Back on January 23, I posted a tweet: “In Miami. Leaving for Cuba in
the morning in search of Barbudos. Will be incommunicado for the next
several days….”
If you are wondering, what is a Barbudo? It is a
bearded revolutionary. The term was used to describe Cuban
revolutionaries in the 1950s. Shortly after taking power, Fidel Castro
played in a baseball exhibition with members of the 26 July Movement in
uniforms with “Barbudos” across the front of their jerseys (rumors that he was scouted by MLB are untrue).
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| Barbudos |
My
wife and I had a very enjoyable trip to Cuba (our third visit), but I
did not find any “Barbudos”. Cuba is in transition and soon they will
have a new president. For the first time since 1959, a Castro will not
be the leader of the Cuban government. That should be a good thing. But
the embargo continues and current U.S. policies are having a
chilling effect on travel to the island, thanks to Little Marco and the
Donald.
Baseball is the national sport in Cuba and was introduced
to the island in the 1860s by students returning from colleges in the
United States.
Although we were unable to see any Cuban games
live, I watched parts of a couple of the playoff games on television and
saw Granma win the Cuban Championship over LaTunas. You can follow Cuban
baseball at this
link.
We arranged this trip through
Roads Scholar
and it is a good travel option to see the island and interact with the people of
Cuba. We were able to walk the shoreline of the Bay of Pigs and visit the
cities of Cienfuegos, Trinidad, and Santa Clara, in addition to my
favorite city of Havana. Here are some photos from the trip. Enjoy….
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| Cienfuegos |
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| Bay of Pigs |
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| Hemingway's Boat (Pilar) |
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| Havana |
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| Cuban Capitol Building, Havana |
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| Havana |
Photo credits: newyorktimes.com; NY-Penn League News
NY-Penn League News is not affiliated with Minor League Baseball or the New York-Penn League.
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