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Sports Watch
THERE'S no escaping Elian these days. Not even in the sports pages. ‘Miami Nice’ it
wasn’t with boycottElian Gonzalez, the Cuban 6-year-old who stole our hearts, wasn't the only one held hostage as a tug-of-war pawn protesting Castro's politics.
So were the Florida Marlins and major league baseball when Cuban-Americans called for a one-day work stoppage in Miami Tuesday.
Six Marlins with Cuban ties complied and stayed at home instead of going to work in the 6-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants that night.
There's a baseball truism that goes, "The games you lose in April mean as much as the games you lose in September."
Except for the Boston Red Sox, of course. They always win in April, only to lose in September.
That's why I was glad that the Marlins lost. They lost because they were not only shorthanded, but short-sighted in protesting the government's handling of Elian, suddenly everyone's poster child.
Didn't they realize that his Miami relatives threw more change-ups than Tom Glavine in their conditional demands to keep the kid from his father?
And, as television political wit Bill Maher recently noted, "Do we really want this kid raised by guys stupid enough to get into a hostage situation with Janet Reno?"
One of the absent-with-leave Marlins was right-hander Vladimir Nunez, who should have stayed home another day. He was bombed for six runs in two innings in his start against the Giants yesterday.
FLORIDA, however, certainly missed reliever Antonio Alfonseca, who had saved three consecutive games. He wasn't around in the extra-inning loss the day before. And Marlins manager John Boles had to use a pitcher to pinch hit.
With a strong anti-Castro Cuban community in Miami, the Marlins' front office had no choice but to respect the wishes of its players, allowing them to sit out the game with pay.
"This is a very passionate situation. We're part of the community," said Marlins' GM Dave Dombroski.
Boles agreed, although I don't know if I'd want someone managing my team who says, "Baseball isn't the No. 1 thing in life all the time. One game isn't going to be the end of the world."
Actually, both realized that the team had no choice in the matter than to knuckle in because of the political pressure.
That's where the players are wrong. Baseball shouldn't have a political or social issue hanging over it, more so if it hurts a team's chances to win.
BESIDES, it can set a precedent for the next cause, which might be deemed as worthy to another teammate.
Cincinnati's Alex Ochoa, born in Cuba, decided to play against the New York Mets, whose shortstop Rey Ordonez sat out the game that night.
Ochoa said that while he fully supported the cause, he played because, "I didn't want to let the team down."
Havana-born Rafael Palmeiro played that night for the Texas Rangers, though in a losing case to the Red Sox.
The Mets won without Ordonez. The Marlins didn't.
Maybe one night off in a 162-game schedule doesn't amount to a hill of beans for the Marlins, since they'll probably finish 35 games behind Atlanta in the National League East.
But wouldn't it be something if that loss, while playing shorthanded, comes back to haunt the Marlins?
As for those Cuban-Americans exiles in Miami who used the kid's case to force the hometown team to play Elian Ball, they didn't get any sympathy from me or, I'm sure, from most baseball fans.
Miami Nice, it wasn't.