Las Grandes Ligas

Just thought I'd point out this article about one Yuniesky Betancourt, a Cuban baseball player whose dream of playing in the Major Leagues began with a covert trip on a small boat to leave his island home.

Fifteen months ago, in the wee hours of the morning, Betancourt boarded a motorboat on the Cuban coast with nine other passengers seeking freedom in Mexico. The trek took four days, one of which was spent docked on an island, waiting for the treacherously choppy waves in the Gulf of Mexico to calm down.

The anxiety of arriving safely in Cancun was compounded by the dread of having to return to his homeland, where those who are unsuccessful in their attempts to flee are not cited for their ingenuity and valor.

“If we’d been caught,” Betancourt said Wednesday, “I wouldn’t play baseball again. They’d harass my family.

“But I wanted to get to the big leagues. That’s what motivated me.”

Had he been sent back to Cuba, he would have been ostracized. Not allowed to work, harrassed and never allowed to play Beisbol again.

Every single country in the world roots for one of their own when they play in the Majors. Except, of course, Cuba. Where wanting a better life and a future are cardinal sins.

Posted by Val Prieto at February 25, 2005 06:09 AM

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