When he made to La Habana on Monday March 21, Barack Obama was the very first USA President to travel to Cuba since January 1928, when Republican Calvin Coolidge had visited the island. It was a different era and President Obama's trip well deserves the definition of historical.
Obama will be in the stands of the iconic LatinoAmericano stadium at 8 pm CET on Tuesday March 22 when the cuban national team takes the field against the Tampa Bay Rays. The last Major League team to compete on cuban soil (the Baltimore Orioles) won a 10 inning game on March 28 1999.
That trip to Cuba didn't quite get the same support of this one. Back in 1999, Rafael Palmeiro (an Oriole of cuban descent) refused to join the team. Monday Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Luis Tiant and Jose Cardenal got together during the game presentation and the Tampa coaching staff held a Clinic for 75 kids aged 9 and 10.
If this event means that we are close to the day when we see a cuban player perform in the Bigs and then represent his country in International baseball is still hard to say. But we know for sure that every Major League scout will take a deep look at righthander Yunier Cano and his 95 mph fastball.
