To tweet: https://es.pn/1aaqgil

Castro on Future of Cuban Baseball
Outside the Lines (Sunday 8 a.m. ET, ESPN2)

Tony Castro (Fidel’s son) introducing Paula to Havana’s Industriales professional players.

Cuba recently announced it would raise the salaries of top athletes who stay in the country, and some Cubans want to see a better baseball relationship with the U.S. Leading that effort is Tony Castro, son of former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who long ago tied baseball to politics and made it a crime for Cuban players to play in America. Paula Lavigne was granted rare access to the younger Castro, who shared his vision for the future of Cuban baseball.

“We need to do something. We need to change in the both sides. This is a political situation, but we need to do something realistic because we need to do something for our players.” – Tony Castro, son of Fidel Castro, on why the relationship between Cuba and the U.S. must change to help save baseball in Cuba.

 

Alfred Morris’ “Bentley”
Sunday NFL Countdown (Sunday, 10 a.m., ESPN)

https://youtu.be/vREYHalJoEo

Despite earning millions, Washington Redskins’ running back Alfred Morris still drives the 1991 Mazda 626 he affectionately nicknamed “Bentley.” This summer, the car received a bumper-to-bumper overhaul, including getting rid of the dents Morris called “dimples.”

“A lot of that stuff — the TVs and all that other nonsense — in it is just for show, and that’s not what I was going for. So I think they did a great job of making it just modest enough without crossing that line of making it flashy.” — Alfred Morris

 

Texas’ Special Needs Community Profits from Team Owner’s Profits
ESPN Deportes SportsCenter (Sunday,11 p.m.)
Reportajes Especiales piece (ESPNDeportes.com)

For many professional sports owners, money is the driving force. But for one owner in San Antonio, Texas, giving back is the priority. FC Scorpions’ owner Gordon Hartman is using his team’s profits to help the special needs community, something that started with inspiration he found through his daughter.

 

Garrard’s Wife Reroutes QB to Jets
ESPNNewYork.com

Courtesy of Mary Garrard

Jane McManus writes: “While David Garrard was retired this summer, he stayed in shape by running and playing flag football with his wife, Mary, who quarterbacks a Florida women’s team called the Iron Maidens.”

Cuban Baseball

Paula interviewing Victor Mesa Manager for Matanzas and Cuban National Baseball team.

To research Sunday’s Outside the Lines’ Cuban Baseball piece, reporter Paula Lavigne and producer Andy Lockett were able to enter Cuba where they spent five days interviewing and shooting. Below is Lavigne’s account. To view Lockett’s photos: OTL’s Behind the Scenes Look at Cuban Baseball

“Our efforts to go to Cuba started in January when we submitted a request for media visas with the Cuban government. (There was no issue with the U.S. government – as journalists, we qualify for an automatic license to travel to Cuba.) Our visa request was going nowhere until we hit a stroke of pure luck. Cuba’s National Team was scheduled to play a series of exhibition games against Team USA in the United States. So we corralled Cuba’s coach Victor Mesa in Omaha, Neb., with an interview and a promise – that we would continue the conversation at his home in Havana.

In the meantime, I had also been reaching out to Tony Castro, one of Fidel’s younger sons, who was a member of the International Baseball Federation, and I caught up with him when he was in New York. With these two heavy hitters on our side, our visas finally went through – in August!

We went into Cuba not really knowing what to expect. It had a reputation of being very closed off, very censored, obviously due to the embargo and its long history of tension with the U.S. But we were shocked at the access we had with Castro and Mesa’s help. We went to a few stadiums, talked to coaches and players – even went to a player’s house. For a current Cuban player like Yulieski Gourriel to give an interview to an American television network is pretty rare.

Personally, I was really surprised – and encouraged – by how forthright people were. Here was Tony Castro, whose father symbolized socialism, talking about completely revolutionizing baseball in very capitalist terms: allowing players not only to play in the major leagues, but to keep most of their salaries; getting corporate sponsors for stadiums; turning baseball into a money-making operation.

There have been so many stories this year about Cuban baseball, in light of the success of current Cuban players, and so many of them have just given a pass to what it’s like in Cuba, saying it’s a closed society. Well, here we are inside, giving viewers a good look at Cuba today and a glimpse at its future.”