Baseball America Top 2009
Why is Cuba so Good in Baeball?
From the times America-Cuban relations were on friendly terms 1930-1958 the Cuban national team played friendlies against the MLB Orioles and Yankees {WS Champions} and came out on top and beat them.
In the Castro years in 1959 – 2009 cause Castro still has a strong hand in the gov’t even if he is no longer regarded as the Head of Gov’t anymore. That is in name only for he probably has a lot of say still. Anyways, from the Castro years. Cuba has been in the Olympics 5x.
In those 5x they have taken the Gold medal in baseball 3x and the Silver medal 2x. Not to mention took out the US, Venezuela, PR, and DR from the last WBC and almost came out on top against Japan after starting the game very shaky.
Anyways, they are starting this years WBC strong again and I am wondering why they are so good in baseball. They also have the most worldwide victories in baseball and won the Caribbean championships the most times why is this?
First, Fidel Castro is a former Pittsburgh Pirate minor-leaguer (no surprise, he was a power Lefty) and loves baseball. In his hey-day he funded the Cuban National Team like no other and made sure it got the country’s best athletes.
Much like the old Soviet Union hockey and basketball teams, Cuba’s National Team represents the highest level of player in that country. Short of risking your life to defect, there is no other option for those players. Imagine how good the Dominican team would be if none of them came to the U.S. to play.
For most other countries, the National Team is an option that is often declined by star players who do not want to risk injury. If you look at the teams from all the other baseball “powerhouses,” each one is missing several great players who have chosen not to participate.
If participation on the National Teams were compulsory, or considered a great honor like in the soccer/football World Cup, I think the Cubans would still be among the best, but the U.S. would likely be the consistent champion.
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