Carlos Tabares, known as the Derek Jeter of Cuban baseball, is hanging it up this year at 42 after 20 years competing in Serie Nacional, the interprovince league that represents the best of baseball in a proud but grimly challenged country that still reveres the game.
Representing Havana powerhouse Industriales, Tabares played for five Serie Nacional champions — one more title than Jeter earned over 20 exemplary seasons with the Yankees. Industriales has retired Tabares' No. 56, just as the Yankees did their captain's No. 2 last month in an extravagant, only-in-New-York type of ceremony that amplified debate over who replaces Jeter as the "face of baseball.