Press
conference with Yulieski
“The
Cuban ball players can win in any baseball league”
The
Japanese pitchers boast an amazing control and a great variety of
pitches. He will join [his team] Industriales for the second round of
the competition. Team Cuba for the Central American and Caribbean Games
will be announced on November 4-5.
Author:
Sigfredo Barros Segrera |
sigfredo@granma.cu / October 18,
2014
Face showed signs of the effort he was putting in
You
have to grant him that: it was through sheer willpower that Yulieski
Gourriel gave a press conference even if his face still bears the marks
of exhaustion and jetlag after his flight from Japan. But he arrived in
time and looked at ease as he answered a barrage of questions about his
stay in the Asian nation for more than four months.
Yulieski Gourriel (left),
[his father, former baseball star] Lourdes Gourriel (center) and Cuban
Baseball Federation president Higinio Vélez (right). (Photo:
Ismael Batista)
The first
thing that the valuable third baseman from the province of Sancti
Spiritus was the exceptionally demanding training sessions and very
strict discipline of the Japanese ball players:
“Just by way of example: I had no sooner got off the plane after a
24-hour-long trip than they told me to drop my luggage at the hotel
‘cause I had to start training with the team, the Yokohama DeNa Bay
Stars. They never get tired of running, batting, etc., for as far as
they’re concerned, the player’s preparation is sacred. They make
countless swings, to the point that shortly before the game they spend
five minutes batting to the right side of the field and another five to
the left side, for an approximate number of 70 swings.
“They arrive in the stadium around noon or 12:30 p.m. for a game that
starts at 5:00 p.m. There they run for a long time and throw to all
bases around 30 times for practice, and on top of that they play catch
for a few minutes as a warm-up exercise. Let me tell you that my first
week was terrible, so much so that I even began to think that I wouldn’t
be able to make it”.
“Were language or
food barriers as well?”
“You bet! In one of my first games I intercepted a throw from the
outfield that I, as the cut-off man, had to relay to the appropriate
base. Someone shouted something to me and I threw the ball to third
base… but I was supposed to throw it to home plate. After that they
posted a bill behind my seat in the dugout with some key words, and some
of the players even bought Japanese-Spanish dictionaries so that they
could communicate with me.
“As to food… well, in previous stints in Japan I would lose up to 5 kg
because I don’t like Asian food, and I couldn’t assimilate it there any
more than in Taipei or South Korea. The team managers were worried about
that and often took me to Tokyo’s only Cuban restaurant, and they asked
them for the recipes to make, for instance, congrí[1],
and then sent them to the chefs of the hotels where the team stayed. So
I actually ate well and kept my weight. They saw to it that I did”.
“Did the Japanese
fans give you a warm welcome?”
They are very polite and well-mannered.
Many of them would recognize me in the street and greet me warmly. They
even hanged a gigantography with my picture in a central area of the
city. I’m very grateful to them for the way they treated me”.
“Everybody talks
about the Japanese pitchers, many of whom you had to face. What do you
think about them?”
“They are the best, all excellent pitchers with a great command of the
strike zone and incredible control. When they give you a base on balls
it’s usually because they chose not to take chances with you. But most
importantly, all of them without exception master between four and five
different pitches: fastball, slider, sinker, change up, forkball, you
name it… You never know what they’re going to throw to you”.
“I remember when you said once, near the end of your stint there,
that you were tired, and yet you finished hitting .305, including 11
home runs, and slugging .536 in 62 games. What did you do to recover?”
Yulieski answers with a smile: “I did a little of everything. The
way my body behaves is essential to me; if it’s not feeling well even my
mind suffers. They have a sort of hyperbaric chambers in which they
stayed for around 45 minutes. I don’t like to be stuck inside anything,
so I did it only once. But I did stretching exercises, which proved very
helpful, and then massage, for every team has eight highly qualified
physical therapists.
“Besides,” he adds, “I recalled a piece of advice that [Dominican ball
player] Albert Pujols during the first World Baseball Classic: changing
your bat for another one that is one or two ounces lighter helps you
keep the speed of your swings. In the last few weeks we played nine
games in a row, took a day off, and then played another fourteen games
without a break. That is, 23 games in 24 days, something I had never
done before”.
Word has it that he will run away with the Rookie of the Year Award,
which no foreigner has ever won. However, Yulieski made it clear that
just before he left they told him that, unfortunately, he had been there
for only half of the season and therefore didn’t apply. “Keep in mind
that I injured my oblique muscles as a result of a strong swing and
spent many days on the disabled list. But I felt great joy that they had
thought of me”.
“Are you going back
to play there?”
“I really don’t know, it depends on many things, but yes, I would like
to play for that team again. All the players, the coach, the interpreter
and the fans gave me the full treatment. There are better teams, like
the Yomiuri Giants, for one, but if I could take my pick I’d go for the
DeNA”.
“All fans in Cuba are looking forward to seeing you playing with
Industriales again.”
“I can imagine so, and I feel the same way, but they must understand
that between the past National Series and now I have played over 150
games. I will be in the team that will play in the Central American and
Caribbean Games and then will wear the blue uniform for the second round
of the competition, which I’m sure the team will get through to”.
By the way, Higinio Vélez, president of the Cuban Baseball Federation,
announced in the press conference that Team Cuba will put together on
November 4-5, and 24 players will be chosen directly and without a
preselection, because the team will depart for Veracruz on the 12th and
there’s no time to gather a high number of players for tryouts.
“Anything else you
would like to add?”
“First of all that representing Cuba is the most important thing to me,
and my performance in Japan confirms that the Cuban ball players have
the talent and the will to win in any baseball league in the world”.