A “Classic” moment.
The first World Baseball Classic was quite a dissapoinment as far as I am concerned. The U.S. team was poor and the Cuban team, that shouldn't have been allowed to participate in the first place, made it to the tournament final. Bud Selig was bullied by fidel cagalitroso into silencing the peaceful protests of the opponents of tyranny.
But there were some good moments and my favorite didn't occur on the field or even in the stadium.
It was the first inning of the final game between Cuba and Japan and Cuba was losing 4-0, when the Cuban leadoff hitter hit a slider over the left centerfield wall for a homerun. ESPN was showing a feed from Cuba where a giant screen had been set up in Havana's Parque Central. When they showed the Cuban crowd's reaction a man who was standing near the camera stood up to cheer. On the back of his T-shirt was Old Glory, the American Flag, for all the world to see. I'm sure cagalitroso had a patatú right then and there. Too bad it wasn't fatal.
you GO Val!
GREAT GRAB!
The red white and blue! What a beautiful flag - que bandera bonita!
LET FREEDOM RING!
DOWN WITH CASTRO!
Val,
I remember seeing that too, and I am sure that individual know EXACTLY what he was doing.
Thanks for the great catch!
Classic indeed.
I'm no fan of Bud Selig, but it was a baseball game, and people don't come to baseball games to see protests or statements of any sort whatsoever. They could protest outside the stadium, but keep it out of the game until it's over. At least that's how I see it.
The US team was lousy because most of the best players chose not to play because it was during spring training and further they wouldn't get paid. It was their fault the US team sucked.
Well, that and most of the best players are from the Carribbean area
True people don't go to baseball games to see protests. But the protests we're talking about don't bother anyone except castro. They were not disrupting the game or the tournament.
I have seen many statements at ballgames including banners etc. in the wake of 9/11. The people that went to those games didn't go to see those statements but they were allowed.
Bud Selig bent to the will of his buddy castro (remember he sat there with his shit eating grin next fidel 10 years ago when the Orioles played the Cuban team in Havana). He allowed castro to dictate the terms under which the tournament would be played while at the same time allowing Cuba to violate the rules of the tournament.
What rules did Cuba violate? Well they consistently submitted their lineup cards late and then changed the lineups before game time. These types of things directly affect the tournament unlike a guy with a piece of cardboard that says "abajo fidel".
At the same time that they didn't allow people to bring anti-castro signs and shirts to the game, they allowed people to bring che guevara shirts and flags.
If you want to keep politics out the game then perhaps you should think twice about inviting a totalitarian country that is on the state department's list of terrorist states.