Cuba A Favorite in Baseball

This in from Cuba... where baseball is heating up!

12 Teams in Pre-Olympic Tournament

After a bright and colorful inauguration and the first game in which the Cuban team ratified its leadership by soundly beating Colombia 14-0, the two groups competing in the Pre-Olympics of the Americas began contending to take one of the two slots available in the upcoming Olympic Games, the last to feature baseball if an International Olympic Committee decision is not revoked.

U.S. SEES CUBA AS A FAVORITE

A quality offense and experience will be the key factors for the U.S. team, which hopes to finish first or second in the pre-Olympic of the Americas, according to outfielder Chad Allen.

"We’re going to the best we can to win the classification in a battle that is looking to be difficult," Allen commented.

"We have batters with a lot of potential," he noted, adding that Cuba is a favorite on its home turf.

Allen is one of the most experienced players on the U.S. team, which is made up of professional players from the Major League feeder teams, or "roster players."

The United States won the Olympic championship in 2000, but its team also bears in mind the nightmare they went through in 2003, when Mexico eliminated them, and Cuba and Canada were the classifying teams for the Games.

Team manager Davey Johnson said the composition of the two groups was not important: "We’re here to play baseball. Sooner or later, we’re going to compete against each other."

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2006/agosto/mar29/36beisbol-i.html