Long before the Buena Vista Social Club beguiled audiences around the world, revolutionary Cuba’s sporting heroes enjoyed global renown
On a warm evening in a Barcelona suburb 24 years ago, the air thick and heavy, the light-grey and gold, Cuba and the USA met in a baseball game that was as much a contest of ideologies as an Olympic semi-final. As the two teams lined up to shake hands before the semi-final, each Cuban presented his opponent with a commemorative pennant. The Americans had come empty-handed.
The USA team consisted of college boys, some of them on the brink of Major League-careers. The Cubans were veterans of their domestic league, unbeaten in almost 70 internationals. After a scoreless first hour, it was barely a contest. In the fourth inning, in front of 7,000 spectators, Orestes Kindelán smashed a pitch from Ricky Helling over the left-field wall for a bases-empty home run that began a cruise to a 6-1 victory.
Related: Fidel Castro, cricket, and a crackpot Foreign Office plan for Cuba | The Spin
Continue reading...