By all accounts, the Rays’ trip to Havana went as smooth as possible, with the team spreading goodwill as ambassadors for Major League Baseball and beating the Cuban national team in Tuesday’s game.
And then they tried to leave.
That the showers in the visitor’s clubhouse at Estadio Latinoamericano worked in a limited capacity seemed like a minor inconvenience to what followed when the Rays reached José Martí Airport for their charter flight to Tampa International Airport.
The first of the team’s two charter flights, the one for the front office, team employees and guests, was delayed for about an hour.