Cuba and U.S. Try Baseball Diplomacy

Had young pitching sensation Fidel Castro made the team back in the '40s when he was scouted by the Washington Senators, relations between the U.S. and Cuba might have been radically different over the ensuing decades. But the team took a pass, and Castro returned to politics. Now baseball takes another swing at it when, over the weekend, an American delegation led by Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos attempts to unite the two nations through their mutual love of the game.

Angelos, taking advantage of President Clinton's partial lifting of the embargo against Cuba, will propose a two-game exhibition series between the Orioles and the Cuban National team. One game would take place in Cuba, a second at Camden Yards. While Cuban officials are reportedly "skeptical" that the meeting will lead to any real diplomacy, there have been signs in the past that Castro, still a huge fan, is willing to relax his policies when it comes to baseball: Last year when the New York Yankees won the World Series, he allowed the family of Cuban defector Orlando (El Duque) Hernandez to travel to New York City for the team's ticker-tape parade.