U.S.-Cuba baseball rivalry endures

BEIJING -- The Cold War is over, even in sports.

Gone are the classic Olympic battles between the U.S. and Soviet Union in basketball and hockey and between the U.S. and East Germany in women's swimming.

However, one rivalry remains -- on the baseball diamond, where a U.S.-Cuba matchup is often about more than just sports.

"The rivalry between Cuba and the U.S.A. is close to my heart," said Cuban Manager Antonio Pacheco, who played in many of the series' more memorable games during a long career as a standout second baseman for the island's national team. "This is a big ballgame. These are two teams with great quality."

And they'll meet again Friday in the semifinals of the Beijing Olympic baseball tournament after the U.S. edged Japan, 4-2, Wednesday in its final game of pool play, improving to 4-3 to earn the No. 3 seeding for the medal round. Cuba (6-1) is seeded second behind unbeaten South Korea (7-0), which plays Japan (4-3) for the other spot in the gold-medal game.

It's only fitting that what could be the last Olympic baseball tournament features a showdown between the U.S. and Cuba, the only countries to win a baseball gold medal, on the final weekend of the Games. Baseball, along with softball, has been removed from the schedule for the 2012 Games in London, and the International Olympic Committee will vote next year whether to consider the sports' for reinstatement.

But if this winds up being baseball's last hurrah, at least it's going out with a bang.

"They've had the most success of any team in the world," U.S. Manager Davey Johnson said of Cuba. "They've been dominant in World Cups, and they've been dominant in most of the Olympics. So it's a thrill to have the opportunity to play them.

"We still think we're the best club in North America. Or South America. So we welcome the challenge. We enjoy playing Cuba."

They enjoy it even more when they win, of course, as Johnson did last November when he managed a team of U.S. minor leaguers to a World Cup title, the Americans' first in 33 years. It was the first time Cuba had lost in 10 tries. And a team of U.S. collegians beat the Cuban Olympic team twice in a tournament in the Netherlands last month, extending to three a winning streak that was ended here with Cuba's extra-inning victory over the U.S. in pool play.

Naturally there have already been fireworks between the two teams, with Johnson accusing Pacheco of having pitcher Pedro Luis Lazo throw at the head of U.S. infielder Jayson Nix in that game.