Fidel Castro and Baseball

November 15, 2018

Even in death, Fidel Castro remains central to the Cuban mind-set, and nowhere is that more evident than in this new book on Castro's central role in Cuban baseball, past and present. Bjarkman's (Cuba's Baseball Defectors) exhaustive research paints a detailed history of baseball on the island after the revolution in 1959 and delves into the politicization of the wildly popular game and diplomatic relations with baseball and government in America. Calling on comprehensive research, the author's chapter on Castro and his baseball prowess dispels long-held beliefs of the leader as a major league prospect. He also puts to rest theories of the premature end of baseball in Cuba after the revolution. The author tracks the celebratory game of July 24, 1959, in which Castro participated in an exhibition game (celebrating the 26th of July Movement). Two nights later, in an International League game between the Havana Sugar Kings and Rochester Red Wings, shots marred a tight game and a player and coach were hit by stray gunfire. Amid concerns for security and fair play, the 1962 league playoffs in Havana ended American professional baseball in Cuba. VERDICT Bjarkman's rich history is a grand slam addition to Cuban and baseball history.--Boyd Childress, formerly with Auburn Univ. Libs., AL

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