He Is a Real Traveling Man : Pepperdine First Baseman Has Competed in Cuba, Canada, Japan and the United States as a Member of Team USA

Melendez, a former St. Bernard High standout who begins his junior year at Pepperdine on Monday, was the first baseman for the U.S. baseball team in the recently concluded Pan American Games. Before the competition began, the United States appeared to have a lock on a silver medal and was no less than an even-money bet for the gold. But the team wound up staggering to the finish, needing a 15-inning victory over the Dominican Republic to win a bronze medal. Cuba won the competition and Puerto Rico was second.

"It was just a combination of the heat and the long schedule we played," Melendez said. "We weren't sharp because we were tired."

But Melendez isn't ready for a rest just yet. Saturday night, he will represent the United States again in the International Baseball Assn. World All-Star game at Dodger Stadium. However, this time the world is coming to Melendez: He'll take a freeway, not a flight, to the game.

"I'm real excited," Melendez said. "I'm really looking forward to playing at home, before my friends."

In the six weeks prior to the Pan Am Games, home was a foreign concept for Melendez. In fact, most everything was foreign for Team USA, which played 27 games in such far-flung places as Japan, Canada and Cuba.

"We traveled a lot," Melendez said. "There were times when we woke up at 4 in the morning, then played a game that night. It just wore us out.

"We started off (the Pan Am Games) 5-0 and things were going pretty well. Then we ran into a lot of problems and we were fortunate to finish the tournament 7-1."

The team then scored only three runs in 24 innings in the medal round. Melendez and Pepperdine teammate Steve Rodriguez were not immune to the effects of fatigue. Rodriguez had one hit in his final 15 at-bats, watching his Pan Am average drop 101 points to .256. Melendez, who had three home runs in the qualifying round, failed to get a hit in the medal round, slumping from .367 to .297.

"It was real disappointing because we felt we were one of the best teams there," Melendez said. "Everyone, even the fans and the Cuban people, were looking forward to us meeting the Cubans for the gold."

That wasn't the only important showdown that never took place in Havana: The Pan Am Games ended before Team USA's two undefeated whiffle-ball teams had a chance to play.

"We had a draft and everything," said Melendez, whose team finished 3-0 to win a share of the title. "If we played a night game, we'd come back and start the whiffle-ball tournament at 10 or 11. If we had a morning game, we'd play whiffle ball in the afternoon.

"We played on the basketball courts right outside our rooms. Even the coaches would come by and watch."

No medals were awarded in whiffle ball, of course, but the ones Team USA received in baseball were presented by President Fidel Castro, the man who helped popularize the Cuban version of "The Wave."

"We were watching the other events in our rooms and some of the guys began to notice that he was presenting a lot of the medals," Melendez said. "So we began to wonder if he would give us our medals too."

He did. Which gave 20-year-old Melendez the chance to shake hands with someone most Americans know only from newspaper photos.

"He's a big guy," Melendez said. "He was wearing green fatigues and an army hat and he's got a big beard. He looks pretty much like he does in the pictures."

Castro's country, however, bears little resemblance to any pictures Melendez remembers seeing.

"Everything is so dirty and there's so much poverty," he said. "But the people are so happy and so enthusiastic."

In comparison to how most people in Havana live, Melendez said the oft-criticized athletes' dorms "were not that bad."

The cafeteria was also a little better than advertised, offering a variety of food. Moreover, each dorm room had a refrigerator, although Melendez said the staple of the U.S. baseball team was stored at room temperature.

"We took Pepto-Bismol each night," he said. "And we brought our own water with us. We drank a lot of bottled water."

The Pan-Am Games marked Melendez's second visit to Cuba this summer. In July, his run-scoring double broke a 1-1 tie and started the United States on its way to a 6-1 win in Santiago de Cuba. The victory was the second in three games for the United States and gave the visitors their first series victory over Cuba since Castro took power in 1959.

The significance of the game was initially lost on the U.S. players, but not on their hosts.

"We didn't realize it at the time," Melendez said. "But when it happened, they made a big deal out of it."

Melendez's family roots were planted in Mexico, but he speaks no Spanish. Nonetheless, he said communicating with his Cuban rivals was not difficult. In fact, friendships between opposing players was not uncommon.