Baseball team travels to Cuba on humanitarian mission

Laker baseball coach Steve Lyon said his team felt like they were playing in the Olympics when Grand Valley first took the field in Havana, Cuba.

Laker baseball players Giancarlo Brugnoni, left, and Ryan Garman pose with a Cuban boy following a game in Havana.

After three years of planning, the baseball team traveled to Cuba in early January on a humanitarian mission with First Hand Aid, a Grand Rapids nonprofit organization that brings medical supplies and aid to Cuba.

The Lakers played three games against a team of Cuban All-Stars who ranged in age from 22-24. Although the Lakers lost all three games, Lyon said he was pleased with his team’s performance, on the field and off. “We weren’t really sure what to expect,” Lyon said. “Turns out, they hand-picked top players from all over the country.”

The games were played during the day. Although each stadium was outfitted with light towers, they were not working. Lyon said they played in one stadium that was home to the Cuban Industriales, the New York Yankees of Cuba. It sat 50,000 fans; Lyon said it reminded him of old Tiger Stadium.

“Before we played our first game, the Cubans found an American flag and we marched out along the baseline. The guys said it felt kind of like the Olympics,” Lyon said. “They played both teams’ national anthems and I think that was when our guys first knew they were really representing the U.S.”

About 1,500-2,000 fans came to the games, cheering for both Grand Valley and Cuba, Lyon said. “They only booed the umpires and they booed when they made bad calls for Cuba and for us,” he said.

Catcher Jared Cowan, a senior from Davison, said it was the trip of a lifetime. “Not everybody gets to go to a country most people can’t visit and see a culture that most people can’t see,” he said.

One of Cowan’s favorite memories was not listed on their jam-packed itinerary. On their way to a church to deliver medicine, they stopped to watch a pickup baseball game on the side of the road and give equipment to the players. “I wondered what they thought of us, suddenly a bus stops and all these guys get out. But our interpreter ran ahead and explained what we wanted to do,” he said.

The Lakers gave wooden bats, gloves and other equipment they had collected to the Cubans. Cowan said the rag-tag team wanted to play the Lakers but Lyon thought otherwise. “We were wearing our flip-flops and coach didn’t think it was such a good idea,” he said.

The wooden bats used on the trip were donated by the West Michigan Whitecaps and Detroit Tigers because collegiate players use metal bats. Lyon said they went to Cuba with 80 bats, used about 35 and gave the rest to Cuban youth.

Tim Selgo, director of athletics, said preparations for the trip began in 2009. The team was bused to Toronto, Canada, and took a direct flight to Cuba from there. The University of Alabama baseball team is the only other collegiate team to play baseball in Cuba, Selgo said, adding that one Laker team travels internationally every four years or so.