Cuban National Team to join Can-Am League for 19 games in June
The Cuban National Team and a Japanese All-Star team will join the Can-Am League for 19 games in June with every result counting in the standings and statistics.
We can probably expect to see much more of this in the coming years, assuming U.S.-Cuba relations continue to improve after President Barack Obama formally reestablished diplomatic relations with Cuba in July. It might even lead to a Cuban team eventually joining one of the minor leagues
The Can-Am League features three teams in Canada (Ottawa, Quebec and Trois-Rivieres) and three teams in the U.S. (New Jersey, Rockland and Sussex County). The Cuban and the Japanese teams will play all six teams in the league in three- or four-game series beginning June 9 and extending through the end of the month, giving the league an international flavor.
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The Cuban National Team has not played an American professional team since facing the Orioles in an exhibition in Cuba in 1999. The Cubans have faced U.S. pros who have been a part of teams in international competitions such as the World Baseball Classic and the Olympics.
The Japanese all-star team will come from the independent Shikoku Island League.
Baseball America reported the idea was proposed by Quebec team president Michel Laplante whose team featured four Cuban players playing with permission from their government last season. Those players were Alexei Bell, Yunieski Gurriel, Ismel Jimenez and Yordan Manduley,
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Cuba’s first series in the league will come against Quebec. The Havana Cubans left the International League during the 1960 season, which was the last time a team from Cuba played a U.S. minor league team during the regular season.
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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
