#SupportForTheCubanPeople

THIS IS AN EXTRA REPORT OF WHAT HAPPENED IN WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN WEEK 28, WHEN IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO PLAY DUE TO RAIN. I LEAVE IT FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. This weekend, it was not possible to play, all the games of Sunday, September 15 were suspended due to the poor conditions of the baseball fields as a result of the heavy rains on Friday and Saturday. Nevertheless, practically all the veteran athletes of the “Softball, Quality of Life” Project met at the “Los Caballitos” stadium next to the “Amanecer Feliz” amusement childish park to receive their colleagues from Philadelphia Drexel University, with whom a pleasant exchange was held, and all the details of the project were explained to them as well as all the questions and doubts they had, were answered. It was an excellent meeting, fruitful, constructive, of brotherhood, collaboration and mutual support and especially educational, which served to show the visitors that despite the difficult situations that the Cuban people are experiencing: economic, energy, shortages, inflation, lacks, and so on, it is still capable of undertaking projects like this and bringing a little joy and entertainment to the Cuban lives and in particular, to the people of Cienfuegos, demonstrating the resilience of Cubans and their willingness to sacrifice to build the social model we chose and continue being a sovereign country.

This Sunday, September 8, coinciding with the day of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre (Catholic deity named and proclaimed as Patroness of Cuba, by Pope Benedict XV on May 10, 1916 and authorized the canonical coronation of the sacred image by Pope Pius XI on the morning of December 20, 1936, by the then bishop of Santiago de Cuba, Monsignor Valentín Zubizarreta. According to accounts of the time, her image appeared in 1612 or early 1613, in Nipe Bay, the largest in Cuba, located on the northern coast of the eastern region of the island was sighted by three slaves: a 10-year-old black boy (Juan Moreno) and two brothers of pure Indian blood (Juan and Rodrigo de Hoyos), who worked as slaves in the copper mines of the region whose trio has been baptized in Cuban imagery as "the three Juanes". Later, on a trip made by John Paul II to Cuba in 1998, he crowned the Virgin as the Patroness of Cuba with great dignity) the Veterans League of the Softball Project: Quality of Life was resumed after six weeks of vacation. In the corresponding subseries, the Elephants of the Veterans 3 team again won the Sunday doubleheader, moving nine games away from their closest pursuer, the Shrimpers of the Veterans 3 team. As a significant note, the Jagua, of the Veterans 2 team, lost the doubleheader, moving dangerously away 19.5 games from the top. Pitcher Eliécer Hernández Muñoz achieved his tenth victory, to lead alone the list of most victories achieved in the league with 11, leaving the Jagua with only two runs and only 7 hits. In that game, the Jagua of Veterans 2 team managed to score a triple play, which is the third achieved in the 11 editions of this Veterans Cup. Eliécer also reached 13 times being selected as MVP, also remaining alone as the leader in that department.

In the last day of the Veterans League of the Project: “Softball, Quality of Life”, before the August vacation break, the Elephants of the Veterans 3 team, honouring its status as absolute leaders - to date - of the championship, won the Sunday doubleheader, closing this stage with an 8-game advantage over its closest pursuer, the Shrimpers of the Veterans 3 team. The most outstanding note of the day was the star pitcher Manuel Gradaille Martín, with his shutout against the Jagua of the Veterans 2 team, whom he left with only 7 hits, closing the stage as the leader in average of games won and lost with an average of .750. The league will recess its activities until Sunday, September 8, 2024, so that the project's athletes can enjoy their well-deserved vacation.