The Orioles won't be the only American cultural export playing in Cuba this weekend. Jimmy Buffett, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor will sing tonight at a concert at Havana's Karl Marx Theater.
If they can do that, and if the pope can visit Cuba, as he did last year, why can't the Orioles play an exhibition game in Havana against a team of Cuban all-stars?
Cuban exiles and Cuban-Americans are protesting the Orioles' visit, saying it's wrong for a major-league team to play in a dictatorship with a long record of human rights abuses and other atrocities. Their argument is valid, emotional and deserving of respect.
But these expatriates reportedly send millions of dollars every year to family members left behind on the island, doing what they can to improve the quality of life there, and in the end, the Orioles' trip really is no different in spirit from such a gesture.
The Orioles aren't offering a financial hand to Cuba's oppressed multitudes, nor are they offering a spiritual hand, as the pope did. But they're offering a hand, no question, the same hand Buffett, Raitt and Taylor are offering -- one of goodwill and fraternity, extended in the Orioles' case in the name of a shared sporting passion.
Given that no major-league team has played in Cuba since 1959, and that Cubans love baseball every bit as much as Americans, if not more, tomorrow's game will make for a glorious day on the island.
And the average Cuban doesn't have many glorious days.
Bully for the Orioles for making a trip that's going to make a difference, at least for a day, beyond the boundaries of the selfish, self-important world of American pro sports, in which a "gimme mine and the heck with you" mentality usually rules.
Granted, the Orioles' players probably wouldn't make the trip if they could vote on it. The timing is terrible for them. They don't need a faux Game 7 on foreign soil a week before Opening Day. And manager Ray Miller already has enough pressure on him.
But Orioles owner Peter Angelos didn't poll the clubhouse before pushing for the trip. And it's just as well. This is an issue that extends beyond the white lines. The Cuban people don't have much, and this is something, however small and fleeting.
True, those protesting it will never see it in such a light. They're loyal to their principles, utterly indefatigable. Any nod to Fidel Castro is a nod of support in their opinion. Bully for them as well. It's their country Castro has stripped bare. Who are we to judge their outrage?
But there's another side, another way of viewing the trip. Michael Ranneberger, the Clinton administration's coordinator of Cuban affairs, sees it as an opportunity to "expose the Cuban people to the values of a free society." Albert Belle and all.
There's no middle ground between the two views, and obviously no hope of agreement. But either way, the reality is that the Orioles are making the trip and playing tomorrow, and the world order isn't going to take some weird bounce as a result.
This is a symbolic trip and only that, not a hard-core piece of political or diplomatic business. No food or medical training is being offered, and little money. It's just a ballgame, nine innings and goodbye, with a return date at Camden Yards in May.
Why not?
Some have suggested the actual goal is for the Orioles to establish a presence for scouting and recruiting Cuban players. That's wrong. It makes for a good conspiracy theory, but anyone who believes it is missing the point.
Angelos came up with the idea three years ago, with politics and prestige in mind far more than baseball. He knew it would make his franchise shine brighter, and also make him look pretty good for breaking down such a barrier. It's doubtful he consulted the scouting department.
When he was told by the State Department that his team couldn't go, he pressed even harder, unaccustomed to not getting his way. Please understand, that's the only reason the trip is being made. Angelos was told no, and he hates being told no. Spare us the conspiracy theories.
The trip comes when the world's political winds clearly have changed regarding Cuba. Witness the pope's trip, the thousands of Canadian and European tourists vacationing there every year, and the U.S. government's increased willingness to support these "cultural exchanges." Foreign visits to Cuba aren't so unusual anymore, regardless of what the expatriates want you to believe.
The Orioles should go with a conscience as clear as possible under these circumstances. They're doing something for the greater good, which, for a day, beats playing another Grapefruit League game in Vero Beach. As controversial as it is, for legitimate reasons, the gesture is hardly ill-advised.
Pub Date: 3/27/99