Report: Orioles Interested In Exhibition Game In Cuba
BALTIMORE (WJZ) – The change in diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba may lead to the Orioles playing an exhibition game on the island.
Vic Carter has more on a possible matchup.
It was 16 years ago when the Orioles played a game in Havana. WJZ was there to witness history.
Baseball diplomacy was in full display on that sunny afternoon in Havana. Orioles owner Peter Angelos sat next to Fidel Castro.
Those contacts made 16 years ago have the Orioles looking into playing an exhibition game in Cuba.
Orioles general manager Dan Duquette confirmed that possibility to MASN.
The Orioles-Cuba series provided a rare look into the country.
Vic Carter was also in attendance at that game and witnessed firsthand the passion for baseball in Cuba. That passion extended beyond the stadium and into the fields, where children learned to play the game.
The prisoner swap that brought Maryland man Alan Gross back home this December signals a dramatic change in relations between the United States and Cuba.
Now there is hope that life in Cuba will improve as the restrictions on travel and business from the United States are being lifted.
Some of that new travel and business may include the return of the Orioles and Major League Baseball.
Orioles general manager Dan Duquette said a game in Cuba in 2016 may be more realistic since the Orioles pitchers and catchers will be reporting to spring training next week.
The Cuban team also came to the U.S. in 1999 to play an exhibition against the Orioles at Camden Yards.
