Thursday, June 16, 2005 |
Kendry Morales, Baseball Immigrant
It was a magnificent shot, the trajectory of the ball seemingly beginning in Havana and ending in Anaheim.It's not just the country. He's still got "much of Castro's Cuba ... in him"Kendry Morales, the Cuban defector the Angels signed last winter, stood in the batter's box and admired the majesty of the moment, the ball easily clearing the right-field fence. It was his second home run since being assigned to Class-A Rancho Cucamonga by the Angels, and Morales was feeling good about himself.
In Cuba, he would have been lauded for his pause at the plate. In Cucamonga, he was seen as showboating.
"We had to pull Kendry aside and tell him, 'That's not the way we do things over here,' " Eddie Bane, the Angels' director of scouting, said with a laugh. "He's been fine ever since. He's a really good kid. You tell him once, and he gets it. The game comes very easily to Kendry."
from the heavy Havana accent that drips from his mouth when he speaks his rapid-fire Spanish to his suddenly deferential manner when asked who his favorite major league team was while growing up. It was all about Castro and country, and picking one over the other is akin to betrayal.A favorite team! Welcome out of jail, kid. Is the food any better on the outside?"Oh no, over there, you couldn't say anything," he said. "Over there, you weren't really allowed to pick a favorite team."
"It's not the same," Morales said. "I have to speak another language. The way people are here is different than in Cuba. Even the beans are different."I'll take that as a "no". Well, good luck anyway.
After his 0-11 start, Kendry went 2-4 tonight with a double and three RBIs.
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