January 12, 2009

Cuban baseball players leave "a life of abuse, humiliation and injustices"

Great article over at ESPN Deportes today about Yadel Marti and Yasser Gomez. Whereas most recently defected athletes remain fairly quiet about politics and rarely denounce the regime, Marti and Gomez come out swinging against the Cuban authorities. They left Cuba because of its abuses, humiliations and injustices, and not necessarily for a chance to play in MLB. I wish them all the best of luck.

The possibility of an MLB career was not the primary reason pitcher Yadel Marti and outfielder Yasser Gomez left Cuba in a raft during the holidays.

The first and most important reason, according to them, was leaving a life of abuse, humiliation and injustices.

"We are tired that the authorities didn't respect us and treat us like children," said Marti said, Cuba's best pitcher in the first World Baseball Classic in 2006.

"In Cuba, although we were good players, we were underestimated and disrespected. Injustices forced us to decide," added Gomez.

Posted by Monica at January 12, 2009 11:24 AM

Comments

Great post.

Posted by: Henry Louis Gomez [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 12, 2009 03:30 PM


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