Higinio Velez
Higinio Velez
Higinio Vélez Carriónis a Cuban baseball manager. After leading Santiago de Cuba to three straight championships in the Cuban National Series, he became the manager of the Cuban national baseball team, which he led to the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics...
forgot great hard humble love millions provide recognize respect sacrifice succeeded themselves time work
I'd like to recognize the work of the professional ballplayers, who for the first time forgot about the millions (of dollars) they make and thought about themselves to come here and provide a great show. We love and respect the major-leaguers, because most of them come from very humble backgrounds, and have succeeded with hard work, sacrifice and great effort.
begins classic far gained happened tournament valuable
What's happened so far in the Classic is history. For us, the tournament begins today. In the first round, we gained some valuable experience.
basis frequent game happen occur rather simply
These are things that simply happen in the game of baseball. If this were to occur on a frequent basis for Cuba, this would be rather worrisome. But this is not the case.
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Some people say our athletes are isolated and besieged. Whoever wants to go into exile can just walk away or stand next to a policeman. Our players are not prisoners. Simply, our athletes are besieged because people want to turn them into merchandise. But they want to play for their country. They want to continue to play for the love of their flag ... They're not interested in millions. Whoever wants to leave can leave in peace. We all play without thinking about money.
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The President did not demand us to win the tournament, but he told us that we should play well, and teach the world how baseball is played in Cuba.
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We know the Asians. We have played against the Asians, we know how the Asian teams play, and they're great players. They put everything into the field, great effort, very similar to Latin American players.
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When I said that this was a team made of men and not names, I didn't mean that the others were not men. They're as manly as we are. We're all men and good men and hard men and manly men.
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For you, some of the media and press that follow baseball, it might have been a surprise. It's normal for us. This is the way we play baseball in Cuba.
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For us, the Classic starts today and the rest is history.
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I'd like to repeat that Cuba is still a very good team. If this were to occur on a regular basis - using the mercy rule on us - it would be worrisome.
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Let's fight together so this event won't be held every four years but rather every two, so the baseball world won't have to wait so long to enjoy this.
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Now we've shown what Cuba can do. Now we've seen the courage of the players when they went out into the field.
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I feel regret and sorrow that the U.S. is not here because it is wonderful baseball. It really hurts me. It bothers me because we admire the way they play, and we would have liked to face the U.S. in this tournament.
brings defend flag love men players team together
You have a team of men and not of names. If you don't play as a team, you have to defend the flag of your country. You have to defend your homeland, the love for your country. That is what brings together the players in a team.