University of Tennessee Athletics
Baseball Vols Depart Friday For Cuba Trip
December 12, 2002 | Baseball
Dec. 12, 2002
The 2003 season opens a little early for the Tennessee Volunteers as they travel to Havana, Cuba, to play three exhibition games against teams comprised of Cuban National Team program players.
The Vols will spend six days in Cuba from Dec. 13-18. They are scheduled to arrive in Havana on Friday, hold one day of practice on the Saturday before playing three games in three days Dec. 15-17. The squad will return to Knoxville Dec. 18.
All games will be played using wood bats.
This will be the first time UT's baseball team has ever left the United States to play on foreign soil. Tennessee's basketball and golf teams have traveled to Europe in the last eight years. Tennessee will be the first baseball team from the Southeastern Conference to play in a foreign country.
Traveling to Cuba is a rare feat for any collegiate team. In September 2000, the University of Washington baseball team made the trip to Cuba in September, while also in that year, St. Thomas University in Minnesota traveled to the island nation to play the University of Havana. No other college team had played in Cuba since John Hopkins in 1986.
The Baltimore Orioles played the national team in Cuba in March of 1999, the first major league team to play on the island since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.
Tennessee last played an exhibition game last season against the Tennessee Smokies, Double-A affiliate of the then Toronto Blue Jays. It was the first game against the Smokies in over 20 years. The Smokies are now a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate.
The Volunteers were able to use four weeks of practice in October while gaining an addition 10 practice days by the NCAA in November and December to prepare for the series.
The trip is expected to be good for the Volunteers on many levels. First of all, it will allow the most youthful cast of characters head coach Rod Delmonico has ever had a chance to bond and get some team chemistry before the regular season opener at home against Morehead State on Feb. 7.
Of the 33 players on the roster, 28 players have one or no years of experience at the Division I level. Only pitchers Brandon Crowe, Dusty Johnson, Beau Massey, Patrick Hicklen and catcher Javi Herrera have more, and all of them have two years. Hicklen is out for the season after having Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last summer. The 15 players who have played major college baseball, have a combined 20 years of experience, while there are 19 newcomers on the roster, the most ever for a Delmonico team.
It will also give two Vol Cuban-Americans a chance to visit their heritage, in addition to allowing the other players an opportunity to experience a part of the world few Americans have seen in over 40 years.
Both Herrera and Alex Suarez have Cuban ties with relatives they have never seen on the island. Both grew up in Miami which has a huge Cuban population.
