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Hall
of Famer, Tony Perez and many others join in support of Elian
Gonzalez!
April 25, 2000 -- In a first for baseball, players and coaches around the
Major Leagues skipped games, joining a work stoppage by Miami's Cuban-American community to protest Elian Gonzalez's removal from
the home of his relatives.
Tampa Bay's Jose Canseco was the most prominent player to sit out, joining six Florida Marlins, two San Francisco Giants,
Mets shortstop Rey Ordonez and Yankees pitcher Orlando "El Duque"
Hernandez. Ordoņez, who holds great disdain for Cuban leader Fidel Castro since
defecting from Cuba in 1993, was livid Saturday after watching the child being seized
from his relatives' home.
The Florida players who sat out were: third baseman Mike Lowell, pitchers
Alex Fernandez and Vladimir Nunez - all of Cuban descent. Dominican teammates
Antonio Alfonseca, Jesus Sanchez and Danny Bautista joined them in a show of support.
In addition to the players, the Marlin's third base coach Fredi
Gonzalez, infield coach Tony Taylor, bullpen catcher Luis Perez and
assistant equipment manager Javier Castro also joined the protest. So did Cuban-American Hall of Famer,
Tony Perez.
All the players and coaches who sat out to support the protest was excused
by their respective team with pay for the day.
The Marlins, who lost several prominent players because of the sit out,
started the game with 19 players, including just four on the bench.
Florida ran out of bench options in the 11th inning, having to pinch hit Brad Penny for Dan Miceli, essentially giving up an out when it
needed a rally. Thet lost the game against the Giants 6-4.
'It was a tough loss,'' Boles said. "These guys fought their hearts out. Those guys were spent. We had guys cramping up.
We gave them everything we had." "But there's no excuses.''
"It affected us big time, but it affected them more,'' Giants manager Dusty Baker said.
Baker advised right-hander Livan Hernandez and catcher Bobby Estalella not to come to the ballpark, fearing for the safety of
their family members who live in South Florida. Administrative coach Carlos Alfonso, another Cuban-American, also took the
day off.
"You're talking about life and death situations that supersedes baseball,'' Baker said.
"A lot of us don't know the situation unless you live in Miami or you're from Miami. It's sad that politics have to go into baseball, but baseball is part of the world.''
Not every Cuban-American in the Majors decided to sit out in favor of the
protest. Texas Rangers first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, who is Cuban, and Reds outfielder
Alex Ochoa, whose parents were born there,
were among the Cuban-Americans who played.
"The team needs me,'' Palmeiro said Monday. "Unless I get a call from somebody really big, I'm playing. My responsibilities
are to my family and my teammates. So as of right now, I'm in the lineup.''
Ochoa, who had only 28 at-bats this season, spent the day thinking about the situation. And while he fully supports the cause,
Ochoa did not want to miss an opportunity to be in the starting lineup.
"It's an easier decision for an everyday player,'' Ochoa said. "I didn't want to let the team down.''
The protest over Elian Gonzalez brought honking cars and waving Cuban flags to the streets of Miami's Little Havana, the
same streets where fires and violence broke out Saturday after armed federal agents grabbed the 6-year-old Cuban boy in a
pre-dawn raid.
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