Are you a sports lover? Then you should book a bed and breakfast in Cuba with us and enjoy a game of baseball in Cuba. This is a great way to experience island culture up close, beyond the tourist traps.
How to enjoy a baseball game in Cuba?
Everyone in Cuba talks about baseball and plays “la pelota” whenever they can. It is normal to see children playing in the street. If your children accompany you on the trip, they can also integrate into the game.
Baseball is the national sport and we Cubans live it with passion. To live your cultural exchange to the fullest, you cannot stop going to a game. Yes, there are many tourist attractions, but we invite you to rest, buy a ticket -they are very cheap- and sit down with the fans to cheer on their team.
To attend a baseball game in Cuba you must travel between November and April. The regular season spans through those months. After that, they play 3 rounds of the playoffs, culminating in a championship.
But it’s easier to find tickets during the regular season, they won’t sell out. The tickets are cheap, they cost between 3 to 5 CUC. And you can sit wherever you want.
There are 16 professional baseball teams in Cuba, so you can check the schedule and the stadiums to attend the game you want. But the most famous team plays in Havana, the Industriales. Also, Santiago de Cuba is very famous.
Inside the stadium you will see vendors everywhere. They sell coffee, peanuts, peanut butter bars, popcorn, and many more items. They can’t sell alcohol too.
The Cubans will be friendly with you during the game. They will come to talk to you about the game and treat you like an old friend. It is normal for them to act like this, surely you have also experienced it outside the stadium.
In Havana, you must visit the Latin American Stadium. Some other stadiums around Cuba are Capitán San Luis, Cristóbal Labra, Santiago “Changa” Mederos, Augusto César Sandino and José Ramón Cepero, among others.
Some facts about baseball in Cuba
Here are some details about baseball in Cuba:
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Baseball is the main sport on the island and is called “la pelota”.
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The Havana Baseball Club was the first baseball team founded in Cuba, around 1868.
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The Cuban Professional Baseball League was founded in 1978.
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16 teams play in the Cuban league. They are organized into a Western League and an Eastern League.
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Los Industriales, representing Havana, is the team with the most titles. 12 in all.
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The Latin American Stadium, headquarters of Los Industriales, is the most important on the island. It has a capacity for 55,000 spectators.
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Not all the rules of Cuban baseball are the same as in Major League Baseball (MLB). On the island, if one of the teams loses by 10 runs or more, the game is over. This is known as the mercy rule.
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