Just an hour before the opening pitch, and Ernie Whitt was already perturbed.
He had sent one of the members of his Team Canada entourage across the field to request the Cuban lineup for Tuesday night’s baseball game in the Pan-American Games.
The man asked. The man was denied.
“Are you a technical director?” he was asked. Upon saying no, he was told they would only produce a lineup for a “technical director.”
Then they delayed some more.
“These are the mind games they play,” said Whitt, the longtime Team Canada manager. “Before the game, during the game.