Alfredo Despaigne celebrating with Team Cuba
Articles

The Cuban Impact

A consistent point I’ve encountered from baseball historians is that the decline of Cuba as a baseball powerhouse started in or around 1962. There is a clear reason for this time frame, on February 7, 1962, the United States enacted its full embargo against the island country of Cuba. By barring the export of any […]

José Miguel Fernández celebrates a hit for the Doosan Bears.
Articles

The Bears with a Steal

José Miguel Fernández came up with the Cocodrilos de Matanzas in the Serie Nacional de Béisbol. He exhibited a healthy amount of power and an extreme contact-oriented bat. When he was finally able to defect from Cuba he was courted by a number of teams before ultimately signing a minor league contract with the Los […]