Industriales will play in Miami, “even if it’s in a canebrake”

HAVANA – There will be games. That’s the news.

Industriales will celebrate its 50th anniversary with friendly matches between team veterans from both sides of the Straits. They all settled down to live wherever they thought it best. Today, in their senior years, they will meet in Miami and Tampa to give joy to the fans and send a signal to the politicians.

Traveling from Cuba will be Armando Capiró, Pedro Chávez, Javier Méndez, Rey Vicente Anglada, Juan Padilla, Pedro Medina, Lázaro Valle, Enrique Díaz, Antonio González, Armando Ferreiro, and Pablo Miguel Abreu. In Florida, they’ll meet Orlando “El Duque” Hernández, Angel Leocadio Díaz, Euclides Rojas and Rey Ordóñez.

The encounter will make up for the pail of cold water that fell on the project some days ago, when Florida International University (FIU), presumably pressured, refused at the last minute to host one of the games, claiming “a contractual situation.”

Alejandro Cantón, president of Somos Cuba [We Are Cuba], the Florida agency that promotes the match, says that the games will take place “even if it’s in a canebrake.” If so, the next weekend will be unforgettable, perhaps historical. Progreso Weekly has an exclusive update on the situation.

Milena Recio (MR): Alejandro, at what stage is the Industriales-in-Miami saga?

Alejandro Canton (AC): I don’t know that, myself. They are coming, but nothing has yet been decided in Miami.

MR: The ballplayers will travel [from Cuba] then?

AC: Yes. We’re going through some legal paperwork, but I can’t tell you much more for now.

MR: What if, when they arrive [in Miami] a venue for the games has not yet been found?

AC: There is a venue in Tampa already. If none is found in Miami, well, the boys can go to the Mall, what else can we do?

MR: So, there will be a game anyway, but in Tampa.

AC: There will be one in Miami, too, even if it’s in a canebrake.

MR: Where?

AC: We don’t know yet.

MR: Do you have a clearer idea of the reasons why Florida International University refused to host the game?

AC: No. We’re in the middle of a legal process, but I’m not allowed to give details about anything.

MR: Beyond the legal outcome, will the games be played?

AC: Yes, the games will be played.

MR: And the ballplayers, are they still [in Havana]?

AC: They’re just waiting for me to send them the airplane tickets.

MR: They must be training, right?

AC: Yes, I believe so.

MR: Have they felt any pressures in Cuba?

AC: Not that I know of.

MR: And do you foresee any problems [in Florida]? Will there be public demonstrations?

AC: Yes, I believe there will be.

MR: When this is all over, will you organize a trip [to Cuba] by the ballplayers [in the U.S.]?

AC: If Cuba allows it, certainly. That’s the idea.

MR: At the Latino Stadium or in a canebrake?

AC: In a canebrake, but at El Cerro.

MR: But they don’t grow sugar cane at El Cerro…

AC: So why is everything so sweet whenever there’s a ball game? I believe the playing field at El Cerro sits on a solid canebrake.

(Note: The Latinoamericano Stadium and the El Cerro Stadium are one and the same. The stadium was called “del Cerro” until 1961, when it was renamed “Latinoamericano.”)

 

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