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U.S. BASEBALL PLAYERS AT UNIVERSITY
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
“The Cubans talk with us like
friends”
CUBANS’ passion for baseball, along with their
interest in dialogue, surprised the players from the
U.S. team participating in the University World
Championships.
“The Cubans come to see the games and talk with us
like friends,” commented Pedro Alvarez from the
United States.
Ten days after President Fidel Castro temporarily
left his duties due to illness, Alvarez said, “if we
hadn’t heard people talking about it, I wouldn’t
have realized it at all.”
The third baseman chatted with reporters after the
second game for the U.S. team, in which it beat
Puerto Rico in seven innings. The student, an
economics major, who batted 3-2 and drove in three
runs, exclaimed “Cuba seems a lot like my native
country, the Dominican Republic.”
Eleven teams are participating in the University
World Championships: Bahamas, Cuba, Italy, Japan and
Nicaragua make up Group A, and the Czech Republic,
Mexico, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, the United States and
the Virgin Islands comprise Group B.
First baseman J.P. Arrencibia said that Cubans are
“good people.” He also commented that Cuba, Japan
and Taiwan are “the strongest rivals for defending
the university title that we won in 2004.”
Arrencibia is a psychology major, and his parents
have Cuban roots. He is one of the promising members
of the team, and against Puerto Rico he batted 5-3,
including a triple and homerun, and drove in five
runs.
Manager Tim Courtney said he was sorry he didn’t
speak Spanish: “I would have liked to converse with
people in the street, who are very sociable.”
He explained that this was his first visit to Cuba.
“I knew that it was going to be a great experience,
but the Cuban people surprised me; they are very
nice, always ready to help out and they always come
and talk with us.” (AMG) |
