The Duke of Havana : baseball, communism, and the search for the American dream / Steve Fainaru and Ray Sanchez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fainaru, Steve.

Contributor:

Sanchez, Ray, 1964-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Baseball--Political aspects--Cuba.

Baseball.

Baseball players--Cuba--History--20th century.

Baseball players.

Cubans--United States--History--20th century.

Cubans.

Hernández, Orlando, 1965-.

Hernández, Orlando.

History.

Baseball--Political aspects.

Cuba--Relations--United States.

Cuba.

Relations.

United States.

United States--Relations--Cuba.

Physical Description:

xxv, 338 pages : 2 maps ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Baseball, communism, and the search for the American dream

Place of Publication:

New York : Villard Books, [2001]

Summary:

In 1998, a mysterious right-handed pitcher emerged from the ashes of the Cold War and helped lead the New York Yankees to a World Championship. His origins and even his age were uncertain. His name was Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. He was a fallen hero of Fidel Castro's socialist revolution.

The chronicle of El Duque's triumph is at once a window into the slow death of Cuban socialism and one of the most remarkable sports stories of all time. Once hailed as a paragon of Castro's revolution, the finest pitcher in modern Cuban history was banned from baseball for life for allegedly plotting to defect. Instead of accepting his punishment, he fearlessly fought back, defying the Communist party authorities, vowing to pitch again, and ultimately fleeing his country in the bowels of a thirty-foot fishing boat.

Here, for the first time and in astonishing detail, the secrets behind El Duque's persecution and escape are revealed. Moving from the crumbling streets of post-Cold War Havana to the polarized world of exile Miami, from the deadly Florida Straits to the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium, it is a story of cloak-and-dagger adventure, audacious secret plots, the pull of big money, and the historic collision of ideologies.

Present throughout are the larger-than-life characters who converged at this bizarre intersection of baseball and politics: El Duque himself, Fidel Castro, the Miami sports agent Joe Cubas, the late John Cardinal O'Connor -- along with scouts, smugglers, and the Cuban ballplayers who gave up their lives as tools of socialism to test the free market and chase their major-league dreams.

Reported in the United States and Cuba by two award-winning journalists who became part of the story they were covering, The Duke of Havana is a riveting saga of sports, politics, liberation, and greed.

Contents:

Introduction: Before the Escape xv

Chapter 1 Todo Bien 3

Chapter 2 El Duque 15

Chapter 3 Senor Pelotero (Mr. Baseball) 29

Chapter 4 Independence Day 42

Chapter 5 El Gordo 59

Chapter 6 Our Man in Havana 74

Chapter 7 The Free Market 90

Chapter 8 A Deal with the Devil (Rays) 104

Chapter 9 Fidel, Inc. 127

Chapter 10 Crimes Against Baseball 145

Chapter 11 Banned in Havana 162

Chapter 12 Feliz Navidad 180

Chapter 13 The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight 203

Chapter 14 Free Trade 222

Chapter 15 The Blue Line 238

Chapter 16 The Circle Change 258

Chapter 17 Divine Intervention 282

Epilogue: The View from the Pool 301.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [317]-319) and index.

ISBN:

0375503455

OCLC:

45044173