President Barack Obama plans to attend an exhibition game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national baseball team on March 22 in Havana, a historic event in both international relations and sport.
White House official Ben Rhodes tweeted the news Tuesday evening:
BREAKING: @POTUS will attend an exhibition game between @MLB’s @RaysBaseball & the Cuban National Team in Cuba: t.co/3aRAAjEodz
— Ben Rhodes (@rhodes44) March 2, 2016
Charting new #CubaPolicy means stronger ties between Cubans & Americans – we all share a love of baseball: t.co/3aRAAjEodz
— Ben Rhodes (@rhodes44) March 2, 2016
“We are very excited to…strengthen ties between our countries through our love & passion for the game of baseball.”-@MLB_PLAYERS #CubaPolicy
— Ben Rhodes (@rhodes44) March 2, 2016
Obama will see the game at Latin American Stadium during his even more historic visit to Cuba, the first time a sitting U.S. president has been to that country since 1928. In December 2014, the U.S. and Cuba agreed to end decades of enmity that began in the Cold War, and the restoration of diplomatic ties started in 2015.
“Americans and Cubans share a love of baseball, and this is yet another powerful reminder of the kinship between our peoples as well as the progress we can achieve when we leverage those natural ties,” a White House official told ESPN on Tuesday.
The game will also represent the first time a Major League Baseball team has played in Cuba since 1999. The Rays were selected in November to participate in the exhibition, which will be shown on ESPN.
Obama is a Chicago White Sox fan, but presumably on this occasion he’ll root for the Rays.
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