Nightengale's Notebook: WBC's Cuba vs. USA semifinal in Miami is fraught with tension

MIAMI — It may be the most polarizing game in the history of the World Baseball Classic, with protests and tightened security surrounding loanDepot Park, when Cuba takes the field Sunday night against Team USA in Little Havana.

Tension, resentment and rage have been building in Miami's Cuban community since the team beat Australia this week and advanced to the semifinals.

“A lot of people, even if they've been going back and forth,’’ Angela Torres, 70. tells USA TODAY Sports, “they'll still be upset about it. I know there's going to be trouble. Not violence, I mean protests. There will be a lot of yelling.’’

Torres is the mother of Vince Torres, chief marketing officer of tournament sponsor DirecTV, who attended her first professional baseball game Saturday when Venezuela played the USA. She won’t be at the Cuban game, but she’ll be intently watching like the rest of her family.

Torres was 10 years old when her family came over from Cuba with her parents in the aftermath of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

Her father, Angel Paez, proudly fought against Fidel Castro's forces in the failed operation supported by the U.S. government and was shot in the knee. He was imprisoned for 20 months and finally released in December 1962 when the U.S. government paid $53 million for food and medicine to Cuba.

He and his family came to Miami on a cargo ship one month later.

And never returned.

“No, I’ve never felt the need or the want to go back,’’ Angela Torres says. “Not once. Not while Castro was there.

Vince Torres says: “I would love to go to Cuba, but I will not go there until Cuba is free. That’s a personal decision out of loyalty to my grandfather. I don’t hold it against anybody else. It’s just personal.’’

The mixed feelings among Cuban Americans are similar to the players themselves. This is the first year that MLB players are permitted to play for Cuba. Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert from the Chicago White Sox are playing for Cuba, along with former All-Star Yoenis Cespedes.

Kansas Royals closer Aroldis Chapman, the seven-time All-Star and World Series champion who was born in Holguin, Cuba, refuses to play for Cuba. Tampa Bay star outfielder Randy Arozarena, who defected from Cuba in 2015, is playing for Mexico, becoming a Mexican citizen last year.

“You can see the conflict, the cultural element of it is so interesting,’’ Vince Torres, 49, says. “The challenge, unfortunately, is because some folks have given up so much to be in this country, there’s this political hangover that resides in people’s minds, that I think taints their view.

“I think the passion and loyalty to Team USA is undeniable, but they have this conflict, because it’s their heritage that’s on the other side. Players that come from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, these players will come play in the United States and be successful but they go home in the offseason or visit family.

“A lot of the Cubans that have defected or play in the United States, they can’t go home to their country.’’

The Cuban team understands what awaits, and refuses to get into any public political debates, saying it wishes to simply on winning a baseball team.

They can create a lot of national pride by winning the WBC, at least back home, no matter how it would be viewed in Miami.

“The players are focused and they will go all out to win,’’ Cuba manager Armando Johnson says, “no matter the position of the crowd. This is not going to affect them. It's going to be a tough scenario, a tough atmosphere, but we are both physically and mentally prepared for this.’’

Cuba president Miguel Diaz-Canel has supported the national team, even wishing them good-bye in person when they left for the WBC.

The dissenters will turn their backs on their team, condemning anything to do with the country.

“It is of the utmost disrespect to the entire Cuban exile community that this team is here,” Esteban Bovo, the Republican mayor of Hialeah, said in a statement to the New York Times. “I am outraged, and I stand with the families of the political prisoners who are currently being tortured in the regime’s prisons without being able to see their families. I stand with the opposition, and all those who peacefully express their opinion about the baseball game.”

For the Torres family, well, they just want to enjoy the WBC as baseball fans. Vince Torres, growing up and attending Coral Gables High School, played with major-league stars Mike Lowell and Eli Marrero, and against Alex Rodriguez, Shannon Stewart and Doug Mientkiewicz. He watched his first big-league game at Dodger Stadium, and now is a passionate Dodger fan living in Los Angeles.

But for this tournament, there are no mixed feelings.

“We all are very close to our Cuban culture, and we are definitely Cuban American,’’ Vince Torres said, “but the loyalty and patriotism that my grandfather had for the United States was second to none. …

“There’s a lot of folks that sacrificed a lot to come to this country, and if the story is told right, people will appreciate that, and appreciate the personal conflicts that exist as to why this is different for a Cuban fan in America than others that have immigrated into this country.’’

Boras watching nervously

Scott Boras, the agent for Dodgers ace Julio Urias, came to Miami almost primarily to keep an eye on his star pitcher. If Boras had his druthers, Urias wouldn’t have pitched at all – or had any of his clients play in the tournament.

Boras’ chief complaint with the WBC, he says, is that it can adversely affect the MLB season, citing the season-ending knee injury to New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz.

And on Saturday, his client Jose Altuve suffered a broken thumb in Venezuela's loss to the United States.

“The trouble I have with this whole thing is that an injury resulted in a divisional corruption of the competition at the major league level,’’ Boras told USA TODAY Sports. “When you lose a superstar talent like [Diaz], obviously we’re running into damaging Major League Baseball and the greatest pursuit for players, and that’s winning a World Series.

“Look at the Mets. They are a completely different team now, and the competition between Atlanta and Philadelphia and the Mets are now different because of a tournament.

“I understand the draw of this tournament, but it’s just that these men are part of Major League franchises that invest a lot of money. Many of these players are one of the top three most important parts of a franchise. An injury like [Diaz] can dramatically affect the outcome, and the fanbase, and the economics of the team, in many, many ways.’’

Urias, 26, is considered one of the top free agents in the 2023-24 class  and Boras took out an insurance policy to protect his potential future earnings.

“In this process,’’ Boras said, “we’re asking players to pitch in the WBC, pitch in the regular season, and pitch in the postseason. That is going to be eight months of pitching, and we want our major leagues to be the best.’’

So, did Boras try to stop Urias from pitching?

“You can’t recommend things,’’ Boras said, “you just have to talk risk. My job is information. I have an injury list from the WBC, a full document, and I give that to all of my clients. For some guys, the tournament has been fantastic, but do I worry about the greatest athletes, and [Shohei] Ohtani pitching this number of innings and being a free agent, sure you worry about it.

“It affects his future.’’

Boras realizes that players, particularly those representing foreign countries, are passionate about the WBC. Some players put the WBC on par with the World Series, saying that a title would mean just as much.

Perhaps this is why teams fear the WBC, knowing that injuries can happen, particularly to pitchers, knowing they are ramped up as if it’s October when the calendar says March.

“These guys are so routine driven,’’ Boras said, “that no matter how you look at this tournament, for many of them, it’s an interruption. The competition escalates, and for these men who are playing for their countries, it’s really the only opportunity they have something personal to do in front of their families. So they’re 110% from Day 1.

“But what happens is that you’re playing Major League baseball, and you have six weeks to prepare, and in the WBC you’re getting two weeks.

“This thing breathes irregularity, no doubt about it.’’

If you’re not going to have the WBC at the end of the season, when exactly is the best time to have it?