Cubans coming, Orioles hurting

The Baltimore Orioles would rather have the day off.

When their series with Cuba was first announced last month, the Orioles were considered one of baseball’s best teams. They were also one of its highest-paid teams, with a nearly $80 million payroll and a lineup featuring Albert Belle, Cal Ripken and Will Clark.

Now, with the rematch at Camden Yards on Monday, the Orioles have the worst record in baseball, the fans are booing and manager Ray Miller is in danger of losing his job.

Ripken and Clark are on the disabled list, Belle is hitting .243 and the pitching has been awful.

Quite plainly, the Orioles have a lot more to worry about than facing a Cuban all-star team, the first time a squad from the communist nation is playing a major league club in the United States.

“I don’t think this team needs a distraction right now,” shortstop Mike Bordick said. “We’ll play hard and play to win, but we’ve got issues that we have to straighten out. First and foremost, we have to focus on our season.”

Almost 300 Cubans, including journalists, retired players and students, are expected to fly to Baltimore. Baseball-crazy Cubans back home hope the game will be broadcast live on television.

Cuban-Americans from Miami and the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area are planning a protest at Camden Yards. They regard the game as a public relations coup for Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Unlike the game in Havana a month ago, Castro will not be in the stands. Neither will President Clinton, or any other high U.S. official.

The State Department isn’t talking much about the game, except to acknowledge that a few of its employees might show up – if they buy their own tickets.

A senior Clinton administration official briefed reporters Friday on the nearly sold-out game, but said his name couldn’t be used. “We’re not in the position of encouraging defection; we’re not in the position of discouraging defection,” he said when asked about the issue.

He said no special measures were being taken to deal with any defectors but added that Immigration and Naturalization Service personnel would likely be at the game. There is also no indication the Cubans will be bringing along security personnel to deflect any defectors, the official said.

The exhibition, which comes in the middle of a 12-game homestand, robs the Orioles of one of their two scheduled off days in May.

“You can always use an off day at home. They don’t come around too often,” reliever Mike Timlin said. “But it’s on the schedule and we’ve got to do it.”

When the Orioles traveled to Havana on March 28 for the historic first game, there was an air of mystery and excitement. The players knew little about Cuba and even less about the national team, which had faredwell in Olympic competition but had never taken on a major league team.

“It was like a playoff atmosphere,” Bordick said. “It seemed like as soon as the game started, then all of a sudden we understood it was our country against their country.”Associated Press