• Submitted by: admin
• Sports
• 05 / 09 / 2010

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TUCKED AWAY on one of Mill Valley's tree-lined streets lives one of America's newest diplomats. All it took for him to succeed on a recent trip abroad was some used baseball equipment.

Lou Patler, whose day job sees him consulting with high-powered business executives, was among a team of 14 American baseball players who traveled to Cuba in February with the group Baseball Adventures, an operation organized by Mendocino resident Dennis McCroskey.

The group ended up functioning as de facto goodwill ambassadors, meeting and eating with players, donating baseball equipment, trading jerseys and sharing the experience of a lifetime over eight days.

They also were treated as semi-celebrities, including being invited on to the field as one professional team practiced before a playoff game.

"I think what impressed me the most is the mindset of the people, it's like it was from another era," Patler said. "It's like a time warp.

They're not materialistic. They're very family oriented. And to see a whole country united just around baseball was just a real treat. The people are just so gracious, so generous."

Everyone in the U.S. group, whose members ranged in age from 38 to 72, is still playing in various Men's Senior Baseball League divisions and was looking forward to taking on various Cuban teams during the trip.

What the Americans did not know beforehand is that one of their stiffest challenges in games played in the cities of Cienfuegos, Abreus and Havana would come

"We ended up playing the Cuban women's national champion baseball team, ranked first in Cuba, second in the world," said Patler, 66, who noted that his group lost to the women once then beat them in a rematch.

"And they had ragtag jerseys, no uniforms. And if they have cleats, they were wrapped in duct tape.

"I had brought two sets of Little League jerseys from Mill Valley Little League, which were given to me. So in Cienfuegos, we came upon these girls and we actually ended up playing them. And I decided to give (the uniforms) to them."

Patler said the team's experience playing the Cuban women was only one sign of how big a part of life baseball is on the island.

He said he came across kids playing with gloves fashioned from milk cartons and noted that fans at Cuban professional games were as knowledgeable about the sport as any he had every encountered. Nearly everywhere the team traveled, they found players lacking equipment and kids regularly asked the Americans for baseballs.

Though much of the baseball equipment used by Cubans was old and worn, even among the professional players, Patler said he didn't encounter anyone who was complaining. And he said the quality of play among Cubans was high.

"They say that it's the only place in the world that is more baseball-frenzied and crazy than the Dominican," Patler said of Cuba.

"And having been to both places, I would say that's true. The whole country revolves around, rallies around talks about baseball. É They know the game, the men, women, children."

McCroskey, who has been organizing baseball trips to Cuba for 10 years, agreed that playing in Cuba is an experience that won't be forgotten.

"Cuba's a great place to visit," said McCroskey, 62. "I tell people that words and pictures and video cannot accurately describe this place. And by the end of these trips, I think everyone agrees."

The group began its trip in Miami after first gaining clearance from the U.S. Treasury Department. The U.S. embargo of Cuba is aimed at keeping American money - not necessarily Americans - out of Cuba, McCroskey said, and thus the U.S. State Department has only a small role in setting the rules for travel to Havana.

After arriving in Havana, the group drove south to Cienfuegos for its first game against a team featuring several Cuban Hall of Famers.

Patler pitched seven innings and two months later still has a bruise on his leg from a line drive that hit him in the U.S. team's loss.

The U.S. group often picked up players on the opposing team as it bussed to the ballpark and postgame meals included both teams, allowing the players to bond despite the language barrier.

McCroskey said the process of getting the government OK to play in Cuba takes eight or nine months - "the communications are often quite slow, with Cuba, especially" - he said. But the fact he has been taking teams there for 10 years is a sign his time organizing the trips is worth it.

Patler said whether his team won or lost a game didn't detract from the overall experience the team enjoyed.

But he also noted that the trip ended on a high note against the women.

"We beat them the last game on a walk-off home run by one of our guys," Patler said of the rematch with the women's team.

"And as one of the guys said, it's a lot nicer to get kisses after a game than high-fives.

"That was fun. And since we played them on the last day, we literally gave the girls team and their coaches everything we had. I mean everything, even the shoes off our feet.

The bottom line is, to be able to travel to some place and have your entry point to the people and the culture be through baseball of all things was really special.

It truly was a universal language."

LOU PATLER FILE

Professional info: The Mill Valley resident is president of The BIT Group, an international consulting company. He also has authored several business books, one of which appeared on the New York Times best-seller list.

Baseball background: Potential college and/or pro career was derailed when he suffered a knee injury while playing basketball as a teenager.

After years playing softball, he learned about adult baseball leagues after reading a newspaper story about former A's pitcher Dave Hamilton. Patler's return to baseball reached its pinnacle in October when he was the winning pitcher for the Northern California-based Bothman Oaks in the Men's Adult Baseball League's 60-over Wood American Division World Series final in Tempe, Ariz.

By: Dave Curtis

Source: Marin Independent-Journal