The Slow-Pitch Ambassadors to Cuba

[Judi Lynn]

The Slow-Pitch Ambassadors to Cuba
By BRUCE WEBER
Published: November 25, 2011

HAVANA — Wearing orange jerseys — T-shirts, really — the Cuban players lined up along the first-base line at Mella Field here. We were in blue, along third. All of us, both teams, held our caps over our hearts, and the Cuban National Concert Band played two national anthems, first the United States’, then Cuba’s, followed, for some reason, by “The Pink Panther Theme.”

The two countries’ flags were unfurled side by side behind the pitcher’s mound, and everyone posed for pictures. Teófilo Stevenson, the former Olympic heavyweight champion and a member of the Cuban Olympic Committee, signed autographs. Gerardo Hernández, a deputy of the Cuban National Assembly, and John Caulfield, chief of mission of the United States Interests Section in Havana, America’s top envoy in Cuba, threw out ceremonial first pitches.

“The Cuban people love the North American people,” Hernández said to the players and a sparse crowd through an interpreter. “We welcome you with the love that you deserve.”

For his part, Caulfield congratulated the band for its rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/sports/us-softball-ambassadors-to-cuba.html?_r=1&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nyt%2Frss%2FSports+%28NYT+%3E+Sports%29

Editorials and other articles:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x639780

[Peace Patriot]

1. "The Pink Panther"! LOL!

Could have been the Cuban National Concert Band's comment on the absurdity of U.S. policy on Cuba and the CIA's failed and foolish efforts over the decades to topple Cuba's government. I mean, the exploding cigars and all that--I can see Inspector Clouseau in the middle of an exploding cigar murder scene.

Of course, some of it was truly dastardly and lethal. A planeful of Venezuelan and Cuban sportsmen blown out of the air. Like that. And they also assassinated JFK because he opposed their murderous bullshit. The Cuban Band's following "The Star Spangled Banner" with "The Pink Panther" may have been their indirect, "black humor" comment on all of it.

Then there's Peter Sellers' other masterpiece: "Dr. Strangelove." Too bad they didn't play, "We'll Meet Again."