By Dave Sheinin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 4, 1999; Page D6

BALTIMORE, May 3 – If there was any doubt how the Baltimore Orioles felt about tonight's exhibition game against a team of Cuban all-stars, it was erased by their indifferent play. While the Cubans appeared to treat the game as if it were a postseason contest, the Orioles treated it as if it were a meaningless exhibition game that took them away from their families and golf courses.

And by the time the debacle was over, the Orioles were willing to admit as much.

"We didn't want to play today," said Orioles center fielder Brady Anderson. "We would have preferred the day off."

Asked what he might have done with his off-day had it not been wiped out by the exhibition game, Orioles closer Mike Timlin said: "Hmmmm. Probably watching a movie, just spending time with my family."

Still, conventional wisdom held that even the cynical, whip-weary Orioles would feel a twinge of emotion once the teams lined up on the base lines and the flags of the nations were presented. And perhaps for a few minutes that feeling was there.

But then came the drops of rain minutes into the game, then the 56-minute delay. Then the game started on a familiar trajectory for the Orioles – pitchers who could not throw strikes, hitters who showed little interest in working a count, fielders who botched routine plays – and well, movie night with the family was looking pretty good right about then.

Many of the Orioles made no pretense of trying. Albert Belle didn't run hard on a grounder to third. By the fourth inning, Orioles batters were swinging on practically any pitch remotely close to the strike zone.

Manager Ray Miller obviously was trying, probably because he was told by management that he had to. So in the interest of playing to win, he burned up a large chunk of his bullpen.

"I didn't want to be here," said reliever Mike Fetters. "But when they called my name, I was ready. I didn't want to embarrass myself. . . . I'm very embarrassed. We're representing the U.S., Major League Baseball, our friends and family. [The Cubans] took it to us in our house. That's the most embarrassing thing."

In contrast to the Orioles' cool detachment, Cuban slugger Omar Linares said before the game that for him and his teammates, "a dream has come true" by being able to stand on the same field with the Orioles, who beat them in Havana, 3-2, on March 28.

"It is a chance for us to show our quality on the baseball field," Linares said. "This game is very important. If we win, we will tie the series."

The Cubans celebrated every hit, and there were plenty of them. The topper was Cuban designated hitter Andy Morales' triumphant home run trot in the ninth inning, after his homer gave the Cubans a 12-3 lead.

"It probably meant more to them than to us," said Orioles starter Scott Kamieniecki. "That home run trot in the ninth told you that."

Asked what he thought about the home run trot, Anderson said, "I thought [Morales] felt pretty good about the home run."

Perhaps a couple of Orioles really were playing hard, but it didn't seem to help. First baseman Calvin Pickering, who had been in Class AAA Rochester, got his first start with the Orioles, but he hit into a double play and made three errors, including two in the seventh inning to give the Cubans an unearned run.

And Kamieniecki must have looked forward to taking the Camden Yards mound for the first time all season after battling a strained left hamstring that has kept him on the disabled list. But hurt by the rain delay, Kamieniecki lasted only 1 1/3 innings and allowed five hits and three walks.

"My mental approach was bad," Kamieniecki said. "If you called me a mental midget, it would be accurate. I wasn't ready to pitch. I didn't prepare myself very well."

Injured third baseman Cal Ripken, who missed the exhibition in Havana to be with his family after the death of his father, sounded sincerely saddened to have to miss this game as well because of nerve irritation in his back.

"It's sad," Ripken said, "because I had looked forward to the competition. . . . I sense the importance of this game. But the Orioles would feel better about it if our win-loss record was reversed."

Havana Rejoices
HAVANA, May 3 – A huge roar went up over Havana's neighborhoods and small groups gathered along the famous Malecon seawall as Cubans celebrated their national team's 12-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

"Cuba! Cuba!" a group of school-age boys shouted as they ran outside their homes and hugged each other in the street.

"Havana is happy!" Daniel Betancourt, 30, said as he sat on the seawall with his son.

"I knew that Cuba was going to win," added Pedro Enriquz. "I wasn't surprised."

Cubans rushed home early from work and crowded around television sets to cheer their hometown baseball heroes during their historic rematch with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

The childhood home of Cuban baseball's biggest star, Javier Mendez, was packed with relatives and neighbors watching the game.

"I am so proud of my son because he fought hard to be on the Cuban team," said his father, Javier Mendez Cuadrado, 58. "Over there, we have him defending the Cuban flag."

The father said he hoped the game would help bring the American and Cuban people closer together.

"Sports has nothing to do with politics," he said. "We have nothing against the American people." – The Associated Press