MLB Updates: Tampa Bay Rays vs Cuban National Team Marks Milestone As First MLB Team To Visit Cuba Since 1999

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By V Doctor , Parent Herald Mar 21, 05:04 pm

The Tampa Bay Rays will go to Havana, Cuba to face the Cuban National Team at the Estadio Latinoamericano on March 22, 2016. It will be the first time since 1999 that a Major League Baseball team will travel to the island for an exhibition match.

According to ESPN, Cuban outfielder Dayron Varona, 27, will be part of the Tampa Bay Rays’ roster. It has been three years since he left his home to play baseball in the United States.

Varona shared that still cannot believe that he has been selected to join the MLB team to play in his country of origin.

"I don't know who was behind me going to Cuba," he continued. "I'm part of the Tampa Bay team. I'm in major league training camp. It just happened to be Tampa's turn. I don't know who was behind it. I've no idea. But whoever it was, I'm very grateful to them,” Varona said.

All Tampa Bay Rays players who will visit Cuba to represent the MLB will be part of the team’s 40-man roster, except Varona, who signed a minor league contract with the team in 2015 and got invited to spring camp for the first time. Varona is the only Cuban player on the team. Manager Kevin Cash and other players like Evan Longoria and Chris Archer vouched for Varona to be included in the squad.

Varona added that he remembers watching on television, the last time that an MLB team, the Baltimore Orioles, played in the same stadium in Cuba. It was in March 1999, and he was only 10 years old. He expects the Latinoamericano, which has a capacity of 55,000 people, to be full on Mar. 22. Baseball is a popular sport in Cuba, and fans know players like Longoria and Archer, so it will be an opportunity for locals to see and meet the pros personally.

USA Today revealed that some Tampa Bay players already played with a Cuban team in international tournaments before. Catcher Hank Conger said that having an MLB team play with other national teams is about spreading goodwill and bringing two cultures together.