Educated Bet – The Science of Sports Betting

Good Bet and Good Bye

For nearly a half-century, the baseball hotbed of Cuba has been off-limits to major league teams. Now, the news that Raul Castro has succeeded his brother, Fidel, as the country’s president raises the possibility that the baseball world could be turned on its head.

Any opening of Cuba’s long-coveted baseball market will require major policy changes in both Havana and Washington. Before Fidel Castro rose to power in 1959 and declared that the island would ban professional sports — and allow amateur only — Cuba was the main supplier of foreign baseball talent to the major leagues. Such stars as Hall of Famer Tony Perez, Luis Tiant, Adolfo Luque and Orestes “Minnie” Minoso came from Cuba to star in the big leagues. Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro grew up in the U.S., but their families fled Cuba in the early 1960s as Castro embraced socialism and linked his government politically with the Soviet Union.

In light of Fidel Castro’s resignation, some believe it’s only a matter of time before the number of Cuban ballplayers in the major and minor leagues rivals the rising totals from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Kids play the game in the streets and alleyways, and return visitors often bring baseballs to hand out to them.

The game has been played in Cuba for almost as long as it’s been in the U.S. Part of Cuba’s allure from an American perspective is that Castro himself could have been a borderline professional prospect. Tim Wendel a writer for ESPN.com wrote a book entitled “Castro’s Curveball,” where he spoke to former big leaguers who played in the old Cuban winter league such as Brooks Robinson and Tommy Lasorda, are just a few, but they told Wendel that sometimes Castro would throw batting practice!

I decided to write this blog for a couple reasons…I wanted to give you a little history lesson for all of you that are out of school and I wanted to be the first to tell you that to keep an eye out for more and more Cuban born players entering MLB in the next couple of years…because without Fidel in power they are going to step up there game.

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