Dell commentary: Smuggling baseball players out of Cuba can be thriving occupation
Relations between the United States and Cuba have been almost non-existent for the past 50 years, but baseball once connected the two countries like mom and apple pie.
In 1920, New York Yankees great Babe Ruth, coming off a 54 homer season, played there with a touring USA team. The old Brooklyn Dodgers held spring training there in 1941 and '42 and a regular visitor was Ernest Hemingway, who lived about 15 miles from downtown Havana.
In 1947 the Dodgers spent a much of spring training in Cuba because they wanted a location that would help Jackie Robinson break the color barrier with the least amount of distraction.
The Pittsburgh Pirates were the last major league team to hold spring training in Cuba (1953), but attendance was poor, and they prematurely ended a three year contract.
At one time Cuba provided Major League Baseball with some of its greatest players. The list includes Tony Oliva, Luis Tiant, Tony Perez, Zoilo Versailles, Mike Cuellar, Camilo Pascual and Minnie Minoso.
Minoso's career spanned five decades. Known as the Cuban comet, he played his first major league game in 1949 with Cleveland, retired with the White Sox in 1964 and came back to play three games in '76 and two in 1980 at the age of 54, both with the White Sox.
The most popular way for baseball players to get out of Cuba these days is with the aid of smugglers, which has created a new industry, though it is illegal and the penalties can be tough.
Sports agents say smugglers get the players out of Cuba and hold them in various places, including the United States, until they can sell the player to an agent.
It's not an occupation for the timid as Juan Ignacio Hernandez Nodar can affirm. An American baseball scout, he spent 13 years in a Cuban prison after being found guilty of smuggling players out of the country, an act that reportedly infuriated Fidel Castro.
But the motivation to defect will always be there with high-level pro baseball players in Cuba getting typically paid about $17 per month according to a New York Times report.
Yankee great Derek Jeter and Cuban baseball dignitaries Luis Tiant
and Jose Cardenal will be special guests of Major League Baseball during the Rays' three-day stay, along with Hall of Famer Joe Torre.
Tampa Bay's Chris Archer pitched against Cuba for Team USA in the 2010 Pan American Games qualifying competition. In six scoreless innings, Archer allowed two hits and struck out 10. Team USA scored a run on an error by then Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu, who defected in 2013 and signed with the White Sox.
In 1999, the last time a major league team visited Cuba, Baltimore defeated the Cuban National team 3-2 in 11 innings. The most notable take from that game was Fidel Castro sitting between Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Orioles owner Peter Angelos.
Castro, a pitcher in his youth, visited both dugouts before the game and told Baltimore manager Ray Miller he was playing in front of the greatest fans.
Matt Silverman, wants to enjoy the team's visit to Cuba, but the Rays President of Baseball Operations, has a lot on his plate with the unexpected loss of closer Brad Boxberger to a muscle tear in his core that required surgery.
Now the trade of Jake McGee will raise more questions.
Boxberger had questions himself by the way he finished last season with six walk-off losses though he led the AL with 41 saves, raising the question that maybe he burned out.
Silverman said he is leaving his options open.
"If we had to put together a bullpen from the guys we have in camp we feel good about it. We were more focused on the depth this spring after what happened last year," he said.
The Rays will take a closer by committee approach for the time being, but one candidate for the role could be 29 year-old Danny Farquhar, who was acquired from Seattle along with Brad Miller and Logan Morrison. The right-hander converted 16 of 18 save opportunities for Seattle in 2013.
"I am just trying to make the team (but) someone would be lying to you if they said they don't want to close out games. That's the No. 1 job in the bullpen," Farquhar said.
"I am real comfortable in that role. It's fun because the game is on the line and you are the go to guy. You know exactly when you are pitching. That routine has its advantages."
The Rays came into the weekend leading the league with 18 unearned runs allowed and 23 errors and are last in fielding percentage. They lead MLB with a 3.08 ERA.
Alan Dell, Herald sports columnist/writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports
This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Dell commentary: Smuggling baseball players out of Cuba can be thriving occupation ."