On This Date in Sports May 3, 1999: Orioles become ambassadors
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
In the second game of a historic home and home series, the Baltimore Orioles are beaten by the Cuban National Team 12-6 at Camden Yards. In March the Orioles, becoming the first team to play in Cuba in 40 year won 3-2. Prior to the Castro regime, MLB games in Cuba were common as several teams had used it as their spring training home including the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
Located just 90 miles off the coast of Florida, Cuba had been greatly influenced by the United States. This led to baseball becoming the island nation’s favorite pastime. That all changed in 1959 with the Cuba Revolution as Fidel Castro’s forces ousted Fulgencio Batista. Castro quickly aligned himself with the Soviet Union creating tension with the United States mainland. These tensions were heightened after a failed CIA led invasion and the installment of nuclear missiles in 1962. After the missiles were removed, Cuba and the USA ceased all diplomatic ties, this cut off trade.
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Despite the loss of its relationship with the United States, baseball remained an important part of Cuban life. Fidel Castro himself was a baseball player, once getting a tryout with the Washington Senators. The Cuban National Team would become one of the top teams in the world, as any player that defected quickly became a sought-after free agent.
Hoping to improve relations and bridge the gap with baseball, Cuba had sought a series with an MLB team for years. After the Baltimore Orioles were purchased by Peter Angelos, Cuba had a partner working just as hard to make it work stateside. After three years of lobbying the state department, the Orioles got the clearance to play the series in 1999. The Orioles had planned to spend Spring Training in Cuba in 1960, but due to the increasing tensions went to Miami instead, officially end MLB’s relationship with Cuba at the time.
The first of the home-and-home series was played in Havana on March 28th, at the National Stadium. A big part of the Orioles was not part of the trip as longtime coach Cal Ripken Sr. died three days earlier, forcing Cal Ripken Jr. to stay behind for the funeral. The stadium was filled with fans given permission to attend by invitation only, as Peter Angelos and Commissioner Bud Selig sat with Fidel Castro.
The Orioles managed by Ray Miller took an early 2-0 lead, as Charles Johnson homered off Jose Ibar in the second inning. However, Jose Contreas came in and shut down the birds, allowing two hits in eight innings while striking out ten. The Cuba Nationals meanwhile chased Scott Erickson in the seventh, scoring their first run of the game, tying the game in the eighth as Arthur Rhodes and Mike Timlin faltered in the pen. Mike Fetters pitched in and out of trouble in the tenth, as the Orioles came up in the 11th with the score tied 2-2. With Pedro Luis Lazo on in relief, the O’s broke the tie as Harold Baines singled home, Will Clark. Jesse Orosco would come on and record the final three outs to earn the save as the Orioles won the game 3-2.
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In the rematch, five weeks later Cal Ripken Jr. was a spectator again, as he had recently been placed on the Disabled List for the first time in his career with a back injury, as his historic streak had ended the previous September. To prevent defections, the Cuban team was under tight security, as anti-Castro protestors threatened to disrupt the game. Rain would get in the way, delaying the start of the game for 45 minutes. When the game began the bats were clearly awake, as Jose Contreas was chased in the second inning, allowing three runs. Scott Kamieniecki did not fare any better for Baltimore, allowing four runs in the second. Norge Luis Rivera settled things down for Cuba, as he was unscathed until the ninth inning. The Cuba National team meanwhile smacked around the Orioles pitching at Camden Yards, as Ricky Bones was the only Orioles hurler not to allow multiple runs. As Cuba won the game 12-6.
MLB umpires had been unhappy with the compensation they received for the series, sewing the seeds for a labor dispute that erupted five months later with the mass resignation of the men in blue. A move that turned in a loser and ended the office of the American League and National League President, as umpiring became centralized and controlled by the commissioner’s office rendering the League Presidency to become irrelevant.
It would be another 17 years before Cuba again hosted an MLB team, as they played the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016.