Thursday, June 24, 2004

Good News For Jose

Jose Contreras' wife and children have finally escaped Cuba, with Contreras taking off from the team yesterday to join them in Miami.

Myriam Contreras, who had been repeatedly denied a Visa to the U.S. since her husband defected from Cuba two years ago, was smuggled out of Cuba, avoiding the Coast Guard to reach the freedom of American soil (for those of you not in the know, Cubans who travel illegally to the U.S. get near-instant residency status, and are on a fast track to U.S. citizenship; the trick is they only get these things if they physically set foot on U.S. soil. If the Coast Guard catches you on the water, you get sent back to the loving arms of Fidel Castro).

I doubt many of us can imagine the kind of stress this situation put on Contreras. His family was left behind in the arms of a totalitarian administration that hated him. Not only was Jose denied the company of his wife and daughter, but rumors had the Castro government arresting Contreras' wife on charges of prostitution.

But the big question (from a baseball perspective) is, will this good news make any difference for Contreras' performance on the field? No one can doubt the strain Jose was under, but does that have anything to do with the lackluster performance Contreras has given the Yanks so far?

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