Orioles Hope To Play In Cuba, Host Cuban National Team Next Year

Orioles Owner Says There Have Been Talks With U.S Gov. About Sending Team To Cuba

Orioles Owner Peter Angelos would like for his team next spring to "play in Cuba, as well as host the Cuban national team, in a repeat of the exhibition games staged in 1999,” according to Frederic Frommer of the AP. Angelos said that he decided to push for the games now "because of the Obama administration’s overtures toward Cuba." Angelos: “Hopefully as next spring approaches, both governments will see clearer to improve the relations and make it rather easy for there to be a reciprocal arrangement. Personally, I think the relations between the two countries should be clearly and emphatically re-established.” Angelos said that there have been “informal talks with the U.S. government about sending his team to Cuba next year, but he hasn’t heard back yet.” Frommer noted two groups of youth baseball teams from Florida are also “planning to visit” Cuba next year, and four teams from a Massachusetts slow-pitch softball league traveled to Cuba for a series of games this weekend (AP, 11/14). In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck wrote, “The Obama administration already has taken steps to improve relations with Cuba, so it shouldn’t be that difficult for the Orioles to get government approval to bypass the long-standing trade and travel embargo that has been imposed by the U.S. government since the early 1960s.” U.S. State Department officials Friday said that they "did not know of any discussions with the Orioles about a second goodwill trip" (Baltimore SUN, 11/14).