BE IN BALTIMORE MAY 3
Time to root for the Cuban team
By
Shelley Ettinger
You say you live, eat and drink baseball?
You there, on the other hand--you say you don't know a
shortstop from short ribs?
It doesn't matter whether you're a devotee of the diamond or
only check the game schedule so you can avoid stadium traffic.
If you support the struggle for human liberation, have we got a
game for you.
Camden Yards. Baltimore. May 3. Be there to root for your
team: the Cuban national baseball team.
The baseball game between Cuba and the Baltimore Orioles
scheduled for May 3 follows one played March 28 in Havana. That
was the first time a U.S. professional baseball team had played
in Cuba since shortly after the 1959 Revolution.
When the doubleheader continues May 3 in Baltimore, it will
be an important opportunity for progressive people in this
country to show their solidarity with the Cuban Revolution.
Friends of Cuba are mobilizing up and down the East Coast to
cheer on the likes of third-base player Omar Linares and
outfielder Oscar Machado.
In the eighth inning of the March 28 game, Linares belted a
line drive to left field that drove in a run and tied the game,
two to two. The game stretched to 11 innings before the Orioles
won with another run. In all, the Cubans had 10 hits, compared
to six by the Orioles.
The Cuban players--and fans, including President Fidel
Castro, who watched from behind home plate--were thrilled at
the display of socialist athletes' skills. After the game,
reporters asked the players why they don't succumb to U.S.
major league baseball's attempts to lure them away from Cuba
with offers of big money.
"I'm a 100-percent revolutionary," Machado answered.
The right wing in the United States was infuriated at the
exhibition game. These forces, including counter-revolutionary
Cuban-Americans, are devoted to destroying revolutionary Cuba.
It's very important to them to block people in this country
from seeing any positive images of a society where the working
class is in power.
Others in the capitalist ruling class here have a more
nuanced approach toward the same goal of making the island
"free" again to exploit for super-profits. They seek various
ways to undermine socialism in Cuba. The executives involved in
these baseball games doubtless fall in this camp.
For Cuba, however, the games are an opportunity to reach out
to the people of the United States and break through the
anti-communist propaganda with what the Cubans call
"people-to-people exchanges."
The United States has maintained an illegal blockade against
Cuba for almost 40 years now. The Cuba-Baltimore baseball games
offer a chance to shatter the information embargo that has
accompanied the blockade.
Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon was
referring to the struggle against both blockades--the vicious
economic blockade and the blockade on truth--when he said March
28 that the game "reflected the possibilities that can exist
between two countries to have normal, fruitful, peaceful
interchanges, when based on mutual respect."
Those who share that sentiment--not to mention those who'd
like to see one hell of a ball game--will want to be in
Baltimore May 3 for the Cuba-Baltimore game. It's at 7:30 in
Camden Yards. Tickets are available from the International
Action Center at (212) 633-6646. Prices range from $11 to
$35.
Cuba-solidarity organizers are asking everyone to wear
pro-Cuba T-shirts and caps, and bring solidarity signs and
banners to hold up for the players to see. And bring your
lungs, so you can chant and sing like the Cuban fans did at the
March 28 game in Havana.
"Cuba, que linda es Cuba," they sang. "Cuba, how beautiful
is Cuba." Hearing that in Baltimore should really cheer on your
team.
Baltimore welcome
planned
In the Baltimore area, the All-People's Congress and the
Howard County Friends of Central America have been preparing
for the arrival of the Cuban baseball team for a month.
Planned activities include greeting the players and youths
from Cuba on May 2 and rallying outside the stadium at 5 p.m.
before the game on May 3.
Andre Powell of the All-People's Congress says that close to
600 local people have reserved tickets for the game "to show
their support for Cuba and demand an end to the embargo." To
get involved in the activities, readers can call (410)
235-7040.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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