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 Heated discussions Havana's Hot Corner full of baseball talk
Posted: Saturday March 27, 1999 06:34 PM
HAVANA (AP) -- Marcelo Sanchez is getting more steamed by the minute. Shouting so loudly his '70s-style White Sox cap almost falls off, he takes on all comers, shaking his finger in the faces of those who dare to dispute him. Welcome to the Esquina Caliente, the so-called "Hot Corner" in Havana where Cuban baseball fans love to quarrel. "The arguments here are very strong," the 69-year-old Sanchez said Saturday. "We have been doing this for many years." From a block away, it's easy to hear them. More than 250 people, crammed into a plaza in Parque Central in the city's Old Havana section. They come out daily, debating from 9 a.m. to midnight beneath the palm trees. "It is the personality of the Cuban people," said Louis Zamora, 32, of Havana. "They talk in a loud voice. They argue, but never fight." Indeed, the soldiers and policemen who walk past barely bat an eye. Office workers, hotel employees and store owners, men from all occupations cluster. "Only hombres," Zamora said. "I have never seen a woman take part." And on this day, there is plenty of "pelota" -- baseball -- to talk about. The main topic is this: Which is more important, the Baltimore Orioles' game Sunday against a Cuban national team or the ongoing playoff series between the Havana Industriales and Santiago for the Cuban championship? "They both mean a lot," said Jose Bereuguer, 34. "The championship is big to us, but tomorrow is history." He is quickly surrounded by a circle of fans, screaming that the Orioles game is nothing more than an exhibition. They challenge him Earl Weaver-style, yelling nose-to-nose and nonstop -- there may be more important, more pressing issues on this Communist island, but not to these guys. Still, the Cubans are curious about the Orioles, mainly because no big league team has visited the country in 40 years. Many fans feel the Cuban club, hurt by defections and missing several stars involved in the current playoffs, stand little chance against Baltimore. "I am eager to see how big they are. I am eager to see how their uniforms look," said Omar Ramirez, 32. "We have never seen anything like this." Major league games are not broadcast on television or radio in Cuba, meaning magazines and bootleg tapes sent by relatives are often the only contacts. It creates an odd mix of information, some of it up to date and some of it far behind. "I know plenty about the Orioles," Felix Sansirena announced, waving a copy of Sports Illustrated that featured a story on Roger Clemens. He knew, for example, that Cal Ripken had broken Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played. He also knew Ripken was not coming to Cuba because his father died Thursday. Then he asked, "What about Palmeiro? Is Rafael Palmeiro going to play?" Palmeiro left the Orioles in December, signing with the Texas Rangers as a free agent. No matter. The debates rage on about strategy, the Cuban style and other subjects, such as should Orlando 'El Duque' Hernandez be considered a traitor for defecting and whether the New York Yankees will ever visit. All at a heated pitch in the Hot Corner. "They will never solve the arguments, not today or any day," Zamora noted with a smile. "They will be out here tomorrow again."
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