The story contains errors (Barbaro Garbey last played
for Cuba in the 1976 World Champions at Cartagena,
Colombia, and not in 1978 at Parma, Bologna and
Rimini, Italy, for instance) and ommisions (no mention
of the betting scandal of the late 70s in Cuba), it
does underline a huge big truth: Garbey was the first.
I met his cousin Pedro, a field coach with Cuba's
Track and Field team, in Mexico in September of 1979.
He told me that Barbaro was in some sort of trouble;
he did not specify and I did not press the issue.
So in a way I think he might have been a somewhat
reluctant pioneer.
But he showed that Cuban baseball was of high quality,
and that members of the Cuban National Team could make
it to the Major Leagues.
By the way, he also beat Rey Ordoņez as the first post
Castro Cuban field player to make it to the Show...



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