The ball is breathed in this 61 National Baseball Series in a different way. Two years in which it was played, but it was not lived in the same way. Two campaigns nuanced by the cold of not feeling it at the foot of the field, with the rumble of the congas drowned out in the sanitary protocols, with the COVID-19 pandemic behaving as a staunch enemy of the show.
The fans, in addition to being an element always in favor of the teams that play home clubis necessary in our stadiums, as well as to calibrate the punch of a tournament that, although its quality has diminished compared to other previous stages, continues to be in the Cuban genome.
And that, so important to push the tournament, to realize that in Cuba baseball and soccer can coexist without being exclusive, and without considerably caring about the qualitative difference between one and the other in terms of television broadcasts; to mention two issues that have always been in the eye of the storm of comparisons.
They can coexist, and feed the dreams of thousands of children, as basketball does, perhaps to a lesser extent. And I was able to verify it in the World Cup window, with a coliseum of the Sports City that revived, and that gave his team muffled cries of ¡Arriba, Cuba!, Sí se puede!, Jasiel, Jasiel! Or seeing again the practices with the aspiration of becoming a star player or baseball player at the municipal and provincial level. It is true, the massiveness is not even remotely similar to that of the 80s of the last century, when I began this irreducible bond with sport, but it is time to see the glass as half full…
And I say nurturing dreams because it really has been like giving back the wings to millions. We have survived two years of quarantine; most or almost all of the competitions, supreme or not, have been held behind closed doors, with very strict health protocols to avoid contagion of the new coronavirus; In bubble format, the life and preparation of athletes have passed, and in the case of fans, they have had their greatest allies in remote receivers or mobile phones.
Even the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games passed through pandemic channels, and absent public capacity in the facilities. And believe me, personally I think there is nothing better than living on-site the great emotions that sport always brings us.
The ball breathes differently, I repeat. This season 61 has returned children to the pleasures; I have seen it in Mulgoba, Alamar, the grounds of the Ciudad Deportiva, the surroundings of Parque Lenin, and at the entrance to Cotorro… Children and young people putting together their pitensafter having gone to the Latino, the Victoria de Girón, or to that hotbed that Guillermón Moncada always craves.
It continues to be a thermometer to calibrate the Cuban’s temperament, although now the mercury bar also acquires 40 or more degrees of temperature with the most universal. I have been surprised, by the way, witnessing groups of young people who have shared both passions in the same day.
Baseball continues to beat, life tastes better after breaking the barriers of confinement, and returning to a host of activities that were deprived of us for 730 days due to the blessed pandemic caused by the Sars-Cov-2 virus. Work, meetings with friends, face-to-face classes, the warmth of the family, in many cases. Being isolated doesn’t go much with the Cuban’s spirituality.
The public has returned the color to the stadiums, with everything and the capacity limitations that each province may establish according to the prevailing epidemiological situation in each case. People also have to be aware, take care of themselves, take care of others, and ensure the continuity of the show.
I, like many, am eager to return to that pressure cooker that the Latin American craves when Industriales returns from their tour of the East, or to roll to the beat of the Conga de Los Hoyos in the Guillermón, to feel the Chinese bugle practically by my side. That the Nelson Fernandez supports with total fidelity a lit Hurricanes of Mayabeque, the same as seeing the stands of the Victoria de Girón all covered in red.
Because in Cuba, gentlemen, baseball, if it’s with a full house, even better: it’s synonymous with country feeling.
