March 28, 1999: The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cuba national baseball team, 3-2 in 11 innings, in an exhibition game at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, Cuba. It was the 1st game played in Cuba by American major league players since 1959.
Baseball players from Cuba had long been a part of American baseball: White ones, starting in 1911; and black ones, starting in 1949. In 1961, 2 years after his successful revolution, dictator Fidel Castro banned professional sports in the country, leading to the loss of the one minor-league team on the island that was a part of America's "farm system," the Havana Sugar Kings, who had to move back to the American mainland.
Like the Soviet Union, Cuba had a national team that was amateur in name only. Castro, once a lefthanded pitcher (yes, a left wing), promoted this team, and gave it benefits that most citizens didn't have. They would win international tournaments, but their players wouldn't be allowed to play professional baseball in America, or any other country, even those in the Caribbean region with renowned leagues: Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico.
In the 1990s, Cuban players, mostly pitchers, began to defect, doing whatever it took to leave the island and get to America, or a nearby country, and then get to play in America. Castro figured that, if he threw his players a bone, they might be less likely to defect. So he arranged to have the national team play exhibition games against a Major League Baseball team.
On March 28, 1999, in Havana, Charles Johnson hit a home run to help the Orioles beat Cuba, 3-2. On May 3, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Andy Morales hit a home run to lead Cuba to a 12-6 win. Castro and Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig attended both games, and each was a sellout: Estadio Latinoamericano, 55,000; Camden Yards, 48,000.
After these 2 games, what changed? Not much: Cuba is still a Communist dictatorship, even after the death of Castro; its players are still defecting to America; and the old Cubans in South Florida are still too chicken to live up to their principles and try to topple that government, or even to fund people who will.
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March 28, 1999 was a Monday. Baseball's regular season was about to begin. Football was out of season. There were 4 games played in the NBA:
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers, 83-82 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Dallas Mavericks, 109-101 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 100-88 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 116-98 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
And there were 9 games played in the NHL:
* The New Jersey Devils and the Florida Panthers played to a 2-2 tie at the National Car Rental Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes played to a 3-3 tie at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
* The Dallas Stars beat the Nashville Predators, 3-0 at the Nashville Arena (now the Bridgestone Arena).
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Marine Midland Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo. Dixon Ward scored the winning goal with 2:33 left in overtime.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Wendel Clark scored the winning goal with 2:34 left in overtime.
* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-1 at the United Center in Chicago.
* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings, 7-2 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
* The Edmonton Oilers beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-2 at the Northlands Coliseum (then named the Skyreach Centre).
* And the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Calgary Flames, 5-1 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
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