Cuba is home to the top-ranked national baseball team in the world and this summer Prince George fans will get a chance to see that team in action.
Cuba has agreed to enter the World Baseball Challenge, July 8-19 at Citizen Field, joining the national teams of Canada, the United States, the Bahamas, the Beijing Tigers of China, and at least two more teams yet to be announced.
"We have the Number 1 team in the world coming here and you just don't top that," said WBC co-chair Jim Swanson. "It draws everybody else. There isn't a team in the world that doesn't want to measure itself against the Cubans. They set the bar for international baseball. They're ranked ahead of Japan, Korea, the United States, they're ranked ahead of everybody."
It took four years and two trips to Cuba by city-sponsored Prince George delegations before the communist country agreed to send its baseball best again to the WBC. Cuba won the inaugural WBC in 2002 when it was played in Grand Forks.
Swanson said Cuba will have its best players available for the WBC because the top Cuban league will have completed its season at that point.
"You can't dip into the best USA guys because Major League Baseball is going on at the same time as our tournament," said Swanson. "With the Cubans, there's no league that's competing against that, so you are going to see their best athletes here. They are off during that time."
Mayor Dan Rogers said there's no doubt the commitment of the Cuban team to the WBC will have an impact in raising the profile of the tournament and their inclusion will stimulate the city's tourism industry.
"This is absolutely huge news and all the credit goes to the organizing committee and the folks who have worked so long to talk to Cuba about the potential to come to Prince George for this international event," said Rogers. "It really puts this event on the international map and secures it for the future. It will draw baseball fans from all around the region who will come to Prince George just to get a glimpse of the Number 1-ranked national team in the world."
Like the rest of the baseball world, major league scouts will take an interest in the WBC, especially now that Cuba has joined the tournament lineup. MLB can't recruit Cubans unless they defect from their country due to restrictions and embargoes tied to Cuban-U.S. relations.
"Certainly the scouts will be here, but I think they will be here to watch the players competing against the Cubans, knowing the Cubans are off-limits to them," Swanson said. "It's an opportunity for them to measure those players against the best in the world. If they find a player who is playing as well as Cuban player or one who is dominating a Cuban player, it's going to help that player raise himself up in the eyes of scouts.
"There are Major League Baseball scouts that believe there are at least 200 if not 300 major league-calibre players in Cuba and that's the kind of guys who play in their league. A number of players that have come from Cuba and landed in the major leagues where not even starters with their club teams back in Cuba. It's that baseball rich."
Swanson said there's a good chance Chinese-Tapei and, possibly Japan, will be next in line to commit to the WBC for 2011. There could also be room in the tournament for the Prince George Westcana Electric Axemen, a team of local players that would be fortified with some out-of-town talent.
Tickets are available at Ticketmaster at the CN Centre box office or online at www.ticketmaster.ca. Full ticket packages cost $205.50 (reserve seating) or $155.50 (general admission).
