Idle Threat or the New Cuban Imbecile Crisis

The first shot was fired over the World Baseball Classic bow by everyone's favorite dictator, Fidel Castro. I know you're thinking, "Isn't he dead, yet?" Well, he's not. You would think that smoking Cuban cigars for 50 years might do some harm but it must be medicinal marijuana to dull the pain that is his brain.

Today, Fidel comes out with this nugget of joy. "We aren't afraid of anything," Castro said in a wide-ranging speech late Tuesday. "It's very difficult to compete against us in any area ... not even in baseball do they want to compete with Cuba."

Fidel may be on to something here. We can't compete with Cuba when it comes to technology. Our 1950 automobiles can't float across the ocean with 30 people on it. Our televisions don't transmit in black and white and in mono sound. So he may be right about that one.

As for baseball, it's doubtful that any player from our major leagues to minors to college level would not want to play against the best from any country. Personally, Cuba should be allowed to participate. But if I were Fidel, I'd worry more about the defectors. Hasn't he learned from past experiences that the Cubans want to play in America. We are the land of the free. The "home of the long term contract*"

Once in America the players may take the field with "Defector" on the back of their jerseys instead of their actual name. This would also give the Yankees another reason to hike their payroll after they signed the entire team to multi-year deals.

In closing and in summation, America is not scared of Cuban baseball players and neither are any of the other teams. Fidel is attempting to take pot shots and run his mouth so that his teams can play with the big boys. Let them play and hopefully they'll get beaten like the oppressed peoples that they are.

* "home of the long term contract" Copyright by Scott Boras, LLC. (not really but someday it may be true)

Update: Cuba gets to come to America.