José Ariel Contreras: "The National Series in Cuba is going to end"

"It's going to end National Series in Cuba", stated the prominent former pitcher José Ariel Conteras in portal interview Swing Completo.

The statements of the remembered pitcher from Pinar del Río, who lives in Florida, come regarding the recent presentations from Cuba in the edition of the Panamerican Games, which are happening in the Chilean capital these days.

“When I left Cuba I watched the games. I put an antenna in my house and I could watch the National Series games (smiles). It is already a shame to watch the National Series games,” he emphasized.

Contreras, with a career of 10 National Series (117 victories, 1,346 strikeouts and 2.82 clean average), an Olympic title and a subtitle, in addition to 11 seasons in the MLB in which he won a World Series, he said he felt sorry for the performance although he clarified that his embarrassment is not with the players or the team's management. “They can't do anything else,” he justified.

“We are talking about a Pan-American tournament that is being held in the month of October, which means that the Minor League prospects are not there because they finished the season… The big league horses are not there either,” Contreras explained to draw a scenario that the national team did not take advantage of.

However, the native of Pinewood of the river Yes, he was explicit when saying that it is a country that “two or three people have finished… and what hurts the most is that they don't care,” in clear reference to the leaders of the government and sports in Cuba.

He took the opportunity to refer to the reality of the country in order to illustrate the conditions in which the sport also operates. “In Cuba there are no doctors, they have already left. There are no medicines. When my family gets sick they have to take the sheet to the hospital, they have to take the medicine… My nephews in a furniture factory are doing high school.”

Asked about Brazil's victory over Cuba, he said: “We are talking about Brazil that has improved a lot” and added: “I worked with those guys who are working there.” In the South American country Contreras has served as the official coach of the national team.

“You can imagine if I were on the other side and my team, my pitcher giving no hits to Cuba, it would be hard,” he stressed.

During the conversation, Contreras was surprised by Mijaín López's behavior during the end of the match between Brazil and Cuba. López hit a young Cuban who took out a flag with the phrase “Freedom for Cuba”, in protest against the Castro regime, in the Chilean stadium where the match takes place.

“More than being an athlete, more than being a sportsman, that's what the kids see... What they do off the field influences these kids. It's embarrassing, but hey...", he said.

Contreras (Las Martinas, Pinar del Río, 1971) defected from Cuban baseball in 2002, during the Americas Series in Saltillo, Mexico, after a decade playing with the Vegueros of Pinar del Río.

He competed with the senior national team in the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Olympic Games, the 1999 Winnipeg Pan American Games, the 1998 Italy and 2001 Taipei Baseball World Cups, as well as the 1995 Havana and 1997 intercontinental events in Barcelona. .

In the Major Leagues, he signed with the New York Yankees of the MLB after defecting, and played for them in 2003 and 2004. He also played in the MLB for the Chicago White Sox (2004-2009), the Colorado Rockies (2009) , the Philadelphia Phillies (2010-2012) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (2013).