RADIO COCO

The worldwide web’s most interesting Spanish language connection to contemporary Cuba baseball! Click on COCOBEISBOL to view an eclectic assembly of articles, all kinds of statistics, special features and historic notes. Put together by whiz kid Yasel Porto and colleagues, the site is a work in progress containing links to Industriales.Com and Metropolitanos.Com – pages dedicated to the City of Havana’s two teams. You can also click on the icons of the other 14 Serie Nacional teams for game summaries and team-related information. Check out Radio Coco’s photo galleries, player profiles, Spanish links and everything else!


JIT ONLINE

The online version of JIT, a publication of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation (INDER) of Cuba. JIT covers most major Cuban sporting events and developments, nationally and internationally. Look for top news stories or scroll to the lower left to Beisbol for the latest on Cuba’s national pastime from Jose Luis Salmeron and others!


DIARIO GRANMA

Here’s the official on-line organ of the Communist Party of Cuba – in Spanish of course! You can click left on “Deportes” to look for the latest from Sigfredo Barros, dean of Cuban baseball writers. Look right to click on baseball icons, some which link with information on the Serie Nacional. Granma’s baseball page includes daily results, weekly schedules, team standings, stats and other good stuff. You’ll also find Cuban baseball news from the 2004 Olympics, World Cups, and four previous Serie Nacional seasons.


FCBA OFFICIAL SITE

Check out the Cuban Amateur Baseball Federation’s official website, which carries images and articles appearing in JIT ONLINE online. Look left for archived articles on the past Serie Nacional and Super Liga seasons, the 2003 World Cup and interviews. 

CUBAHORA PELOTA

This website links to some great information. Click left on Deportes and right on Pelota Nacional to open up a collection of baseball stories, photos and stats. Look to the lower right for team icons for rosters and player profiles! A site produced by the Union of Cuban Journalist’s Centre for Press Information, the site carries Granma Diario baseball writer Sigfredo Barros and other contributors.


EL NUEVO HERALD

The Spanish-language flagship site of the anti-communist Cuban-American community often provides Cuban baseball fans occasional updates on Cuban league play and usually follows the movements of Cuban players in the professional leagues. Click left on Deportes to look for Béisbol.


BASEBALL AMERICA

North America’s premiere website on minor league baseball often includes articles on the Cuban game and developments in other countries, including international tournaments. Matt Myers and Alan Schwarz, who follow Cuban baseball, are contributors.


INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL FEDERATION

The International Baseball Federation’s website has up-to-date information on upcoming events under the auspices of baseball’s international body, including World Cup, Intercontinental Cup and Olympic Game competition.


OMAR AND ORESTES – THE OLYMPIANS

The International Olympic Committee’s website includes pages honouring the Olympic Games achievements of two of Cuba’s greatest baseball players – Omar Linares  and Orestes Kindelan.  Both athletes, featured in the 1994 Serie Selectiva baseball cards, starred at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics. Check out photo galleries or view video highlights of Omar and Orestes at the plate and on the medal podium. Linares’ ’92 highlights see him batting in German Mesa. You can also see clips of Orlando “El Duke” Hernandez on the medal podium and signing the national anthem.



STEALING HOME - PBS

This companion website for the 1999 PBS documentary Stealing Home: The Case for Contemporary Cuban Baseball, includes information on sport in Cuban society, a brief synopsis on Cuban baseball history and varying points of view on the issue of defections.


SOLOHISPANOS – LAS GRANDES LIGAS

This Spanish-language blogsite, dedicated to the “Grande Ligas,” has become the “territorio” of Cuban baseball aficionados of all backgrounds. Its participants can be informative and insightful; off and on topic; respectful or indignant. Participants follow the development of baseball on the island, the movements and performances of defectors to the minors and majors. It helps if you understand Cuban. Follow and join JC Ledon, Chicito El Cojo, Petercito, Lucio in the worldwide web’s real “Esquina Caliente.”


GREENER GRASS - ITVS

This website introduces the Independent Television Service’s 1999 documentary “Greener Grass,” examining the history of Cuban-American relations through the lens of baseball.


CUBANBALL.COM 

Check out this site, which is one of the most comprehensive on pre-Revolutionary Cuban baseball and cards, with information tracking the development of the game and Cuban players throughout history. Put together by a dedicated fan Cesar Lopez, this one is a must visit with a great set of links! Cesar religiously follows Cuban players in North America, and tracks the signings and movements of defectors. 


CUBANBASEBALLCARDS.COM 

This graphic website, put together by Ryan Christoff, puts a special emphasis on Cuban cards from the 1920s era and pre-20s era, features card auctions and has a superb selection of vintage images.


SCENES OF CUBA - REBEL’S GAME

In 1999 Washington Post photographer Dudley M. Brooks followed the historic Cuba-Orioles exhibition games and caught some glimpses of baseball in the Caribbean country. A great photo gallery recognizing Cuban baseball.


BEISBOL IN BLANCO Y NEGRO

Italian photographer Ernesto Bazan’s website features a remarkable collection of black and white baseball photos – from impromptu street games, to organized kid’s leagues, to the Serie Nacional, including a shot of Omar Linares! 

SALON.COM GOES TO CUBA

In March of 1999, Salon.Com contributor Steve Kettnamm went to Havana to witness the first game between the Baltimore Orioles and Cuba and wrote about the real and potential benefits for the game in both countries.


CUBA CELEBRATES

This CNN story from Havana captures the return of Cuba’s team following its exhibition win over the Baltimore Orioles in May of 1999, underscoring the significance of the victory.


TWO LIVING LEGENDS

Download this PDF from the Laredo Morning News. It’s an article on the second Cuba-Orioles game which includes an image of a rare, historic baseball moment: a meeting between two living legends – Omar Linares and Cal Ripken.


NATIONAL PASTIME

Baseball author, photographer and Cuba enthusiast Eric Enders wrote this article in 2001 as he toured through parts of the country, sharing his impressions on the fans, the athletes, U.S. – Cuba relations, and his admiration for the Cuban game.


FULL COUNT – INSIDE CUBAN BASEBALL

Author Milton Jamail first published his critically-acclaimed book Inside Count: Inside Cuban Baseball in 1999. The University of Texas at Austin lecturer, who is a contributor to Baseball America and briefed ESPN's Jon Miller and Joe Morgan prior to the second Cuba-Orioles game, shares his insight and unique views. Five 1994 Serie Selectiva card images (German Mesa, Omar Linares, Pedro Luis Lazo, Jose Ibar, and Javier Mendez) appear in the book!


THE PRIDE OF HAVANA - A HISTORY OF CUBAN BASEBALL

Considered by many to be the ultimate treatise on the history of pre-revolutionary Cuban baseball, Yale University literature professor Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria's The Pride of Havana is a true labor of love. This generously illustrated magnum opus covers Cuban baseball from the 1860s to current day. On the book's cover (top right) you'll notice that Echevarria utilizes a portion of the 1994 Serie Selectiva league card image of Orlando "El Duke" Hernandez.


CUBA’S PASSION FOR BASEBALL

In this 1993 article, published in Cigar Aficionado, American author Teddy Tannenbaum, reflects on the relative scarcity of the way of life in Cuba through baseball and goes through some key points in pre and post-revolutionary baseball.


CUBAN BASEBALL IN THE ATLANTIC

This article, by American journalist Bruce Brown, is a classic snapshot of baseball life in Cuba in 1984 with numerous cultural and political references. It does a great job covering the most recognized players in Cuban baseball history and the development of the game from 1959 onward.


CUBA VERSUS VENEZUELA

This BBC pictorial web page from November 1999, shows Cuban President Fidel Castro coaching a team of “old men” to a narrow exhibition victory over a team from Venezuela, headed by President Hugo Chavez (who played the entire game). 

FOR CUBAMANIACS

Sign up to a message board for Cuban baseball enthusiasts. There’s a lot of interesting stuff here and some pretty dedicated fans following the game from afar – swapping opinions, sharing news articles and other information.


FORDHAM UNIVERSITY RECORDS

Here’s a library web page at Fordham University in Maryland, which archives some of the earliest records on Cubans studying academia and baseball in the 1800s, including the story of Esteban Bellan.