50 years of
revolutionary baseball
"…This is
the triumph of free baseball over slave baseball …",
- Fidel Castro
Aliet Arzola Lima
BASEBALL is more than balls and
strikes for Cubans; it represents something more:
feeling, emotion, passion…
That’s why January 14, 1962 is so
warmly recalled, being the date the National Series
was launched.
On that date it will be 50 years
since Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro hit the first
pitch of revolutionary baseball in the former Cerro
Stadium, crammed with people to see the 115 players
who would begin the beautiful story that continues
today.
For the books, Azucareros defeated
Orientales 6-0 and Occidentales won their game
against La Habana 3-1, accompanied by the familiar
faces of professional umpires Amado Maestri and
Rafael Paz.
It wasn’t easy to leave baseball for
profit behind. All around the country there were
passionate fans of teams from Havana, Almendares,
Marianao and Cienfuegos, which actually played after
the triumph of the Revolution, during the winter of
1960-1961.
All the more reason to emphasize the
great challenge taken on by Pedro Chávez, Urbano
González, Fidel Linares, Raúl "Guagua" López, Miguel
Cuevas, Antonio "Ñico" Jiménez, Jorge Trigoura,
Alfredo Street, Modesto Verdura, Manuel Alarcón,
Antonio Rubio, Edwin Walters, Aquino Abreu, Tomás
Soto and many others who would later be recognized
as legends of Cuba’s national sport.
With limitless love and commitment
on the field, they won the affection and respect of
fans who could perceive the magic of the Series.
They filled the stadiums, making their own the show
which engendered great hopes in each and every Cuban.
