of the Revolution in tribute to the first game played during the first tournament held in 1878. Within the framework of the colloquium, the members of the Hall of Fame Selection Committee will be chosen, that is, those responsible for selecting the inducted figures of Cuban baseball. The Chroniclers and...