La Vida Voices: Cesar Brioso

The Brioso family arrived to the United States from Cuba in 1965, leaving behind a country that had changed drastically. As was the case for most Cubans who came to the U.S. in the 20th century, baseball was already a key part of their culture journalist and baseball historian Cesar Brioso.

Baseball has been a connection to his Cuban past and the present. It was a passion shared with his father as they rooted for the Yankees. For Brioso, it also provides a window into understanding the past when it comes to race and the color line as well as the relationship between Cuba and the United States.

Recently Brioso and I spoke about the role that baseball has played in his life and family, why the history of Cuban baseball has captivated his interest, and the recent revocation of the agreement between Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation.

Adrian Burgos: What sparked your love of baseball? What is something passed down through your family? Who were your favorite baseball players (or team) growing up? What was your favorite moment as a fan?

Cesar Brioso: My dad was a baseball fan in Cuba and was a Yankees fan there before my family came to the U.S. in 1965. When I was very young, we lived on the upper east side of Manhattan, less than three miles across the Harlem River from Yankee Stadium.

Later we moved to New Jersey, where I grew up watching Yankees games on New York’s WPIX Channel 11. On Sundays, we often drove into the city to visit my cousin. Her husband was a big Mets fans, and often we would watch both teams’ games on those Sundays.

Graig Nettles was my favorite player from the mid-1970s and into the early 1980s – until he was traded to San Diego and before Don Mattingly arrived in the Bronx for good in 1984. I loved the way Nettles played defense, and Mattingly’s first six full seasons were as good as any in history.

I remember watching (on television) Reggie Jackson’s three World Series home runs on consecutive pitches in the 1977 World Series. I remember my dad coming home from work one August afternoon in 1979 and telling me that Thurman Munson had died in a plane crash. Four days later, I fought back tears as I watched (on TV) Bobby Murcer’s amazing and emotional performance against the Orioles (drove in all five runs in a 5-4 victory).

My favorite memory as a fan was attending my first World Series games with my good friend Sam in 1996 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Yankees took Game 4 (Jim Leyritz’s game-tying three-run home run) and Game 5 (Andy Pettitte-John Smoltz pitching duel) against the Braves en route to the Yankees’ first Series title in 17 seasons.

Another favorite moment came in Miami in 1980, where I attended my first spring training game in 1980 – at Miami Stadium (which later would be renamed Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium in honor of the Havana Sugar Kings owner). I still have the ball I got signed by several players, including Chris Chambliss, Al Bumbry, Ken Singleton and Doug DeCinces, before that game between the Orioles and Braves.

AB: You have worked in sports journalism as a writer and editor, working for the Tampa Tribune, Miami Herald, and USA Today. What inspired you to work in sports journalism? Who were some of the key individuals who aided you along the way?

CB: As a huge baseball fan and sports fan in general, I knew before I started high school that I wanted to be a sports writer. By then we had moved to South Florida, where Miami radio station WIOD carried Yankees games. I used to love listening to games on radio and keeping score.

I worked for my high school newspaper, where I had a terrific journalism advisor, Bonnie Sipe. In college at the University of Florida, I worked at the student newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator. There I worked with some great journalists, covered multiple sports and became sports editor. One of my professors, William McKeen, taught editing at the time. Later he would connect me with my first publisher, University Press of Florida, after seeing my Cuban baseball history blog.

I did internships at the Jacksonville Times-Union, Miami Herald and Washington Post. During my Herald internship in 1987, John Wolin was a demanding editor whose lessons I still remember. Gary Sease was an editor at the Times-Union who gave me tremendous opportunities on the police beat in the summer of 1986. After I returned to the Herald as a copy editor years later, then-sports editor Dave Wilson gave me the chance to write a big cover story I had pitched on Jackie Robinson’s spring training in Cuba for the 50th anniversary of his breaking of baseball’s color barrier. That led to more writing opportunities at the Herald, which led to a writing job at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which led to a job at USA TODAY, where I eventually became baseball editor before I transitioned to working as a digital producer on the website.

AB: In addition to your work as a sportswriter and editor, you are also a historian who has authored two books on Cuban baseball. What is it about the history of Cuban baseball that has captured your imagination?

CB: When I was a kid my father would tell me about all the American players who would come to Havana in the winter to play in the Cuban League. Among them: Tommy Lasorda, Monte Irvin, Ray Dandridge, Bill Virdon, Dick Williams, Don Zimmer and a Dodgers minor leaguer named Kevin Connors, who would become more famous as Hollywood actor Chuck Connors of the 1950-60s TV show “The Rifleman.”

Of course, my dad told me about the Cuban players in the league as well. When I became a sports writer, I remembered those stories and started tracking down some of those retired players – Max Lanier, Monte Irvin, Agapito Mayor – for newspaper articles.

I knew eventually I wanted to write a book on Cuban baseball history. But I think I was hooked on the topic when I read an article by Roberto González Echevarría in “Spring Training Magazine.” He wrote about Jackie Robinson’s spring training in Havana coinciding with an epic series between Cuban League rivals Almendares and Habana. Between that article and Jules Tygiel’s book, “Baseball’s Great Experiment,” Robinson and the Cuban League became my baseball obsessions. That led to my Herald article on Robinson and Cuba, which formed the basis for my first book, “Havana Hardball.”

AB: Your books “Last Season in Havana” and “Havana Hardball” cover two notable moments in Cuban baseball history. What do you hope readers gain an appreciation for about Cuban baseball in reading your books? Are there a couple of anecdotes from your research and travels that reminded you of why these are key moments in Cuban baseball?

CB: A deep and rich shared baseball history once existed between Cuba and the U.S. I can’t tell you how many people have told me after reading my books, “I had no idea that” … fill in the blank. That the Cuban League was founded in 1878, just two years after the National League. That the Cuban League had been integrated since 1900. That stars such as Babe Ruth, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Ted Williams and many others had played in Cuba. That the Brooklyn Dodgers had used Havana as a spring training base several times. That Cuba was at the center of several pivotal events in baseball history in the 1940s: Jackie Robinson’s breaking of baseball’s color barrier. MLB’s war with the Mexican League. The first significant wave of Latino players, both black and white, to reach the majors. The founding of the Caribbean Series. Most baseball fans don’t know that shared history.

On a smaller, very “inside baseball” scale, I was fascinated by one story I came across during my research for “Havana Hardball.” While poring over newspaper articles of the Dodgers’ spring training games in Havana in 1947, I discovered that Dixie Walker, infamous for the players petition against Robinson, had invented something during the team’s stay in Cuba that would become ubiquitous throughout baseball for decades to come – infield fungo screens. Walker and his family ran a sporting goods store back home in Alabama. When a teammate got nailed with a hit ball during batting practice, Walker took it upon himself to fashion a screened barrier to place in front of the bases and protect the infielders. It was cool finding out that such a common baseball item was invented during spring training in Cuba.

AB: The Trump Administration revoked the agreement between Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation. What did you think about the initial agreement in terms of what it meant for Cuban players aspiring to play in MLB? Given your expertise on Cuban baseball, what does the rejection of this agreement mean for Cuban players?

CB: I was out at dinner with my wife and son when I looked at my cell phone and saw the alert that MLB and Cuba had reached an historic agreement in December 2018. My initial reaction was that I needed to call my publisher – the University of Nebraska Press – to see if there was any chance to update the epilogue with the news. It was too late, unfortunately.

My next reaction was that it was great news. Cuban players – blocked from leaving the island for decades – finally would be able to play in the U.S. without having to risk their lives by defecting like players such as Aroldis Chapman, Yoenis Cépedes, Yasiel Puig, José Abreu and other had done.

In recent years, defecting from Cuba had become increasing dangerous because of the use of smugglers and human traffickers. With this agreement, the practice would end. Unfortunately, three months later, the Trump administration invalidated the agreement, reversing the Obama administration’s policy that had given MLB permission to negotiate with the Cuban Baseball Federation.

I appreciate the sentiment – especially in the Cuban exile community – against doing business with Cuba. My family had fled Cuba’s communism during the Camarioca boatlift in 1965 when I was 5 months old.

My parents, grandparents and other family members left behind everything they had ever known for the uncertainty of a life in a foreign country. I understand those who don’t want to reward the Cuban government in any way.

But the Trump administration’s reversal guarantees that Cuban players will continue to try to defect from the island in order to reach the majors. And that means they will continue to risk their lives by hiring smugglers and human traffickers. The incentives – potentially playing baseball at the highest level and the millions of dollars that can come with such opportunities – are simply too great. I’m afraid something terrible is going to happen at some point.

AB: Thanks so much César for sharing your story and insights. You can follow him on Twitter at @cbrioso.

Featured Image: Courtesy César Brioso