Fidel Castro did not enjoy the World Baseball Classic

We know that Fidel Castro really loves baseball. We also know that he really hates losing. But even so, he seems to have taken Cuba’s elimination by Japan from the World Baseball Classic pretty hard. First there was this self-flagellating column from last Friday, praising the “technical and scientific” advancement of Asian baseball and berating ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
587504_090324_castro2.jpg
587504_090324_castro2.jpg
BARQUISIMETO, VENEZUELA - OCTOBER 28: Cuban President Fidel Castro (R) gets ready to bat during a friendly baseball game againt the Venezuelan team 28 October, 2000 in Barquisimeto, 350km (some 180 miles) east of Caracas. Castro is in Venezuela for a five-day official visit. Other players are unidentified. El Presidente cubano Fidel Castro (D) trata de batear en un juego de Beisbol en la ciudad de Barquisimeto ubicada a 350 km al este de Caracas el 28 de Octubre del 2000, donde Castro realiza una visita oficial de cinco dias. Castro a visitado lugares historicos incluida la tumba de Simon Bolivar. La visita de Castro a Venezuela ha sido fuertemente criticada por la oposicion a Chavez. Los otros jugadores no son identificados. (Photo credit should read JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images)

We know that Fidel Castro really loves baseball. We also know that he really hates losing. But even so, he seems to have taken Cuba's elimination by Japan from the World Baseball Classic pretty hard. First there was this self-flagellating column from last Friday, praising the "technical and scientific" advancement of Asian baseball and berating his own team's coaches:

We know that Fidel Castro really loves baseball. We also know that he really hates losing. But even so, he seems to have taken Cuba’s elimination by Japan from the World Baseball Classic pretty hard. First there was this self-flagellating column from last Friday, praising the “technical and scientific” advancement of Asian baseball and berating his own team’s coaches:

I should point out that the team leadership in San Diego was abysmal.  The old criteria of well-trodden paths prevailed against a capable adversary who is constantly innovating.

We must learn the relevant lessons.

In a weird psuedo-Maoist moment, Cuba’s players were instructed to study the column and “systematically evaluate” Castro’s writing upon their return to Havana.

Then in a column yesterday (written before Japan’s eventual win) he declared that the results proved that the contest had been “organized by those who run the exploitation of sports in the United States” because Cuba had been placed in the same division as eventual finalists South Korea and Japan. (He actually kind of has a point about that.)

If anyone should be humiliated by how the WBC turned out, it’s those overpaid capitalist stooges the Dominicans, not Cuba. As he did after the Olympics, Castro seems strangely focused on the negative but I guess that’s just blogger Fidel doing his thing. 

Speaking of blogger Fidel, this piece about Rahm Emanuel from February is kind of how I would imagine Gabriel Garcia Marquez would write after a 36-hour Robitussin binge.

JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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