Jose Abreu was one of four Cuban-born baseball players to return to the island Tuesday as part of MLB's plan to smooth over relations with the country.
It's the first MLB-related trip since 1999, as Abreu, who was born in Cruces, joined Yasiel Puig, Brayan Pena and Alexei Ramirez on the three-day mission that MLB's executive VP of baseball operations Joe Torre said players working one-on-one with kids in baseball clinics has been instrumental.
"Watching Jose Abreu, he's got a quiet dignity about him. Amd when you see him so giving with fans and youngsters is the fact that he understands the responsibility part of being someone famous," Torre said.