The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream [Paperback]

Steve Fainaru (Author), Ray Sanchez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2001

In 1998, a mysterious right-handed pitcher emerged from the ashes of the Cold War and helped lead the New York Yankees to a World Championship. His origins and even his age were uncertain. His name was Orlando El Duque Hernandez. He was a fallen hero of Fidel Castro's socialist revolution.

The chronicle of El Duque's triumph is at once a window into the slow death of Cuban socialism and one of the most remarkable sports stories of all time. Once hailed as a paragon of Castro's revolution, the finest pitcher in modern Cuban history was banned from baseball for life for allegedly plotting to defect. Instead of accepting his punishment, he fearlessly fought back, defying the Communist party authorities, vowing to pitch again, and ultimately fleeing his country in the bowels of a thirty-foot fishing boat.

Here, for the first time and in astonishing detail, the secrets behind El Duque's persecution and escape are revealed. Moving from the crumbling streets of post Cold War Havana to the polarized world of exile Miami, from the deadly Florida Straits to the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium, it is a story of cloak-and-dagger adventure, audacious secret plots, the pull of big money, and the historic collision of ideologies.

Present throughout are the larger-than-life characters who converged at this bizarre intersection of baseball and politics: El Duque himself, Fidel Castro, the Miami sports agent Joe Cubas, the late John Cardinal O'Connor along with scouts, smugglers, and the Cuban ballplayers who gave up their lives as tools of socialism to test the free market and chase their major-league dreams.

Reported in the United States and Cuba by two award-winning journalists who became part of the story they were covering, The Duke of Havana is a riveting saga of sports, politics, liberation, and greed.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With unparalleled access to players, coaches and agents in the U.S. and Cuba, Fainaru and Sanchez deliver a riveting account of the Cuban baseball establishment and the players it spawned, many of whom have defected in recent years to America to seek fame, fortune and freedom. The biggest star among the former Cuban players is the focal point of the book, New York Yankee pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. Fainaru, a Boston Globe reporter, and Newsday columnist Sanchez go into tremendous detail about Hernandez 's fall from grace as the best-known player in Cuba to his whirlwind escape that eventually landed him a multimillion-dollar contract with the Yankees. The authors clear up some El Duque mysteries, such as his age; and, in an engrossing section, they track Hernandez's harrowing flight from Cuba, including four days stranded on Anguilla Cay, a brief stint in a Bahamian jail and his arrival in Costa Rica, where his agent Joe Cubas had arranged a workout for the pitcher before major league scouts. Cubas, the most colorful of a host of characters in the book, was one of the first to represent defecting Cuban players and was behind the scheme that called for Cuban players to establish residency in another country before signing with a major league team a move that made the players free agents and thus made them available to the highest bidder. But not everyone in the complex network that ferrets players from Cuba to the U.S. finds a pot of gold. In a tragic case, agent Juan Ignacio is serving 15 years in a Cuban jail for encouraging players to defect. Part sports narrative, part tale of Cold War intrigue, it's a first-rate read. (on sale Mar. 20) Forecast: El Duque's inside story is causing a stir, with inclusion on Talk's top 10 list, a forthcoming article in Maxim, and a first serial in The Boston Globe Magazine. Expect solid sales.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Two journalists (Fainaru of the Boston Globe and Sanchez of Newsday) whose beat is Latin America have teamed up for an insightful view of Cuban baseball. Focusing primarily on the incredible story of New York Yankees' pitcher and Cuban great Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, who escaped from Cuba in a small boat and pitched nine months later in the World Series, the authors do not shy away from controversy. Even readers with little interest in baseball will find this book intriguing. Recommended for larger libraries.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Villard (March 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812992563
• ISBN-13: 978-0812992564
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,219,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Baseball Book Not Written by Halberstam, June 20, 2001

By 

Hank Waddles (Long Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream (Hardcover)

Even casual baseball fans know the story of Orlando "El Duque" Hernández's escape from Cuba and his eventual rise to success with the world champion New York Yankees. In their excellent book, Fainaru and Sánchez focus on El Duque's amazing story, but they also shed light on the back-door deals and behind-the-scenes espionage necessary to bring such defections about. They provide the reader with enough historical and political background to understand the economic pressures confronting Cuban baseball players, many of whom could be earning millions of dollars in the United States. Many of the stories are heart-wrenching, as families are divided and dreams are put on hold. Most interesting, though, are those players who remain loyal to Castro and the oppressive Cuban system. El Duque's story, however, stands above all others. His journey from abject poverty to the World Series within a span of only ten months wouldn't play in Hollywood, but it does in the Bronx.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baseball Book of the Year!!!!, May 10, 2001

By 

Thomas K. Reilly (Cape Neddick, Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream (Hardcover)

Loved this book and couldn't put it down! Steve Fainaru and Ray Sanchez take you inside Castro's Cuba and clearly document the dilemmas faced by its' athletes. This book is a suspenseful, gripping narrative which delves into the political intrigue surrounding El Duque's life in Cuba and escape from the island. It is enough to make a die-hard Red Sox fan appreciate El Duque and his fellow defectors. Thank you Steve Fainaru. You 'da man!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Story of Inequality, June 17, 2002

By 

Elizabeth Matthaei (Pullman, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream (Hardcover)

Fidel Castro controls everything in Cuba. He governs not only the political aspects of the country, but also dictates every detail of life for the people under his leadership. Steve Fainaru and Ray Sanchez describe Castro's influence on baseball in their book, The Duke of Havana: Cuba, Baseball and the Search for the American Dream. Baseball serves as the ultimate venue for Castro to execute his power over Cuba because the sport incorporates the politics, economics, religion and entertainment for the country. For the participating professional athletes, baseball is not only a game, but also a way of life for them and their families. The sport separates the athletes from the rest of society by paying them higher salaries and providing them with nicer homes along with other advantages.

Fainaru uses the story of El Duque's defection to evoke sympathy for Cuban baseball players willing to take any risks to live out their dreams in the American Major League Baseball. However, the special treatment given to the athletes in the Bahamas further illustrates how sport sets its competitors away from the rest of society. Allowing the Cuban baseball players to leave while the other passengers remain in the Bahamian detention center emphasizes an overlooked injustice that exists in countries with professional athletic teams.

The Duke of Havana: Cuba, Baseball and the Search for the American Dream leads readers to believe baseball operates as the great equalizer. It plays upon the image of a poor, black Cuban rising above all odds to come to the United States and win the World Series. The underlying themes in the book, however, are far more thought provoking. The separation between professional athletes and the rest of society speaks volumes about the values of the different countries. In this area, the United States and Cuba are far more alike than either country would like to admit. Many hurdles subside along the road to becoming a professional athlete and individuals who achieve this goal should be rewarded even though the exponential rate at which players receive validation for their hard work undermines the contributions of others. Unfortunately, nothing will change until people open their eyes to inequality they perpetuate with their own pocketbooks.