sports

Is Panama's chance to participate in a real world series slipping away?

by Eric Jackson

Not too long ago, the Major League Baseball owners relented, and announced that next March there would be a baseball analogue to soccer's World Cup --- the various countries putting their best players on the field in a tournament among the top baseball playing nations. Jimmy Carter paid a visit to Fidel Castro, and secured a commitment that Cuba, one of the world's important baseball powers, would participate. Groups were organized, and Panama was scheduled to play its first round in Puerto Rico, along with the home team, Cuba and the Netherlands.

But then the Bush administration banned the Cubans from playing in the US colony of Puerto Rico. The baseball owners are trying to get this decision reversed, but it looks as if Dubya has deep-sixed a long-held dream throughout the baseball playing world, a world series that's the real thing.

Other problems have arisen from other directions. We still have no word yet from the New York Yankees or Mariano Rivera whether the stellar closer, who was runner up for the American League Cy Young Award this past season, will play. The Puerto Caimito native tends to start out slow and become increasingly unhittable over the course of a long season. Plus, in his salary range, an injury in a tournament of this sort might be a risk he wouldn't want to take.

Another of the game's great players, Alex Rodríguez, has announced he won't play. In his case it's presented as a conflict between being a proud naturalized American citizen who nevertheless doesn't want to play against his native Dominican Republic, which would be one of the favorites along with the United States and Cuba, if the latter is allowed to play.

No A-Rod? No Mariano? No Cuban team? That would be something less than the great event that so many fans have awaited for so many years.