A Trip Back in Time
With the game over and most of the Major League Baseball traveling party departed, my day started with a meeting at the ballpark. Federation President Higinio Velez and members of his staff hosted the meeting. Jean, who has photographed baseball in Cuba a number of times, was also there, given her familiarity with the Federation. So was Lou Schwechheimer and Tommy Goodman with The Caribbean Baseball Initiative (CBI), a U.S.-based foundation whose mission is to use baseball to build a bridge between the U.S. and Cuba. We met in a stadium conference room. We talked about a potential Hall of Fame and Museum at the stadium. We discussed exhibit concepts and program ideas. We toured the prospective site with Omar Linares, a retired Cuban star third baseman with 404 home runs, second most in Cuban baseball history. I secured an Industriales T-shirt for my son and a hat for myself.