The Cuban team opened with a relatively comfortable victory against Panama in its quest for the World Baseball Classic, although it is clear that it is the least problematic rival in the group. The Antilleans achieved their three, decisive runs, and, in general, produced their entire offense, in the first third of the game, thanks to respective home runs from the promising outfielder, native of Santiago de Cuba, Yoelkis Guibert, and from the Cienfuegos-born Yoan Moncada, who plays with the Mike Trout's Angels, and who found the explosive Havana infielder Yiddi Cappe on second base. For the so-called #TeamAsere, Liván Moinelo, who has graduated with honors in Japanese professional baseball, started on the mound, while for the Panamanians, it was left-hander Logan Allen, a native of Florida, and ultimately the loser of the match.
In the seventh, Panama managed somehow to capitalize on two hits against the fast right-hander Emmanuel Chapman, native of Báguanos, in the same home province of Aroldis Chapman. I am not aware of any kinship between the famous left-handed closer and this other 27-year-old pitcher, who, a little over two years ago, signed a Minor League contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The supersonic Raidel Martínez, according to Fox's production, probably the best closer outside the MLB, did not allow any indiscipline from the Panamanians to finish the match.
Now Cuba rests to play on Sunday against Colombia, which is certainly a positive schedule to gain confidence before facing the big boys of group A. The country's roster is affected, like no other, by politics. In other conditions, with heavyweights like Randy Arozarena, José Adolis García, Chapman himself, Nestor Cortes, Yordan Álvarez, Jorge Soler, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., or Andy Pagés enlisted, in my opinion, we should be a serious contender to play the semifinals. But the truth is that due to both internal and external factors, the worst-case scenario has been reached when forming a team for this major event.
Havana has no relationship with the MLB, which means that even the very participation of the team was in doubt at some point. In fact, the State Department denied visas to officials and members of the technical staff. In the final stages of the Obama-promoted brief thaw in relations between the two countries, an agreement was signed between the Cuban Baseball Federation and MLB, but it did not have time to take root in practice.
Although, in truth, it was never broken: it is and will be inactive as long as Foggy Bottom considers that the governing body of baseball here is not State-dependent. It is difficult to succeed in modern baseball under these conditions, but, as always, we start with the utmost enthusiasm, and rooting for those who dared to be above pressure, bullying, and political affiliations, all for the benefit not of a government but of the plain and simple people who are still mind-healthy.
All the images were captured while following the FS2´s live broadcast.
