Kendry Morales defected
Cuba this past June
along with 18 other Cubans
in a man-made raft
that arrived safely
in US territory.
Today many Major
League teams are
after his services.
Unlike other Cubans that
have arrived in the same
fashion there is little
doubt about Morales age.

By Amaury Pi-González
San FranciscoKendry Morales at age
19 in 2002 was the
sensation in Cuba’s
baseball.

Kendry Morales just
got his legal residency
in the Dominican Republic
after the US granted him
status as Political Refugee
Morales moved to the
Dominican Republic.

According to the law
(as is written today)
Cuban ballplayers that
defect their country
become part of
a special Lottery to
be signed by Major
League teams.

However, when a
Cuban player
receives legal residency
in a third country, he then
becomes a Free Agent
and is free to sign
a contract with a
Major League team.
That is exactly the
case with Kendry Morales.

Kendry Morales is 21
years of age. As a powerful
ambidextrous hitter
he was the sensation
in Cuba’s baseball
when he was 19.

With the Industriales
Club(like the Yankees
of Cuba, because they
win most of the titles)
he was their best hitter:
.324 21 Home Runs
82 RBI and 60 runs
scored.
He was then “promoted”
to the Selección Nacional
de Cuba(Cuba’s National
Team #1) that played
in the World Cup of
baseball.
(Yes there is a World
Cup of Baseball already,
but one not as large as
is envisioned by MLB
and others)

However, Cuban authorities
separated Kendry Morales
from the National Team and
then from the Industriales
because there was suspicion
he wanted to defect Cuba.

Morales was also prohibited
from playing in the Panamerican
Games last year in the Dominican
Republic.

Kendry Morales is 21, can
hit from both sides of the
plate and can play various
positions.

Morales path was also
taken by other Cuban
players in the past like:
Osvaldo Fernández, Liván
Hernández,Vladimir Nuñez
and Larry Rodríguez. Of these
only Nuñez has kept his
permanent residency in
the Dominican Republic
since he married a
Dominican lady.

Some of the other
Cubans that have defected
the island and have played
in the US Major Leagues are:
Barbaro Garvey,Alex Sánchez,
and José Contreras.
———————————————————–
Amaury Pi-González was born in
Cuba and arrived in the US
in 1961.
Amaury is on his 2nd season
as the Spanish Voice for all
Seattle Mariners home games
(81)over the Seattle Mariners
Spanish Radio Network,
see:www.spanishmariners.net)
and on his 10th season as
Spanish Play by Play Announcer
for the SF Giants on selected
home games over KZSF 1370 AM
San José. For 17 season Amaury
was the Spanish Play by Play
for the Oakland Athletics.
In February 2004 Amaury was
inducted into the CSHOF(Cuban
Sports Hall of Fame)in Miami
as a Broadcaster/Journalist.
His biography was selected
and published by the
prestigious Marquis Who’s
Who in America.
Amaury is the Vice President
of The Hispanic Heritage
Baseball Museum a non profit
organization founded in
San Francisco,California
in 1999.