MIAMI — Just hours after playing in the World Baseball Classic in Miami, Cuba’s national baseball team took an early-morning flight back to the island on Monday — a quick return home in line with the Cuban government’s desire to prevent defections by its athletes.
It didn’t totally work: The official Cuban baseball delegation returned to the island one player short.
Iván Prieto González, the catcher in the Cuban team bullpen helping pitchers warm up, didn’t show up at Miami International Airport for the team’s flight to Havana, defecting to the U.S. instead.
