Most of the year, Noelvis Entenza pitches in Havana’s historic Estadio Latinoamericano, a ballpark that shakes from the 55,000-capacity crowds and where the buzz of fans’ horns drowns out the players on the field.
But when Entenza’s season ends, he gets on a plane and flies north – to Kitchener, Ontario, where he pitches in front of crowds of a few hundred in a semi-professional baseball league a world away from his life as a star in Cuba’s National Series.
“In Cuba, it’s so crazy. Here, they sit quiet, like in church,” he says, through a translator.
Entenza, a 33-year-old right-hander for the Havana Industriales, is one of four Cubans playing in Canada this summer under a unique agreement with the Cuban baseball federation. While dozens of their former teammates have defected from Cuba in pursuit of millions in Major League Baseball, they’ve chosen to stay loyal to their country.
Entenza, Miguel Lahera, Jonder Martinez and Yorbis Borroto, all veterans from Cuba’s national team, earn just C$1,500 a month playing for the Kitchener Panthers of the Intercounty Baseball League. But while they’re good enough to pursue much bigger paychecks in the US, they say there’s more at stake than just money.
“It’s a decision each person has to make. Every one is different,” said Entenza, who has watched teammates from Jose Abreu to Yasiel Puig to Lourdes Gurriel Jr flee for riches in the MLB.
Like many Cuban players, they say they’d love to play in the major leagues. But that remains as elusive now as it did when Fidel Castro first abolished professional baseball on the island and established Cuba’s government-run baseball league in the 1960s. The US trade embargo of Cuba prevents MLB clubs from dealing with Cuban teams, while Cuba’s ban on pro sports means players who want to defect are often forced to make payouts to criminal cartels.
Shortstop Yorbis Borroto, a 16-year veteran of Cuba’s national baseball league, tags out Josh Garton during a recent Kitchener Panthers game in Guelph, Ontario. Photograph: Dan Congdon
These players, meanwhile, say they’re happy to be allowed to play abroad, without breaking any laws. After their season in Canada ends, they’ll return home to their families, and their respective Cuban teams.
“Playing in the MLB is the dream, but we want to play legally,” said Borroto. “We play for our family and our country. To play for a million dollars and be away from Cuba, that’s a big change … We feel good to play in Cuba.”
Two years ago, there were great hopes things were improving. MLB and Cuba were discussing ways for Cuban players to sign with big league teams without having to defect. President Obama went to Havana to watch a game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team. Lahera, Martinez and Borroto all played in that game, and say they felt they were close to something historic.
“It was very emotional,” said Lahera, who has also pitched for Cuba in the Olympics and World Baseball Classic. “I was proud to know we could play with major league players.”
But relations between the two countries have cooled since then.
“Unfortunately under the Trump administration, US-Cuba relations have significantly regressed, and this includes baseball,” said Mike Boehmer, the Panthers’ general manager who spent months in Cuba negotiating the deal for the imported players.
Part of the reason these four players were given permission to play in Canada is because they’re older, have families at home and are less likely to defect, he said. The oldest is Martinez, who at 40 has 22 years of experience in Cuba’s National Series. In Kitchener, he’s sometimes pitching against players half his age.
Early on, he struggled to understand his English-speaking teammates and had to adjust to living outside of Cuba for the first time. But on the mound, he’s looked comfortable. Martinez has a 5-2 record for the Panthers, compiling a 4.27 ERA against lineups of Canadian and international players who have a mix of minor league and college experience.
“It first, it was hard. The language has been difficult, but it’s getting better,” he said, through an interpreter. “I’m happy to be here to represent my country.”
After decades of losing top talent to the major leagues, including stars like Yoenis Cespedes, Aroldis Chapman and Orlando Hernandez, Cuba has been trying to keep its players happy. They’ve increased salaries, and have begun allowing players to sign temporary contracts with foreign teams like the Can-Am League’s Quebec Capitales, and in other countries including Japan, Italy and Panama.
Players in Cuba’s top baseball league still only earn a few hundred dollars a month. But being a baseball player in Cuba is a dream job, they say. They’re recognized wherever they go on the island, and get paid to play a game they all fell in love with as boys.
The deal with the Panthers allows the Cubans to play in a foreign country without sacrificing their love for their country and families back home. And it’s helped turn the Panthers into championship contenders since the Cubans began coming three seasons ago.
“We came here because it’s a new experience. We wanted to show other countries that Cuban baseball is a good quality,” said Borroto, who plays for the Ciego de Avila Tigres in Cuba. “We wanted to get experience from another country and learn a different style to play.”
By coming to Canada, the four Cubans hope they’re starting something bigger, something that could eventually lead to other Cubans playing legally in the MLB. But for now, it’s a prospect that still feels along way off.
“Legally? Of course we would love to play in the MLB. But that’s the issue,” Borroto said. “It would be great. Maybe it will happen for the next generation.”
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