Several Cuban kids play a pickup game of baseball in Havana. (Dudley Brooks - The Post)

By Serge F. Kovaleski
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, March 29, 1999; Page B1

HAVANA, March 28 – At first, Anthony Taylor, 14, shrugged off the fact that he and a contingent of other young American baseball players from the Washington-Baltimore area had yet to win any of the half-dozen or so games they had played against their Cuban peers during their whirlwind visit to this island.

"I really don't care," Anthony, who is from Northwest Washington and plays catcher, said casually Saturday afternoon during a pickup game in Havana with Cuban youngsters. Then, a broad smile creased across his face as his competitive juices started to flow. "Well, I don't want to get swept. I would like to go home with a win," he said.

That didn't happen, as the teams had no time to finish Saturday's game. But it hardly detracted from what has been a trip of a lifetime for the 80 young Americans, more than a third of whom are from inner-city neighborhoods.

It is an experience expressed in a collage of wide-eyed, youthful reflections. The American athletes talked about the fun of playing baseball with people from another culture who share their love for the sport, learning about a country vastly different from their own, relishing the Caribbean climate and traveling abroad and staying in a hotel – a first for many of the youngsters.

The players, ages 9 to 17, flew to Havana in a chartered plane Thursday and were scheduled to return to the United States on Monday afternoon. The trip, arranged through local athletic leagues and high schools to coincide with today's game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cuban all-stars, cost about $850 a traveler. Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos pledged $12,500 to defray a portion of the expenses, and other donors pitched in to cover the costs of some players.

Some of the youngsters were surprised by the fleets of 1950s-era cars that rumble through the streets of this capital and the smoke-belching Soviet buses packed with passengers. Others took note of the large number of Cubans who get around on bicycles and the austerity and poverty that is prevalent in what is the last communist nation in the Western Hemisphere.

"It is a different place. You see a lot of stray dogs and different kinds of houses," said Barry Scott, a 12-year-old from the Riggs Park section of the District who is an infielder in the Satchel Paige Little League. "It is an important trip because we got to bond with kids from another country."

"I learned that you can communicate with other people without speaking the same language," said John Lidinsky, 13, a right fielder from Baltimore. "People are people wherever you go."

"There is more to this trip than baseball. For me, it has also been about ... experiencing new cultures," said Bryan Barns, 17, a center fielder from Baltimore.

But Barns and a few other players admitted they have not been able to shake some of their American cravings while on the island. "I had a taste for a Snickers bar the other day, but there was no place to find one," he said.

Today, the youngsters were treated to a piece of international history when they attended the much-anticipated showdown between the Orioles and the Cuban team at the Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana. The contest, which the Orioles won 3 to 2 in 11 innings, marked the first time that a professional baseball club from the United States has played a Cuban squad since shortly after President Fidel Castro seized power in this country of 11 million people in 1959.

For many of the young players, however, it was another chance to see their favorite team on the baseball diamond, an outing made even more special by the fact that they were sitting in a ballpark a world away from Camden Yards.

"It's kind of weird because you're sitting in a section with all Americans and all these Cubans are around you," said David Foreman, 10, a catcher and center fielder from the District.

To say the least, the youths have had a hectic schedule since arriving in Cuba and have been regularly reminded by the 50 coaches and parents traveling with them to be on their best behavior, or "kid diplomats," as one coach likes to say.

In addition to the baseball contests, there were pickup basketball and soccer games with Cuban children. The Americans also toured a sports academy for gifted athletes, attended a practice session by the Cuban all-star team and went to a national championship baseball game here, where they made their presence known with a touch of American fan culture. "We started the wave up, and the whole stadium went along with it," Barns said. "It was great. We were all doing it together."

Throughout their visit, the American youngsters have said how much they admire the talent of their Cuban rivals, particularly when it comes to their defensive prowess.

"Their fielding is incredible. There are kids 9, 10 and 11 years old who are as quick as I have ever seen," said Anthony, who had never left the United States before coming to Cuba and had been on an airplane once before.

Anthony, wearing a baseball jersey with "Cuba" emblazoned on it, said the tropical weather on the island has given young Cuban baseball players an advantage in developing their skills. "I suspected they would win because they can play all year round," he said.

Said Brooke Mauro, a 12-year-old from Washington who is one of about a dozen girls in the group: "The [Cuban] kids focused a lot and hustled more than we did. I will always remember how well the Cubans play baseball."

John chimed in: "They take baseball really, really seriously – it is almost more than a sport for them. Everywhere you look, there is a baseball field. That shows how seriously they take it."

During Saturday's pickup game and practice session, some Cuban players offered tips to their American counterparts, while others who were seated on benches behind home plate at the ragtag field did the wave.

"He pitches very hard, so you must swing fast, like this," one Cuban teenager said in broken English to an American player before demonstrating the swing. "Very fast!"

The game quickly ground to a halt when several Orioles players arrived at the field to greet the youngsters from both countries, signing autographs and handing out Major League Baseball lapel pins.

"It is a thrill to play baseball with my American friends and meet some of the heroes from the major leagues," said one of the Cubans, 15-year-old Juan Carlos Gomez. "This is a special day for us."

Standing nearby, Terrance Collier, 11, a first baseman from the District, said: "It is great to come to a country and play baseball with people you never met. ... But it has also been great besides baseball. The most important part of the trip is that I am having fun."