Cuban Baseball Players Reunite on a Florida Field
Cuba’s Industriales, the “Yankees of Cuba.” (Photo: Industriales)
Let’s talk baseball.
Cuba’s most famous baseball team, the Industriales, face stiff competition in their upcoming schedule.
They’re set to play some of their former teammates who defected from Cuba.
So for our Geo Quiz–can you guess where this baseball reunion will take place?
Maybe Yankee Stadium? Afterall, the Industriales are nicknamed the “Yankees of Cuba.”
Miami’s a good guess. But the game has already prompted protests from local anti-Castro groups who see the baseball diplomacy as propaganda for Cuba.
Actually, the games are now set to take place at a high school field on the west coast of Florida.
It’s the city that’s home to the Rays, Buccaneers, the Rowdies and the Lightning.
And it’s a baseball haven during spring training season.
The baseball old-timers from Havana are picking on guys their own age: a team of Cuban-American all-star defectors in Tampa, Florida.
Peter Bjarkman writes about Cuban baseball, and has chronicled the history of baseball in Cuba. He says matchup of former Industriales teammates will be a Tampa crowd pleaser.
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