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Today, on the streets and in the empty lots of Cuba, kids play their beloved "beisbol" with sticks and rocks. In the stadiums the games are free, and the stands are filled to the rafters. Even the president threw a mean fastball and entertained the idea of becoming a serious ballplayer. The passion that Cubans have for baseball is deeply rooted in their country's history, a history that prior to 1959 had been enthusiastically shared with America for almost 100 years. The Birth of Beisbol Cuban baseball was said to have been born in 1866 when sailors, loading sugar on an American ship anchored in Matanzas Bay, invited the Cubans to play a game of baseball. Soon after, the Americans helped build a diamond at Palmar del Junco, where the first Cuban games were played. The first organized game between Cuban teams took place eight years later when the Matanzas team played Havana. Cuban greats Esteban Bellán and Emilio Sabourin showed their strengths. Bellán went on to America where he played third base for the Troy Haymakers in 1871, the first year of the National Association - US baseball's first professional league. In 1878 two Americans, Standhope and Sands, played in the Cuban League's inaugural season. The Cuban League was considered the best professional baseball league outside the United States. Their season was played in the winter months, allowing American professionals to participate. Refuge for Black Players For black players from the United States, the Cuban League was a refuge. Their Cuban fans were a knowledgeable and diverse group. For white Americans, baseball in Cuba was often their first experience playing in a league that valued hits and strikes over skin color. Before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, several Cubans made their way to the States but were forced to play in the Negro Leagues. Martin Dihigo, generally considered the greatest Cuban-born player ever, was routinely believed to be the second-best all-around player of the 1920s, behind only Babe Ruth. Play Ball? By the 1950s, Cuban ballfields were overrun by scouts from America's Major League teams. Joe Cambria became the most prolific spotter of Cuban talent in history, signing over 400 players for the Washington Senators. By 1959, the SS Florida was ferrying professional players back and forth between Havana and Key West to play in each other's leagues. The Cuban Sugar Kings, a Triple A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, were poised to become the first Major League team based outside the United States. That year, Castro, who had pitched at the University of Havana, played in an exhibition contest in front of 26,532 fans. But then politics intervened. Midway through the 1960 season, relations between Cuba and the United States exploded. The International League removed the Sugar Kings to Jersey City and Cuba was deprived of its best young players. Many left Cuba and joined the American big leagues. An embargo cut off Cuban access to American baseball equipment, forcing them to quickly learn to make balls, bats, gloves and shoes of course, under the government brand - Batos. As Cuba's popular revolution evolved into a Marxist government, athletics was centralized according to a national plan. In 1961, Fidel Castro abolished professional sports. He forced professional ball players to adapt to a socialist model or chose a life in exile. In the '70s, in the atmosphere of the Cold War, one of the only places Americans and Cuban nationals met face-to-face was on the fields of international amateur baseball competition. For American fans and players, these competitions were an overlooked sideshow in the world of baseball, but to Cubans - and the Cuban government - victories in international amateur competitions were political vindications and sources of national pride. Attempts to Play in Cuba In the 1960s and throughout the '70s, attempts at securing ballgames between the United States and Cuba were stymied time and again due to political problems. In 1960, Orioles' general manager Lee MacPhail announced the cancellation of a scheduled exhibition game between the Orioles and Cincinnati Reds in Havana. The takeover by Castro made scheduling problematic in Cuba for US clubs. Neither club wanted to play the game, but MacPhail agreed to take the heat because the Reds had a working agreement with the Havana club. In 1971, Cuban-born Preston Gomez, then manager of the San Diego Padres, wanted to take a Major League all-star team to Cuba, but he was denied permission by the US government. In 1976, a planned Cuba-USA match in Havana, to be televised by ABC, was canceled when Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was angered by Cuba's military involvement in the Angolan Civil War. ABC had paid $167,000 for the rights to this game. In 1977, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn stopped the New York Yankees from going to Havana because it would have given them an advantage in signing Cuban players when that became possible. Among the chief objectors was Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley. An exhibition game between the Seattle Mariners and a Cuban team to be played in Mexico was also aborted. "Attempts to Play in Cuba"   Source: Major League Baseball / Baseball in Cuba A New Day for Diplomacy In 1999, the Clinton Administration's new position with regards to Cuba opened the door to new possibilities between the two countries. When the American Major League's Baltimore Orioles left for Cuba for an exhibition game against the Cuban National Team, "baseball diplomacy" was in full swing. The Orioles' journey marked the first time a big-league club has played in Cuba since the Los Angeles Dodgers played the Cincinnati Reds in a pair of spring training games in 1959.  The Story | The Game | The Filmmakers | Resources | ITVS