- Apr 2018
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www.vanityfair.com www.vanityfair.com
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His parents had abandoned their property in the Cuban province of Camagüey to become janitors in Los Angeles, to give their three children a new country.
Dominguez's parents were willing to sacrifice their way of life for their son.
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Even more than ordinary citizens, Cuban ballplayers are prisoners of the state. “The most prized possessions to Fidel Castro were the baseball players,” says Dominguez. A democratic government should encourage, not punish, those who seek to help victims of tyranny to escape. “If this country cannot say to those people, ‘Come to us—we’ll give you freedom,’ where else can they go?”
The US should embrace the Cubans that are trying to escape tyranny in Cuba. They must accept based on their democratic values.
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come.”The upshot is that Cuban baseball games go undescribed. The papers tell you who won and who lost, who hit and who didn’t. The columnists froth and fume. But you never read anything about what actually happened—which is a shame, because a great deal often does.
Not one player can be recognized for his achievements in a Cuban reporters' column. The reporters only tend to report the score.
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“I love American baseball,” Mesa says. “It’s the best baseball in the world. And, yes, I would have loved to play in the major leagues. I would have loved to be with all these big players and see just how good I was. I am going to die and I’m not going to know.”
This emotional statement shows the Cuban perspective of American baseball.
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“I don’t know very many stupid Cubans,” Kit Krieger says
The Cubans don't want risk having to go back to the island.They tend to appreciate their freedoms in America.
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What’s even odder is what is not sold: souvenirs. It’s hard to imagine an American baseball game without jerseys and autographed balls and bobble-head dolls being hawked for outrageous sums. There’s none of that in Cuba.
The fact that their are no souvenirs has changed the way baseball is experienced in Cuba compared to the US.
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One of Gus Dominguez’s new Cuban clients, Ariel Prieto, took his $1.2 million signing-bonus check from the Oakland A’s, stuck it in his jeans, and ran them through the washing machine.
The Cubans were unfamiliar with the American lifestyle.
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“Here they are everywhere.” And they are: American flags and the signs in English that he cannot understand.It’s a gorgeous sunny day, and Osbek’s clearly enjoying the trip. A small plane flies overhead. “That plane reminds me of the Coast Guard,” he says, with a big yawn. “That’s how they caught us the first time. They spotted us from a plane like that.”
The island has struck terror into these Cuban athletes. They are worried they will have to go back.
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oon after he seized power, in January 1959, Fidel Castro banned professional sports from his island. The next year he tossed out the first pitch to open the Cuban amateur league and even took a few cuts with a bat.
Shows the sporadic nature of Fidel Castro's dictatorship.
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One said, ‘He might not be the best businessman, but he’s the best guy. You can trust him with your money and your wife.’ And you can.”
Gus wasn't the best at his job but his clients trusted him with their money.
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