By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 4, 2008
For Yulieski Gourriel, winning the baseball gold medal for Cuba in the
Olympics parallels little else when it comes to boosting the morale of
the communist island nation.
Baseball long has been the soul for a Caribbean country desperately
searching for something to cheer about year after year, tournament after
tournament. It brings the Cubans positive attention on an international
stage and star treatment on the streets back in Havana.
And it is Cuba that stands to be most affected when baseball comes off
the Olympic program after the Beijing Games this summer.
"To win in the Olympic Games for an athlete, for a baseball player, is
like touching the sky, so I don't want to think that this will be the
last time baseball is represented," said Gourriel, a star infielder and
son of the former Cuban player Lourdes Gourriel. "The World Baseball
Classic is very important, but it is not like the Olympic Games."
Cuba is already preparing to find its baseball success in other places,
like the World Baseball Classic next year. There is no other choice for
the Cubans, who showed in the inaugural Classic in 2006 that they could
compete with the world's best and All-Stars from the major leagues.
Baseball in recent years has far outshined boxing, which is no longer
thought to be at the same high level in Cuba.
"Baseball in Cuba is the culture, passion and happiness," Christian
Jiménez, a top Cuban sports official, said. "It's the blood of our people."
The national team has a long list of international accolades, not to
mention a reputation for being respectful in victory or defeat. After
losing to Japan in the final of the Classic, the Japanese were busy
celebrating in the middle of the diamond as Cuba's players made their
way out of the dugout to congratulate their opponents — a courteous
gesture common in international play.
"Cuba, of the Latin American countries, is the one that would most feel
this loss, but we think it is only momentary," Jiménez said. "We are
convinced that in 2016 baseball will be back on the Olympic program."
Cuba won its 10th straight Pan Am Games baseball title last July,
beating the United States. In November, the Americans bounced back with
a victory over Cuba in the World Cup final, denying the Cubans a 10th
straight championship in that event. The Cubans have won three of the
four Olympic gold medals since baseball became a medal sport in 1992 —
winning in '92 in Barcelona, Spain; in 1996 in Atlanta; a silver medal
in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, behind the Americans; and a gold medal
again in 2004 in Athens.
"It's frustrating to think that after Beijing, a ballplayer will not be
able to participate in the Olympic Games," the Cuban left-hander Sergio
Espinosa said.
Cuba will certainly do everything it can to capture a gold medal in
Beijing in August.
The Cubans consider themselves amateurs, but in reality, they are much
closer to the level of the multimillionaires playing in the major
leagues. Many of the country's top players have defected to the United
States.
But some Cuban stars do not seem worried about what the elimination of
Olympic baseball may mean for all the players who cannot make it to the
United States.
Minnesota Twins pitcher Liván Hernández played down any possible effects.
"Call Fidel and ask him," Hernández said, referring to Fidel Castro. "I
haven't lived in Cuba for 15 years. I don't play in the Olympics. I
don't know about the Olympics. It's not a big deal. There are other
tournaments, like the World Cup. The Olympics are more for other sports,
like basketball."
Some players figure the World Baseball Classic has contributed to
hurting baseball's relevance in the Olympics. Boston's Mike Lowell is
one who knows the importance of the sport for Cuba — his parents
defected to Puerto Rico, where he was born.
Two years ago, Lowell wished ill will on Castro, the Cuban dictator. "I
hope he does die," Lowell said at the time. "Castro killed members of my
family."
Lowell hopes baseball will be back in the Olympics one day. The sport
will not be a part of the 2012 Games in London, but many baseball
officials believe it can return as soon as 2016.
"I think the W.B.C. is almost stealing some of the Olympics' thunder,"
Lowell said. "I don't know who the people are who can put the pressure
on, but if you have pole vaulting you've got to have baseball, you know?"
"I think baseball is one of their most recognizable sports," he said,
referring to Cuba. "I think they have a reputation of being an amateur
powerhouse. It not only hurts them, but it hurts anyone who likes to
play baseball."
The longtime Spanish-language major league broadcaster Amaury
Pi-González, a 63-year-old Cuban and member of his country's Sports Hall
of Fame, said he could imagine the effect no baseball in the Olympics
could have.
Pi-Gonzalez was born in Havana in 1944 and left in 1961 when his parents
emigrated to Miami, and he is working on a book about the country and
its baseball. Succeeding in the W.B.C. will become that much more
important, he said — and the players certainly will feel that pressure.
"I think the morale of the Cuban people is going to suffer a lot because
people follow the team like a religion," he said. "Baseball is like what
soccer is for Brazilians. It's always been like that, even before
Castro. The country's going to be very saddened if they don't play."
These days, as the Olympics near, the opinions vary in Cuba when it
comes to baseball's future in the Games.
Alberto Juantorena, a Cuban sports official and an Olympic champion in
two events in track and field in 1976, seems more optimistic.
"Baseball will be the same in the island and we're going to make it with
other challenges — the Pan American Games, the world championships, the
second W.B.C. — in other words, we will continue preparing the same
way," he said.
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