By Martin Reilly
MANAGUA — We knew that baseball in Nicaragua
was like a second faith, but to learn that the Amateur
Baseball World Cup was to be played here was something
like a divine revelation from the International Baseball
Federation. Australia being among the 16 competing nations
was another pleasant surprise. For two weeks the talk of
Nicaraguans was not the transport strike, the escalating
petrol prices — now nearly 90 cents a litre — nor
the abductions and killings in the north, but "Will
Nicaragua win the World Cup?"
The Sandinista daily Barricada enticed readers with a
World Cup album. Each day readers were invited to clip out
photos of baseball and other sports stars to fill the
album. It didn't really matter that soccer players were
included; this World Cup, after all, followed the Soccer
World Cup, from which Latinos continue to celebrate the
triumph of Brazil and raise questions about whether Diego
was duped or doped.
All this helped build the pre-game fervour, though our
five-year-old is still seeking 30 more "stars" to
complete the album.
Come opening day, everything was prepared — well,
nearly everything. Street vendors near the stadium were
removed to make a bigger car park for the expected fans.
Despite the eight-hour power restrictions due to the
drought, light was provided for the night games. The
National Baseball Stadium in Managua was given a gloss of
paint, and the electricians were called in to make sure
the lights worked.
Buying tickets, however, took five attempts. After going
to the stadium four times and each time being told
"Sorry, they're not available yet" and "We're
not exactly sure how much they cost", I got them on
the afternoon of Australia's game against Nicaragua (which
the Nicaraguans won). Even the second best seats cost
around $10, much more than a day's wage for many
Nicaraguans. Accordingly, many of the expected fans stayed
at home.
In the regional city of Masaya, however, the stadium was
far from ready. On day two of the competition I found
myself with the urgent job of delivering the Australian
team's freshly washed uniforms in time for their afternoon
game with Italy. When I asked a person on the street for
directions to the stadium I had no idea of the
significance of the instructions, "Just follow the
truck carrying the generators".
I dutifully followed the truck, which was arriving three
days late, into the stadium. Rain delayed the scheduled
start, so the match became a night game and we had to wait
for the electricians to connect the generators to the
lights .
Perhaps the four-hour delay explains the coach's unwise
decision to use a first base player as opening pitcher
against what were thought to be easy opponents, Italy.
Italy walloped five home runs in the first three innings
and Australia never recovered, losing 8-7. This game
became decisive, allowing Italy to play in the final eight
and by a whisker edge Australia into ninth place.
Much more can be blamed on this truck. The Australian
government has gone "gold medal mad" for the 2000
Olympics and, there was the promise of money to market and
develop baseball if the Australian team could do well at
these championships. Perhaps the future development of
baseball in Australia for the next decade was literally
riding on the back of that truck!
As the tournament proceeded, Australia was faring below
our hopes, so we turned to the Nicaraguan team. The whole
country was waiting for Nicaragua versus Cuba, the David
and Goliath duel. It's a showdown that the Nicaraguans
know well, not just because they read their Bibles, but
because their national history has been one of defiance
against the brutal Goliath, Somoza, Nicaragua's former
dictator, and his powerful allies to the North.
However in baseball, and many other sports, Cuba is the
unconquered giant. Most, if not all, of its team could
play in the US big league.
Despite a partisan crowd, Nicaraguan hopes — and ours
as well — fell the night they played Cuba. The Cuban
giant kept its pride and place. All the games seemed to
pale into insignificance after that game; the tournament
lost something of the surprise. In the final, Cuba played
Korea, and the inevitable happened. No team could touch
them, and Cuba remained undefeated yet again.
While Cuba won the World Cup, the real winners were the
sponsors. Pepsi, the official sponsor, Coca-Cola, which
cleverly promoted itself as the World Cup drink and Pizza
House were the biggest among many other businesses that
scored thousands of dollars of international advertising
space. The small food and drink vendors didn't get a look
into the stadium.
While the big businesses and multinationals reaped the
profits, Nicaragua was left with the bill instead of the
cup. It seems that Nicaragua now has another $1 million of
debt to service.
The businesses celebrated, and the Cubans left with the
cup. Nicaragua returned to the transport strike, the
kidnapping and killings and foreign debt. The World Cup
was a surprise to us initially, but in the end nothing
really surprised.