Longread #39 -- Baseball in Cuba -- 3/28/12

In honor of Opening Day for Major League Baseball, today's longread is about the hidden world of baseball in Cuba. Even with the obscene amounts of sports coverage and team scouting, Cuban baseball remains largely under wraps. This article is about one player in particular -- Jose Abreu -- who has put up ridiculous numbers in the Cuban league; however, no one knows exactly how his skills would translate on an MLB roster. Also discussed is Yoenis Cespedes, a former Cuban league star who today made his MLB debut for the Oakland A's.

Thanks to my friend Leanne (an Oakland fan) who suggested this article to me. And finally, my yearly Opening Day quote, taken from Field of Dreams:

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh, people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

"The Best Hitter You've Never Heard Of" by Jonah Keri
Published on Grantland, February 22, 2012
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7601600/cuba-jose-abreu-migh-best-offensive-weapon-planet

Eric