FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) What a political storm couldn't stop, a tropical one did. Thunder, lightning and flash flooding on Saturday rained out the first South Florida matchup between retired Cuban baseball players from both sides of the Florida Straits.
The game between former members of the Industriales, the New York Yankees of Cuba, would have been inconceivable a decade ago, due in large part to the Miami Cuban exile community's opposition to cultural exchanges with the island. But the United States and Cuba have eased travel restrictions in recent years, and the younger generation and new immigrants in South Florida are more open to such events.
Even so, the matchup was nearly derailed in July, when Florida International University, which had agreed to host two games, suddenly backed out, citing "contractual issues." Its decision came shortly after resistance from a small but vocal Miami-based group that has long opposed the communist administration of Cuban President Raul Castro and former President Fidel Castro. The first of the games was also originally slated for the same day a broad coalition of Cuban-American groups was holding a conference at FIU's law school to ratchet up pressure on the Cuban government.
None of the most successful retired exile players, such as Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, appeared Saturday despite being promoted in event publicity.
But fans and players seemed undaunted. Instead of the usual pregame handshakes between opposing teams, many of the players some who had not seen each other for a decade grabbed one another in bear hugs. Fans and players from the U.S. covered their hearts for both the "Star Spangled Banner" and the Cuban national anthem, "La Bayamesa."