April 16, 2014

Escape from Cuba: Yasiel Puig's Untold Journey to the Dodgers: What was this gladiator-size man, with the Popeye forearms and the XXL chest, actually worth—to the people bankrolling his defection from Cuba

posted by BornIcon to baseball at 09:43 AM - 2 comments

This is a great read. It's hard to believe that baseball stars like Puig could be so vulnerable to organized crime -- Mexican drug cartels, even -- and nothing could be done about it. Could it really be possible that 20% of his money is being siphoned off by people involved in his defection?

One more pleasant anecdote from the story:

One evening last October, unplanned and unannounced, Puig dropped by the Northeast Los Angeles Little League field, in the hills right across from Dodger Stadium, and after nearly an hour of autographs and photos, insisted on throwing batting practice.

"It was just mind-blowing," said John Vergara, whose nine-year-old son, Daniel, got to smack a meatball off Puig. "I've been coaching at Northeast Little League for about 14 years, and there's never been a current Dodger player, let alone a star, who's come up to the field and just done that."

posted by rcade at 07:22 PM on April 16, 2014

No One Walks Off The Island

posted by BornIcon at 08:48 AM on April 17, 2014

You're not logged in. Please log in or register.