1999 Baltimore Orioles–Cuba national baseball team exhibition series

The Cuban Revolution led to the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista, an ally of the United States, in 1959. Fidel Castro severed Cuba's formerly strong ties with the United States. The United States soon instituted an embargo against Cuba, which has made it illegal for United States corporations to enter into business with Cuba. The Baltimore Orioles, who were slated to hold a 1960 exhibition series against the Cincinnati Reds in Havana, moved the games to Miami, Florida. No Major League Baseball (MLB) team had played in Cuba since March 21, 1959. Castro made attempts to lure American baseball teams back to Cuba to no avail. In the 1970s, George McGovern, a United States senator, pushed the idea of an exchange of MLB and college basketball teams as a way to bridge the impasse between the two governments, similar to the ping-pong diplomacy that aided US-China relations; however, this was blocked by the United States Department of State. In the 1980s, Scott Armstrong approached Edward Bennett Williams, then the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, to play a game between the Orioles and Cuba's All-Stars. Williams declined, as he had a position on an advisory board in the Reagan Administration, which opposed having any business with Cuba. Armstrong discussed the idea with MLB Commissioner Bart Giamatti and MLB Players Association (MLBPA) chair Donald Fehr. Giamatti was interested, but he died before he could pursue the idea. Fehr visited Cuba during the 1994-95 MLB strike, but could not secure an antitrust exemption. Angelos petitioned the United States Government to permit a series. United States Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen wrote to the State Department, asking that the series be prevented. The United States Department of the Treasury denied Angelos' request on the grounds that American money may not be spent in Cuba under the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. In January 1999, President Bill Clinton eased travel restrictions and increased cultural exchange between the United States and Cuba, leading Angelos to again seek permission to play an exhibition game in Cuba. Angelos met with Sandy Berger, Clinton's National Security Advisor, to discuss a potential exhibition. Bud Selig, the MLB Commissioner, allowed for the exploration of the series, though it still required the approval of MLB owners and the MLBPA. The MLBPA insisted on a second game to be held in the United States. A contingent of United States Representatives, including Ros-Lehtinen, Robert Menendez, Dan Burton, Lincoln Díaz-Balart, and Rick Lazio, lobbied Fehr to try to block the series. Ongoing negotiations through March yielded an agreement on March 7, 1999, over the objections of the State Department. The proceeds of the series were a major sticking point in negotiations, as it violated the United States embargo against Cuba. MLB umpires filed a grievance against MLB attempting to block them from being sent to umpire the game in Cuba, and refused to officiate the game in Baltimore. The Cuban American National Foundation protested the series. ==Games==

Game one in Havana hosted the first game of the series on March 28, 1999. Game one took place at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, Cuba, on March 28, 1999. Tickets were distributed by invitation only. Angelos, Selig, and Castro sat together in box seats. One hundred schoolchildren from the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area also traveled to Cuba on a plane chartered by Angelos. Before the game, players and coaches on both teams engaged in a flag ceremony. Castro greeted the Orioles on the field, and gave the Cuba team a pep talk. The game was televised in the U.S. by ESPN with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan announcing. Orioles' starting pitcher Scott Erickson allowed one run on five hits in seven innings pitched. Cuba starter José Ibar allowed a home run to Charles Johnson and was relieved in the third inning by José Contreras. Contreras pitched eight innings without allowing a run. Orioles' manager Ray Miller brought in his closer, Mike Timlin, in the eighth inning. This backfired, as Omar Linares tied the game for Cuba with a run batted in single. ;Box score in front of 47,940 fans. The start of the game was delayed by rain for 56 minutes. The game was further interrupted by protesters, one of whom ran onto the field during the fifth inning and was thrown to the ground by César Valdez, a Cuban umpire. Gabe Molina, who had made his MLB debut on May 1, allowed Cuba to score five runs in the ninth inning, including a three-run home run hit by Andy Morales. The Cuba national team defeated the Orioles 12–6. ;Linescore ;Box score ==Aftermath==

Rigoberto Herrera, a retired Cuba national team member who accompanied the Cuba delegation, defected to the United States during the visit. Six retired players overslept the day after the game in Baltimore and missed their flight back to Cuba, but no other members of the delegation defected. pitching for the Chicago White Sox in 2008 To discourage defections during the exhibition in Baltimore, Cuba maintained strict security around their young players, not allowing sports agents to speak with them. Contreras, who was considered Cuba's best pitcher, gained international fame after the series and defected from Cuba in 2002. Nelson Díaz, a Cuban umpire who officiated the game in Baltimore, defected from Cuba to the United States in 2009. MLB and the Major League Umpires Association engaged in a dispute regarding the amount of pay owed to umpires for officiating the game that took place in Baltimore. This was one factor that led to the mass resignation of MLB umpires that took place on September 2, 1999. In 2000, Syd Thrift, the Orioles' general manager, told The Washington Times that the team had a practice of not signing players who had defected from Cuba, which he attributed to Angelos' desire to avoid doing "anything that could be interpreted as being disrespectful or ... encouraging players to defect". Investigations by Major League Baseball and the United States Department of Justice did not find evidence that the absence of Cuban players on the Orioles' roster or in its minor league system was due to discrimination. The Cuba national team next played in the United States during the 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC). President George W. Bush attempted to prevent the Cuba team from participating in the tournament, but other nations promised to withdraw if Cuba was barred. The next American team to travel to Cuba was the Tampa Bay Rays, which played an exhibition against the Cuba national team in March 2016. ==See also==