For decades, the Caribbean Series was baseball at its most passionate level. The series was played between the professional winter league champions from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. Cuba dropped off in the 1960s, and it was replaced by other countries. My parents, and grandparents, told me lots of stories about these championships, from watching the games in Havana to catching them on the radio, and later TV in the 1950s.  It was like watching the Yankees and the Red Sox play a double-header every day for two weeks. In recent years, big contracts have discouraged many major-leaguers from playing winter ball.  Nevertheless, the pressure on the local players is intense, from Minnie Minoso in pre-Castro Cuba to Ivan Rodriguez in recent years. MLB has just advised its players to stay away from Venezuela, as we see in this report: Major League Baseball is recommending in the...(Read Full Post)