Estoy jugando softbol en Cuba!

As you are reading this, I'm in Cuba playing softball.

Sixty slow-pitch softball players from the Eastern Massachusetts Senior Softball Association are in Havana for a weeklong series of exhibitions against Cuban opponents of - I hope - roughly equal age and ability. We are made up of four teams, ranging in age from 50 to 74, including two women players.

Our trip is unusual, but not unprecedented. Ten years ago, the Baltimore Orioles played an exhibition in Havana. To get permission to go to Cuba, our softball league applied for a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, under the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In 2008, 21 applications were approved for travel to Cuba for "public performances, athletic and other competitions,'' one of several, but limited categories under which travel to the island may be allowed.

Our exhibition games in Cuba will give us the opportunity to play a game loved by both countries. And here's hoping, that in some small way, we can play a part in promoting the understanding and good will that will soon lead to the unfreezing and better relations between our governments.
 

Les Gore