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 News from Around the Americas | March 2006 
Cuban Winning Streak Shattered by Puerto Rico
 Reuters
| | A baseball fan of Puerto Rico, with the flag painted on his face, smiles while watching his team celebrate the 12-2 mercy rule victory over Cuba in Round 1 of the World Baseball Classic in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP/Brennan Linsley) |
San Juan, Puerto Rico - Cuba's 19-game winning streak in international play was ended in spectacular style last week as Puerto Rico pummeled the team from the communist-ruled island 12-2 in the World Baseball Classic.
The humiliating loss was the first for Cuba's national team since it fell 6-3 to Japan at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Cuba - whose performance at San Juan's Hiram Bithorn Stadium has been dogged by talk about possible defections of prized but poorly paid players - had already advanced to the second round of the Classic before Friday's rout.
But the amateur team put some of its weaknesses on full display in the first tournament the team has played against rich Major League stars.
Six Cuban pitchers combined to give up eight walks and 10 hits with four strikeouts.
By contrast, Puerto Rico's Major League power and its homeplate advantage was more than evident as it stacked the bases and hit three homeruns for the second consecutive game.
Carlos Beltran, Bernie Williams and Alex Cintron each slugged in homers for the squad from the U.S. Caribbean territory.
Puerto Rico will meet the Dominican Republic while Cuba goes against Venezuela in second-round action on Sunday.
SIGNS BANNED
Major League Baseball and local organizers implemented new rules before the game to ban signs and banners deemed to be in poor taste and "offensive or political in nature." Dozens of signs were confiscated at the door of the stadium.
The move came after a verbal altercation between a fan holding up an anti-Castro sign and a member of the Cuban delegation during Thursday's game between Cuba and the Netherlands.
The Cuban delegate was escorted out by security after demanding the fan behind homeplate take down the sign, which said "Down With Fidel" and could be seen by television viewers around the globe.
The Cuban delegation, which got a two-hour pep-talk from Cuban President Fidel Castro on Sunday night, threatened to leave the tournament after Thursday's game and criticized Puerto Rican police for their alleged support of the protester.
Cuban manager Higinio Velez, speaking at a post-game news conference, insisted the result was just a fluke.
"It has happened only two times in so many years, so I think it's nothing to worry about," he said.
"It's simply a psychological readjustment we have to make," he added. "It's not going to affect us. You are going to see our face here tomorrow." |
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