The bus carrying the baseball team from Artemisa had to be escorted by the police on Wednesday after moments of tension with fans from Holguín outside the Calixto García stadium.
The scene, witnessed by onlookers and shared on social media, took place during a playoff game of the postseason.
The images reveal moments more akin to a street brawl than a sporting competition, and raised alarms about the climate of insecurity and violence surrounding the Serie Nacional, the most important baseball tournament in Cuba.
What caused the conflict?
According to early reports on social media, journalist Abel Adrián Castro Sablón, a radio host at the provincial station in Holguín, posted on Facebook that the pitcher from Artemisa, Yuniesky García, had attacked a local fan with a baseball bat, as revealed in a screenshot by the outlet Swing Completo.
The report ignited social media. It was shared in groups of Cuban baseball fans, and although no images of the alleged attack were presented, a tense atmosphere was created.
Yuniesky García defends himself: "It's all a lie!"
In response to the viralization of the complaint and the images of the tense moments experienced around the stadium, Yuniesky García directly addressed the issue and denied the accusation.
A video shared by sports journalist Yasel Porto also showed the baseball player's self-defense.
Yasel Porto himself urged everyone to be cautious before spreading potential rumors that could unnecessarily damage the image of the team and the tournament.
"It got out of their hands."
The episode also sparked outrage from digital creator Alacrán Azul, who lamented in a lengthy Facebook post the institutional inability to prevent and manage these scenarios:
"What happened in Holguín... those brawls, that excessive bravado, those tumultuous fights... all of that is extremely unpleasant. It got out of control. There was no organization when it came to evacuating the Artemisa team from the Calixto García stadium. They lost control of the situation."
Alacrán emphasized that this is not about finding blame among players or fans, but rather about highlighting a systemic failure:
"What is being discussed here is the lack of safety and protection that the players from Artemisa experienced, both at the stadium and in their accommodations in the city of Holguín."
Anticipating what could happen if measures are not taken, he warned:
"Let's see now when the Industriales team has to travel to the city of Holguín, if the Peloponnesian War doesn't break out. Let's see if they are given the proper protection."
He also recalled how in past decades, during the peak years of Cuban baseball, there were stricter protocols in place:
"In the 1980s, when Cuban baseball was of high quality and its athletes shone... the teams would exit through side doors, surrounded by metal fences and a strong police presence. This prevented fans of the opposing team from offending a player."
"Baseball no longer means anything."
Alacrán Azul's comment went beyond the specific incident. For him, Cuban baseball has ceased to be the national pride it once was
"Fights, indiscipline both on and off the field, empty stadiums, journalists dozing off in the middle of a broadcast... Never in its history has Cuban baseball fallen so low."
His criticism pointed directly at the sports authorities: "All the leaders of INDER and baseball should be replaced immediately... we need to get rid of some fossils who know nothing about sports and who have never set foot in a sports facility."
He even proposed to suspend the next season
"Suspend the upcoming National Series to stop wasting money and electricity. Baseball no longer means anything. It's time to abolish those outdated structures and put an end to so much demagoguery."
Finally, he linked the state of baseball to the overall collapse of the country: “If you want to know how Cuba is doing, look at the sugar harvest and baseball. There are the answers that many are looking for.”
In the challenge, the teams from Artemisa and Holguín had their game sealed due to rain, with a partial score of 3–1 in favor of the visitors in the third inning.
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