A veteran Cuban baseball player defected in Miami on Monday, a day after the team played in a World Baseball Classic game against the United States at loanDepot Park in Little Havana.
Iván Prieto González, who was the catcher in the Cuban team bullpen helping pitchers warm up, stayed in Miami after the game and didn’t show up at Miami International Airport for the team’s flight to Havana.
Prieto, who was a catcher for the Alazanes de Granma team in Cuba’s National Series, had been chosen for the bullpen catcher role by the Cuban Baseball Federation when the initial group of players who were to travel to the initial round of the Classic, held in Taiwan, was announced.
Prieto played eight seasons on the island with teams from the provinces of Holguín and Granma.
After losing 14-2 to the United States, the Cuban team returned to Havana, where they were greeted with an official reception by the authorities, who proclaimed “victories” over the Cuban exile “haters” of exile in Miami.
“Congratulations admirable #TeamAsere,” Cuban leader Miguel Díaz Canel wrote on Twitter. “You guys have won three times: when you teamed up, when you ranked first, and when you played to the last out against a great team and hate of the worst kind. They made history. #Cuba proudly contemplates them.”
[ad_2]
Source link
