HAVANA — More than 100 Cuban boys wearing the uniforms of local baseball teams stood in rows, smiling nervously Wednesday as they got tips and training from some of their major league idols — men who were born on the island and were once disdained by the Communist government for defecting to the United States.
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig St. Louis Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena and Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, along with former NL and AL MVPs Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Tigers’ first baseman Miguel Cabrera, were among those who ran 10- and 11-year-old Cuban players through a three-hour skills camp on the second day of a three-day mission meant to warm relations between Major League Baseball and Cuba.