This is what José Luis Rodríguez, Provincial Commissioner, assures us. He talks about the possible date to return to training, the health of pitcher Alejandro Meneses and the measures taken by the technical body to minimize the effects of the new coronavirus on the preparation of the Leñadores (Lumberjacks) baseball team.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- As they have done throughout the last three seasons, always on the podium of the National Baseball Series, the Leñadores baseball team of Las Tunas have not wanted to be left behind in the fight against the COVID-19 and, besides complying to the letter with all the security measures, they are adding to the call to mitigate among all the impact of the virus that has become a global pandemic.
Since the management of the National Institute of Sports decided to stop all sporting activities, those led by Pablo Alberto Civil put a break to training at the Julio Antonio Mella Stadium and a series of baseball games against Holguín Cachorros (Hounds), Camagüey Toros (Bulls) and Granma Alazanes (Sorrels).
The 60th National Series, originally scheduled to start on April 11, will now have a tentative starting date in June, bearing in mind that the extension of the sporting break has already been announced at least until May 31. While waiting to see how long the country's exceptional situation will last, all these variables will have an impact on the planning of not only the new baseball season calendar, but also on the preparation strategy outlined by the Leñadores' coaching staff.
This is confirmed by José Luis Rodríguez, Provincial Baseball Commissioner in Las Tunas: The last indication we had was that training should restart on April 19, but of course, that is subject to how the virus develops and the phases we have to face in the country. If everything stays as planned and taking into account that the 19th is a Sunday, we would go back to the preparation on April 21st.
Each one of the athletes went home with an individual plan for physical preparation so that they can do it at home because they all know that they are not allowed to enter any baseball field. It's the same for the coaches. They left with the task in each area to make the necessary methodological adjustments for a new preparation based on the dates we have so far.
Rodriguez assures that the state of health of the team members is good and that the group is able to return without problems as soon as conditions allow. Of the athletes we had with injuries, which somehow depended on Sports Medicine, the only one we had left was Alejandro Meneses, but he has already recovered quite a bit. In fact, we had planned to start throwing with power this April, he adds.
Having become the face and soul of an entire province, the protagonists of the greatest joy to be remembered here in many years with the historic and greatest award of the 58th Series. The Leñadores baseball team is now trying to emerge victorious alongside all the people of Las Tunas in a battle much more demanding than their three consecutive semi-final play-offs.
As we did with each of the team's athletes and coaches, the local baseball urges the entire population to comply with the measures of the government and health authorities, with a view to controlling the pandemic as quickly as possible. It is a matter of winning now among all of us so that we can soon fill the Mella Stadium in search of another final.
