Baseball is a passion shared by all Cubans.
And the first-ever Olympic gold medal in baseball goes to Cuba!
Since baseball was introduced in Cuba from the US,
Cubans fell in love with it with such passion.
In Cuba, baseball runs through our veins.
And that's the ball game! Cuba defeats the United States.
There is no other public event in Cuba that draws as many fans
and as much commentary and public debate
as baseball during the last century.
Baseball is our national sport.
It's tied to our identity.
In many occasions,
it expressed the highest levels of national pride.
The victories and baseball were seen as proof of what Cubans
were capable of in the international arena.
(ARRIBA CUBA - THE BASEBALL DIPLOMACY)
Baseball is part of the identity of Cubans.
It became a sport around the 18th and 19th centuries.
And, like boxing, became popular
amongst low-income classes.
Since those times,
baseball has been part of our national identity.
Before the Revolution, there was a championship
with four professional teams.
After the triumph of the Revolution,
Commander-in-chief Fidel Castro banned professional sports.
That's how baseball was brought to the masses,
in a totally new amateur league which didn't feature
any of the pro players from the pro teams -
Havana, Almendares, Cienfuegos and Marianao.
The triumph of the Revolution in 1959, identified sport
as a source for the wellbeing of the people.
It declared sports a right of the people.
Sports were meant to bring joy to the nation.
It's no secret that Major League Baseball,
played in the US, is the best in the world.
Many have had to leave our country to be able to
play in the majors in the US.
There are many players shining there
who were trained here in Cuba.
Omar Linares was an extraordinary player.
He was one of those who stayed in Cuba, who didn't go to
the Major League, even though he was more than qualified.
He could have shined in the US.
(MANY CUBAN BASEBALL STARS FOREGO MAJOR-LEAGUE FAME)
(SOME CAN RESIST THE LURE OF AMERICAN DOLLARS)
I played with the national team for more than 17 years
and I received offers every year. I rejected all of them,
because this is where I got my education and training.
And here, I was given every opportunity to prove
that despite the embargo, Cuban sports are still alive.
Cuban baseball has proven that it's among the best.
I have always played here and I will remain here.
Ladies and gentlemen, the medals will be
presented by Mr James L Easton, International Olympic Committee
member of the United States of America.
Omar received multiple offers,
but wasn't interested in the money.
He felt bound to his country and his people
and he put his ideology first.
He knew the role he played in his country.
He received multimillion dollar offers,
but that proved one of his virtues.
That, for him, his Cuba was more important
than all the money in the world.
It'd be hard to imagine,
that the first visit in decades of a US president to Cuba
wouldn't include the cultural event that more closely
brings Cuba and the US together, and that's baseball.
(OBAMA BRINGS BASEBALL DIPLOMACY TO CUBA)
Sports is an ambassador that creates ties between countries.
It didn't happen by chance.
It was a well-thought-out plan to create a symbol that
represented that, among our many differences,
there are also things that we share.
I hope that baseball can contribute somehow to bring
Cuba and the US closer.
It'll be long before anyone can forget
that the presidents of the US and Cuba took a break
during their negotiations to go to the old
Latin American Stadium to watch a baseball game.
But that baseball game meant much more,
it was a demonstration of the many things that unite us.
And one of them is baseball.