MrAndMrsFish Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Major League Baseball has confirmed Cuban pitcher Livan Hernandez could be eligible to play for Puerto Rico in next year's inaugural World Baseball Classic. The Washington Nationals ace has expressed interest in playing for Puerto Rico, telling local media in October "it would be a pleasure and something very important to me" to represent the U.S. Caribbean territory. MLB spokesman Mike Teevan said Sunday the rules allow Hernandez to request permission to play for a team other than his native Cuba. "If he wants to pitch for a country other than Cuba, he'll have to make request explaining why he wants to pitch for another team and not his country of origin," Teevan told The Associated Press. Hernandez, who defected from Cuba in 1995 and helped the Florida Marlins win the World Series two years later, has a house in Puerto Rico and owns a local professional women's volleyball team. Cuba hasn't said if it will participate in the World Baseball Classic. The 16-nation, 18-day tournament will start on March 3 in Asia, where Group A will include Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China. If Hernandez were to play for Puerto Rico, he would be a big help to a team expected to be flush with offensive power but short on strong pitching. Hernandez had a 15-10 record and a 3.98 ERA in 35 starts for Washington last season. Here is for source Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetle Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Cuba hasn't said if it will participate in the World Baseball Classic. Does Castro have a say on this? I'm curious to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuickGold Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 He should pitch for USA before he pitches for Puerto Rico over Cuba. What is his connection to Puerto Rico? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrAndMrsFish Posted November 14, 2005 Author Share Posted November 14, 2005 Cuba hasn't said if it will participate in the World Baseball Classic. Does Castro have a say on this? I'm curious to know. Castro has say over everything and anything that happens in Cuba. He should pitch for USA before he pitches for Puerto Rico over Cuba. What is his connection to Puerto Rico? His connection is that he lives in Puerto Rico in the offseason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetle Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Cuba hasn't said if it will participate in the World Baseball Classic. Does Castro have a say on this? I'm curious to know. Castro has say over everything and anything that happens in Cuba.This isn't happening in Cuba, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Moneyball Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 This is almost as dumb as ARod playing D.R. despite not being born there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetle Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 This is almost as dumb as ARod playing D.R. despite not being born there. That depends. ARod made his choice on a whim. Liv?n, on the other hand, may be doing it in protest to Castro's regime; hence, the question posed (by me) about Fidel's role in this -- if any. Or... perhaps, somehow, he's gained advance knowledge that there will not be a Team Cuba, and is taking pre-emptive measures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrAndMrsFish Posted November 15, 2005 Author Share Posted November 15, 2005 Even if there is a Team Cuba in the WBC, i highly doubt any of the MLB players that would be eligible for that team would play for Team Cuba. If Cuba does field a team in the WBC it would more than likely be their Olympic team or a team of All-Stars from the Cuban League. If they do field a team, I would highly doubt any MLB players that defected to the US would ever wear Cuba across their chest again!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetle Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 Even if there is a Team Cuba in the WBC, i highly doubt any of the MLB players that would be eligible for that team would play for Team Cuba. If Cuba does field a team in the WBC it would more than likely be their Olympic team or a team of All-Stars from the Cuban League. If they do field a team, I would highly doubt any MLB players that defected to the US would ever wear Cuba across their chest again!!! Quite plausible; in fact, I'm inclined to agree with you... Then again, one might infer from quotes like these that some of those players may actually consider doing just that: Paul Archey, Major League Baseball's senior vice president for international relations, told the Miami Herald that forming a team of Cuban-born players now in the major leagues is possible if Cuba's national squad decides not to play. ... Ronaldo Peralta, the major league office manager in the Dominican Republic, told the Herald. "The strong possibility is that if Cuba doesn't go either Nicaragua or Colombia will. Plan C that I have heard of is to field a team of Cubans... living outside the country." Cuban-born major league players, some of them defectors who fled their homeland, have been divided about playing for Cuba without government support. Source: AFP 11-9-2005 (Yahoo.com) So, the answer is: who knows at this point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuickGold Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 This is almost as dumb as ARod playing D.R. despite not being born there. That depends. ARod made his choice on a whim. Liv?n, on the other hand, may be doing it in protest to Castro's regime; hence, the question posed (by me) about Fidel's role in this -- if any. Or... perhaps, somehow, he's gained advance knowledge that there will not be a Team Cuba, and is taking pre-emptive measures. If he wants to protest Cuba's regime, pitch for America Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetle Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 If he wants to protest Cuba's regime, pitch for America Puerto Rico is America. :thumbup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Texan Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 This is stupid. The idea behind this World Baseball classic is great. The way its being done is utterly stupid. The designations for what country you play for is stupidest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarlinGuru Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 Livan will play for Cuba again, when hippos can fly. They have a ton of way better pitchers than Livan on their team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuickGold Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 If he wants to protest Cuba's regime, pitch for America Puerto Rico is America. :thumbup Duh but since Puerto Rico plays for itself in these games, he should pitch for USA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetle Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 If he wants to protest Cuba's regime, pitch for America Puerto Rico is America. :thumbup Duh but since Puerto Rico plays for itself in these games, he should pitch for USA If his reasons are political (we're just speculating), I believe who he's playing for is not as significant as who he isn't playing for. Still, as far as we know, he chose P.R. because he lives there -- good enough a reason for me. Besides, P.R. could use some good pitching; more so than Team USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catchoftheday Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 so lame of livan /peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fritz Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 If he wants to protest Cuba's regime, pitch for America Puerto Rico is America. :thumbup Duh but since Puerto Rico plays for itself in these games, he should pitch for USA If his reasons are political (we're just speculating), I believe who he's playing for is not as significant as who he isn't playing for. Still, as far as we know, he chose P.R. because he lives there -- good enough a reason for me. Besides, P.R. could use some good pitching; more so than Team USA. Team USA could certainly have some amazing pitching. Pettitte, Clemens, Willis, Carpenter, Haren, Prior, etc. I'm tired of all the clowns thinking OMGTEHDRWILLWINZORZ!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishFanPR Posted November 18, 2005 Share Posted November 18, 2005 If he wants to protest Cuba's regime, pitch for America Puerto Rico is America. :thumbup one word: YEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! this is great news for my team! As for the whole Cuba situation, f*** the commies, field a team of exiles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.