Cuban President Fidel Castro talks with Baltimore's Albert Belle before the exhibition game between the Orioles and a Cuban all-star team. (Reuters)

By Serge F. Kovaleski
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, March 29, 1999; Page A1

HAVANA, March 28 – Even before the first pitch was thrown, the throng of spectators inside 50,000-seat Estadio Latinoamericano seemed to go out of its way to make the Baltimore Orioles feel at home. The fans did "the Wave" at least five times around the stadium, cheered as the team took batting practice and slugger Albert Belle hit several balls out of the stadium, and applauded equally as players from both sides were introduced.

In the first meeting between a U.S. professional baseball club and a Cuban squad since shortly after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, the Cuban leader himself strode out to meet the Orioles players as the crowd chanted, "Fidel! Fidel!".

"He told me this was a good baseball town and that the fans would be great," Orioles Manager Ray Miller said. "He said we were playing in front of the greatest fans."

Indeed, the Orioles appeared to appreciate the hospitality, throwing practice balls to fans who rushed from their seats to grab souvenirs.

The flavor of the event was unmistakably Cuban. Salsa music was piped through speakers in between innings and one billboard over the stadium touted "Cuban Socialist Sports," a reference to the communist party line that all Cuban athletes be amateurs and not highly paid professionals.

Tickets to the game were not made available to the general public but distributed on an invitation-only basis by the communist party and affiliated organizations, ostensibly to ensure a crowd fully supportive of Castro's regime.

But in the end, for many fans today was chiefly an opportunity to finally test the mettle of this country's national sport against Major League Baseball. The team of Cuban all-stars sent the game into extra innings before losing, 3-2, in the 11th. On May 3, the Cubans will travel to Oriole Park at Camden Yards for a return game.

"I had always hoped to see a game between us and an American big league team because we admire American sports and culture," said Jose Luis Rodriguez, 36, who works for the Cuban Ministry of Culture.

Said Jose Garcia, a 69-year-old agricultural worker, "I have always thought about Cuba playing a major league team because we are a sports power, too."

Meanwhile, numbers of Americans who traveled to Cuba to attend the game expressed hope that baseball could lead to better diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"I am so psyched about this game because I think it is a breakthrough for relations between the U.S. and Cuba," said Joel Atlas Skirble, 54, who wore Orioles sportswear. "This is my small way of promoting person-to-person relations."

As the game began, Castro took his seat between Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who had tried for three years to arrange a baseball exchange with Cuba, and baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Wearing his customary olive green military uniform, Castro used an interpreter to converse with the Americans.

Cuban fans hung on every pitch, exploding into cheers and waving small Cuban flags made of paper as the first Orioles batter, center fielder Brady Anderson, flied out to right field before the next hitter, shortstop Mike Bordick, struck out.

"Let's go! Our pitching is looking very strong. Let's go!," yelled 16-year-old fan Juan de Armas.

While the mood within the freshly spruced stadium became subdued when the Orioles jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second inning on catcher Charles Johnson's two-run homer, the enthusiasm returned in the seventh inning when the Cubans scored their first run.

Outside the stadium, the streets were all but deserted. The overwhelming majority of people in this country of 11 million residents watched the game on television in homes and bars, where the fan fervor was equal to that at the Estadio Latinoamericano. In the Conejito Bar and Restaurant in Havana, dozens of patrons drinking beer jumped from their seats and danced when Cuba scored the tying run in the eighth inning, cheering further when state television zoomed in on a beaming Castro.

The excitement reached a crescendo when the game entered extra innings, although hopes for a Cuban victory were dimmed when the Orioles' Harold Baines drove in the winning run in the 11th inning.

"I thought it was a good game and I am happy because people thought that the Americans would score a lot more runs," said Felipe Fernandez, 40, who watched the contest at the Conejito. "I am not disappointed because this was the U.S. big leagues and anything could have happened."

Standing nearby, Javier Mendez, 23, who runs a state cafeteria, added, "I think the best thing about this game is that it is going to take the fear out of us about playing against the pros. For 40 years we have been waiting to see how we would do against a pro team."

Back at the stadium, Margarita Rodriguez, 60, a retired special education teacher who attended baseball games in Cuba against U.S. professional teams before the revolution, said, "It is healthy for any countries to play sports against each other and I think it is especially good for our two countries. I hope there will be more in the future."

Special correspondent Marc Frank contributed to this report.