Cuba Baseball Players Get Severe Sanctions after Brawl

HAVANA TIMES — Pitcher Freddy Asiel Alvarez, a star of the national Cuban team currently playing with Villa Clara, was suspended today from the Cuban baseball league, for a display of “unsportsmanlike conduct.”

According to the disciplinary committee of the Cuban Baseball Federation, Asiel Alvarez was the instigator of a fight that broke for thirty minutes during the game Monday between Matanzas and Villa Clara.

The tension began to rise when Alvarez hit Yasiel Santoya of Matanzas in the head with a pitch.

Santoya had to leave the game and two batters later, his teammate Victor Victor Mesa was hit on the elbow, also by Asiel Alvarez.

Matanzas player Demis Valdes came off the bench to attack Asiel Alvarez, bat in hand, but ended up hitting Villa Clara first baseman Ramón Lunar in the face, who was hospitalized.

The doctors released Lunar today saying there were no fractures only wounds to his lips and nose, reported Cuban television.

The disciplinary committee suspended Alvarez for the rest of the season for “unsportsmanlike conduct, which set off the event.” The official statement added: “Considering that he is an athlete belonging to the national team he has an obligation to set an example for our children and the people.”

The commission suspended Demis Valdés for one year from any formal event, “his attitude was totally incompatible with the principles of Cuban sports. His reinstatement shall be conditioned upon him showing good behavior.

The head umpire of the game, Osvaldo De Paula, was reprimanded, as well as the technical supervisors.

After Monday’s incident, the Cuban press demanded that sanctions were taken against the perpetrators of the violence.

“We cannot allow violence in our competitions and measures to prevent such acts should be severe,” said the official Granma daily.