Cuba has produced some of MLB’s biggest stars. From Tony Perez and Minnie Minoso to Aroldis Chapman and Yordan Alvarez, there has been a steady stream of talent from the Caribbean island nation for decades.
Yet through the 76 years of the Little League World Series, Cuba has never been represented with a team. A total of 28 countries have made appearances in the international tournament, with winners coming from the United States, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Venezuela and Curacao.
Bayamo Little League will break the drought in 2023. The Cuban squad reached the Little League World Series, qualifying in the Cuban tournament in March.
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“Since establishing our partnership with the Cuban Baseball Federation four years ago, we have continued to find ways to provide memorable experiences to children in 180 municipal communities all across the country, and we applaud Bayamo Little League on becoming Cuba’s first national champion with direct entry to the World Series,” Stephen D. Keener, Little League President and CEO, said in a release.
“We look forward to working with U.S. government authorities, our league volunteers, and Cuban officials to help bring the team to Williamsport and to be able to experience the memories, excitement, and joy that the World Series provides to children from all over the world each summer.”
Here’s how Cuba sent its first team to the Little League World Series.
How Bayamo became the first Cuban LLWS team
Back in 2019, Little League Baseball announced it would be expanding the LLWS field. The expansion established a three-year rotation among Cuba, Puerto Rico and Panama. Each year, two of the three nations would have an automatic entry into the field while the other would compete in its respective region and compete with the other teams in that field.
During its first year competing in the international tournaments, Cuba’s representative — Havana Little League — reached the semifinal of the Caribbean Region, but fell to Curacao’s Pabao Little League, which wound up playing in the 2019 Little League World Series championship.
The rotation was set to begin in 2020 with the order for the three teams set to be determined in June 2020. However, that year’s Little League World Series was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was no international portion in 2021. The following year, Cuba’s Liga Santa Clara reached the Caribbean Region championship, but fell to Pabao, which again went on to play in the Little League World Series title game.
This year, it was Cuba’s first turn in the rotation to have its own regional. Panama also had the entry tournament that set an automatic team into the field. Puerto Rico had two teams in the Caribbean Region, and though both wound up in the semifinals, both teams lost and went on to the consolation game, with Curacao making it through to Williamsport again.
Bayamo Little League began the Cuban regional tournament on a roll. Bayamo took both games in the best-of-three series against Halguin by a combined score of 20-2. It throttled Santiago de Cuba 21-2 in the first game of the second round, best-of-three series, before falling 7-5 in Game 2. Later the day of the first loss, Bayamo won 10-0 to advance to the third round.
Bayamo continued its role by sweeping Camaguey with 6-3 and 10-2 wins to punch its ticket to the championship series against Habana del Este. Bayamo lost the first game 7-5, but won the next two 19-4 and 6-2 to claim the Cuban championship and officially punch its ticket to Williamsport.
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According to USA Today Sports, part of the reason Cuba was not involved in the Little League World Series prior to 2023 has been strained U.S.-Cuban relations. The two countries suspended diplomatic relations in 1959, including an embargo since 1962. It wasn’t until 2015 that President Barack Obama began to steady relations with the nation.
“We went back into our archives, and we did see in those early days before the Cuban embargos happened, there were conversations to establish Little League in Cuba that then kind of got shut down as the relations got strained between the United States and Cuba,” Brian McClintock, senior communications executive for Little League International, said, per USA Today Sports. “But we’re happy to ease that relationship with the Cuban Baseball Federation and bring our program to that country.”
Months before announcing the LLWS expansion, Little League announced an alignment with around 170 baseball teams in the Cuban Baseball Federation. And shortly after that, Cuba was added with Puerto Rico and Panama as the three teams competing in the international rotation.
