Today's baseball: Unpleasant news is magnified

Well, I'm sorry to say it, but the unpleasant news surrounding the 63rd Cuban National Baseball Series keeps coming. Last Sunday was probably one of the worst days of this season, when several members of the Cienfuegos Elephants team violently attacked the main umpire of the game.

The disappointing situation occurred at the end of the tenth inning, when Toros de Camagüey leadoff Michael Thompson hit a single to center with runners on second and third. The runner from third, Adrián Hernández, scored without mishap. And then second runner Carlos Matos tried to reach the plate to score the winning run. Matos slid across the plate in one quick motion to touch home plate with his left hand.

At that same moment, catcher Richel López received the throw from center fielder Félix Rodríguez. The throw came in time for Richel to try to put Matos out at the plate. López caught the shot and turned quickly to his left to touch Matos, but umpire Yosvani Simón declared it safe.

The Toros won 7-6 playing as a home club at the 5 de Septiembre stadium in Cienfuegos, and the angry protest of the Elephants immediately began.

I think the pictures speak for themselves:

Look, many of us have been watching baseball for years, and many of those who read this column are Cuban. We know how passionately baseball is played in Cuba. We know that, in situations like these, when an umpire's call defines a baseball game, it is quite difficult to contain the protests of the losing team.

Without having to resort to offenses or acts of violence, there are reasonable situations and reactions. But what happened in Cienfuegos last Sunday afternoon, if the Cuban Baseball Federation does not take strong measures, could be the beginning of more violent acts in baseball parks.

For the moment, the National Commission reported in an official note that “Six players and one manager were expelled and suspended for one game after what happened this Sunday in the Camagüey-Cienfuegos game.” National commissioner Juan Reynaldo Pérez Pardo clarified that greater disciplinary measures may come for these cases when the analysis is concluded. The Elephants players who will not be able to play tomorrow, Tuesday, will be Richel López, Félix Rodríguez, Luis Vicente Mateo, Luis Serpa, Dany Oramas, Samuel Calderón and director Jorge Rodríguez.

In the game of baseball, under no circumstances can aggression be allowed, much less allow these types of collective reactions to become trends. If sanctions remain light and drastic decisions are not taken, future consequences could be even more violent.

The other point to analyze in detail here was how a group of fans gathered outside the stadium to offend the umpires. I totally agree with the fans supporting their teams with multiple initiatives in each province. That's what baseball is all about, enjoying the game as much as possible. I also admire the fact that, even though the Elephants (14-23) are in last place in the standings in this 63rd National Series, their fans have not stopped coming to the stadium. But supporting the team in good and bad times cannot lead fans to attack umpires for their mistakes.

Many of us who love baseball understand how much any defeat by our favorite team hurts. And, of course, we know how much frustration is felt when a bad call by an umpire ends up deciding the fate of a baseball game. Even so, there are no justifications for events like those that occurred last Sunday at the 5 de Septiembre stadium.

It is reasonable that, with the euphoria of the moment, the fans failed to reflect on why Cienfuegos lost the game. Obviously, many will say that the last play bore all the weight of the defeat, when Camagüey umpire Yosvani Simón declared the safe in favor of the Toros. But what is truly irrefutable is that the Elephants' bullpen has been a disaster all season. And, before taking a 6-5 lead at the bottom of the 10th inning, the team had left 12 runners on base.

This inefficiency does not justify poor work by the umpire either, although I do not think there is enough evidence to define whether the play was out or safe. From the recordings that were published on Social Networks, it really cannot be defined if catcher Richel López touched the runner in time.

On the other hand, what can be seen more clearly is that the positioning of catcher Richel López seems to interfere with the runner's entry to home plate. Either way, Simón declared it safe. For him, it was not necessary to apply the collision rule, where I think the Bulls would have also had the advantage.

From my experience, I really only have good memories of the games I have covered in Cienfuegos. I fondly remember my friend Darilys Reyes (unfortunately deceased in a car accident outside the stadium), who covered Elephants games and wrote with unparalleled passion. The last time I was there was in 2019, for three days that I will never forget.

The atmosphere in the press box and in the stadium was always pleasant. I also used to talk with Aslám Castellón, a prominent photojournalist for the Elefantes, and with Agustín, the former local announcer at the 5 de Septiembre stadium. The break in the Radio Ciudad del Mar booth was mandatory, to share a few minutes with the announcers Digno Rodríguez and Osvaldo Vega, who have called the Cienfuegos Elephants games for years.

Between the 2010 and 2019 postseason I covered many games there, and my contact with the fans was always special.

Since then, times have changed a lot, but I'm sure the passion of Elephants fans is still something to admire. So, I just hope that this type of situation does not happen again. It would be the best thing to oxygenate the main pastime of Cubans, especially at a time when baseball these days is not experiencing its best moment.