The Associated Press, Thu 1 Jun 2000
The machine that is sports in Castro's Cuba has produced many great athletes and achievements on the world stage.
The power, speed and grace of heavyweight boxers Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon, middle distance runners Alberto Juantorena and Ana Quirot and pitcher Omar Luis have thrilled countless fans in international competitions.
Sports have been a banner for Fidel Castro to wave for international attention.
The sports machine, however, is clanking a bit because numerous Cuban stars, especially in baseball and boxing, have chosen to play for pay outside their native land.
``The sports machine is declining because of the defections,'' said S.L. Price, who has written the highly readable `Pitching Around Fidel: A Journey into the heart of Cuban Sports.' In boxing, Cuba still is a power. In baseball, it's still a power, but definitely taking its toll on them are the
defections.''
The book is an inside look at a people's love of sports and a government that takes advantage of that love, of athletes who have fled and those who have stayed — and why they did.
There have been over 100 athletes defect since 1991. Even some water polo players reportedly have defected and are working as life guards in Miami Beach.
``There isn't much pure Cuban entertainment besides music and sports,'' said Price, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who gathered material for his book on trips to Cuba in March and December 1998.
``The three pillars of the revolution are health care, education and sports,'' Price said.
The breakup of the Soviet Union has hurt financially in the areas of health care and education.
Perks, such as a car, and the opportunity to travel, are a driving force for athletes to excel. Another prod to make good is the success of pitching brothers Orlando and Livan Hernandez in the U.S. major leagues and pro boxing champions super featherweight Joel Casamayor and cruiserweight Juan
Carlos Gomez.
Cuban athletes look at the success of defectors and say, ``I'm better than those guys and look what they're making,'' Price said.
``It's madness,'' Ana Quirot, who like Juantorena, Stevenson and Savon remains true to the revolution, says in the book. ``If you go after the money and don't make it, what's your economy then? Those guys are ungrateful. Who made you an athlete? They leave family and friends, and the anxiety of
not having family and friends can kill you.''
Just Cuba in being the homeland keeps athletes at home.
``What good is money if you can't enjoy your family . . . what good is money if I can't come back,'' Omar Luis says in the book. He is the pitcher who beat the United States in the 1996 Olympics and has had several scouts and agents try to lure him away from Cuba.
Luis also says there is not enough money to make him betray the revolution. He admits there are problems in Cuba, then adds, ``But there are problems everywhere.''
Defect or stay, and the reason behind either decision, have put many Cuban star athletes in a bind.
Hector Vinent, a top boxer, was blamed as being involved in the defections of Casamayor and another boxer, Orlando Garbey, before the 1996 Olympics.
Asked by Price why he didn't defect, Vinent said, ``I got scared. I didn't think I could be a (pro) champion over there in the states, and I didn't want my mother and my family to suffer.''
Vinent said the authorities were told a boat was going to sent to get him out of Cuba. ``and since then, they've really come down on me. I have no life.''
In the interview, Price said he was told Vinent was arrested in 1999, apparently for hitting a police officer.
``Pitching Around Fidel ($24)'' was published this year The Ecco Press.
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