In the scene, Luis Gurriel Sr. gets choked up when he explains his one wish.
“I told my wife once, ‘I want to be alive to see my son play on a Cuban national team,’ ” he says in the documentary “Little League Dreams,” which premieres Monday. “Oh, boy, he’s only 12 years old and he already gave me that joy.”
That’s because Luis Sr.’s son will be playing on a team representing Cuba for the first time in the 76-year history of the Little League World Series.
Luis Gurriel Jr. pitches for Bayamo Little League, which won the Cuban tournament in March to qualify for the Little League World Series, which begins Aug. 16 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
And if their last name sounds familiar it’s because father and son are related to Miami Marlins first baseman Yuli Gurriel and Arizona Diamondbacks left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Luis Sr. is the major-league players’ uncle. Luis Jr. is their cousin.
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Yuli Gurriel, who hasn’t seen his uncle and cousin since before he left Cuba in 2016, first learned last week that his cousin would be playing in the LLWS.
“I was very happy. The chance he’s getting to play here in the Little League World Series is very important,” Yuli Gurriel said in recorded comments provided by the Marlins to USA TODAY Sports. “It’s something big because it’s the first time a team from Cuba is participating in the Little League World Series. … It’s a big step forward. In the past, nobody would have thought this would happen and thank God it did and with the presence of my cousin, it’s something very beautiful.”
Cuban LLWS team has family ties to Yuli and Lourdes Gurriel
The Gurriel last name is synonymous with baseball royalty in Cuba.
Luis Sr.’s brother is Cuban baseball legend Lourdes Gurriel Sr., among the country’s most decorated post-Revolution ballplayers. Both brothers played in Cuba’s National Series for the Sancti Spíritus Roosters.
Lourdes Sr. led Cuba to the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. His sons − Yuli, Lourdes Jr. and Yunieski − also played in Cuba’s National Series for years. At one point, Luis Sr. even played with his nephews.
“He (Luis Sr.) had the chance to play with me and my brother,” Yuli Gurriel said. “He was an excellent hitter. He was once champion batter in Cuba. He batted over .300 in the league in Cuba.”
Yuli was Cuba’s biggest star when in February 2016, he and Lourdes Jr. abandoned the Cuban National Team during the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic.
Yuli played seven seasons with the Houston Astros, where he won two World Series and the American League batting title in 2021 before signing with the Marlins this season. Lourdes Jr. played five seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays before being traded to Arizona this season.
“It’s such a true dynasty,” said the documentary’s director Daniel Montero, a Cuban journalist with Belly of the Beast, an independent U.S.-based media outlet that covers Cuba. “I don’t know what it is about the Gurriels, but it seems to be in their blood. Every single one of them is a great baseball player on their own merits. And this kid, Luis, if he does not become a successful, amazing baseball player in the future as well, I would be shocked because he really has it all.”
How did Cuba qualify for the Little League World Series?
For the documentary, Montero and his production team covered the championship series of the Cuban tournament, where Bayamo Little League clinched its spot in the 20-team field for the Little League World Series.
In the best-of-three series, Habana del Este Little League won the opening game, 7-5, but Bayamo came back to win the second game of the doubleheader, 10-4. Bayamo then defeated Habana del Este 6-2 on March 5 in the decisive third game, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning to become the first Cuban team to qualify for the LLWS. Bayamo finished with an 8-2 record in the Cuban tournament.
Montero said there has been tremendous interest in the Bayamo team in Cuba since it qualified for the LLWS and Cuba’s games will be broadcast nationally on the island.
“Since the results of Cuban teams in recent international tournaments have not been that good, people are even more excited that these kids can get the chance to try to bring that triumph to Cuba,” Montero said. “In Bayamo, everyone knows who the kids are, specifically this kid, that kid. And in Cuba in general, everyone I’ve spoken to are aware that the tournament is happening and are excited about it.”
Why has Cuba never been represented in Little League World Series?
Cold War politics was one reason Cuba had not participated in the LLWS until now.
After Fidel Castro’s Communist revolution came to power in Cuba on Jan. 1, 1959, the United States did not have diplomatic relations for decades with the island nation 90 miles off the Florida coast.
A U.S. embargo has blocked travel and trade between the two countries since 1962.
In 2015, under then-President Barack Obama, the U.S. began to normalize relations with Cuba and reopened the U.S. embassy in Havana. After then-President Donald Trump reinstated travel and business restrictions in 2017, the Biden administration eased some of those sanctions in 2022.
“We went back into our archives, and we did see in those early days before the Cuban embargos happened, there were conversations to establish Little League in Cuba that then kind of got shut down as the relations got strained between the United States and Cuba,” said Brian McClintock, senior communications executive for Little League International. “But we’re happy to ease that relationship with the Cuban Baseball Federation and bring our program to that country.”
How did Cuba become part of Little League World Series?
In March 2019, Little League International announced that the Cuban Baseball Federation had aligned its approximately 170 local youth baseball programs for children 4 to 12 years old with Little League Baseball.
In November 2019, Little League announced it would expand the tournament, identifying Puerto Rico, Panama and Cuba as international teams to be added.
Each of those countries was guaranteed direct entry into the LLWS twice in the three tournaments from 2022 to 2024. Cuba will once again qualify for direct entry in 2024 as part of the international rotation.
How has Cuba done in previous LLWS regional tournaments?
In Cuba’s first year as an affiliated program in 2019, Havana Little League (5-2) reached the semifinals, losing to eventual region champion, Pabao Little League from Curacao.
After not being able to compete in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, Cuba returned to the Caribbean Region tournament last year with Liga Santa Clara (5-1) losing to Curacao’s Pabao Little League in the championship game.
“It is a lot of pressure for the kids because everyone (in Cuba) is expecting a triumph,” Montero said. “Everyone wants that because that’s what they’re used to, especially for older generations. You’ve got to understand that my parents’ generation, you knew if a Cuba team was going abroad, they’d be coming back with the gold or nothing else, right? And I think that pressure is still very much there for baseball players coming from fans.”
Bayamo plays its first game in the LLWS Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET against Japan at Volunteer Stadium.
“Sure, I’ll be aware,” Yuli said about trying to follow Bayamo and his cousin. “Whenever I have the chance to watch the games, I’ll watch and be aware of what the Cuban team is doing.”
