By Michael E. Ruane and Scott Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 5, 1999; Page A01

One of Cuba's most famous retired pitchers defected in Baltimore yesterday, hours after the Cuban baseball team, which he served as a pitching coach, returned home from its historic victory over the Orioles.

Rigoberto Herrera Betancourt, 54, a classy lanzador zurdo (left-hander) who had superb control and a wicked breaking ball and who played for Cuba's national team from 1966 to 1976, sought asylum at Baltimore's central police station about 10 a.m. yesterday.

Betancourt played for the Yankees of Cuba, the Industriales, from 1963 to 1967, when the team was a national dynasty. His dominance was such that he earned the nickname "el pequeño gigante del box" -- the little big man of the box, a reference to the pitching mound.

Betancourt was one of at least seven former players who missed the Cuban plane yesterday, when the Cubans returned to Havana after defeating the Orioles, 12-6, Monday night in the second of their head-to-head matchups, police and government sources said.

It was unclear whether any other members of the Cuban delegation had attempted to defect. Baltimore police said the remaining six Cubans who missed the plane had overslept and were due to return today to their island nation.

Luis Fernandez, a spokesman for Cuban diplomatic representatives here, said the six spent the night in Washington.

"The game ended very late in the evening, and everybody was very tired," Fernandez said. He added that the six -- all "former prestigious baseball players" -- were given a tour of Washington yesterday and probably would return today. "They want to go as soon as possible. They want to stay with their families."

He added: "I have no information about any defections."

Baltimore police spokesman Robert Weinhold said police summoned an interpreter when Betancourt approached the station's on-duty commander, a lieutenant, and said he wanted to request asylum.

The police contacted agents of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, which handles asylum requests, and Betancourt was handed over to them.

The defection -- a dose of hard reality after the colorful, rain-drenched attempt at baseball diplomacy between the Cuban national team and the Orioles -- came hours after the Cuban delegation, about 335 strong, had left the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel for the flight back to Havana.

Most of the delegation piled aboard eight buses about 3 a.m. and then onto their chartered Canadian airliner, which left Baltimore Washington International Airport for Havana shortly after 6 a.m.

Victors over the Orioles in a bizarre, rain-delayed and lackluster contest, the Cubans were greeted when their plane arrived in Havana about 8 a.m. by Cuban President Fidel Castro and throngs of jubilant fellow citizens, who cheered as if the team had won the World Series, according to an Associated Press account.

"Cuba! Cuba!" fans hollered, while the team's star third baseman, Omar Linares, told Castro at a ceremony at the University of Havana: "Dear Commander in Chief, the mission you gave us has been completed." The Orioles defeated the Cubans, 3-2, in the first game between the two teams, played March 28 in Havana.

Meanwhile, back in Baltimore, a different kind of contest was underway.

Hours after the Cubans arrived in Havana, rumors began to swirl in and around Baltimore that the Cubans' L-1011 airliner had left with fewer passengers than it carried when it arrived.

Miami baseball agent Joe Cubas, who has helped numerous Cuban players defect for huge major league contracts in recent years, was en route home when his car phone began to ring frantically about 11 a.m.

There had been defections, and one or three or more Cubans had left the delegations, callers said, throwing Cubas one question after another: Who were they? Were they ballplayers? Did Cubas know anything?

No, he told callers. "We saw the players board the buses and head out to the airport," he said shortly before noon. "As of right now, I am not aware of any defections."

Cubas, who often shadows the talented Cuban team, trolling for U.S. prospects, said he had made no catches. "They attempted to keep me at arm's length, but we made contact with a lot of their players. I did not make any offers."

About 30 current Cuban baseball players -- along with hundreds of other sports, cultural and scientific figures -- have defected since the early 1990s, many on overseas trips like the one to Baltimore.

The INS says it granted asylum to 2,538 Cubans between 1990 and 1996, the last year for which statistics were available, with the numbers almost tripling from 229 in 1990 to 634 in 1996.

There are three ways a person can seek asylum. The most common is when a person fills out an INS form seeking "affirmative asylum." An INS officer either approves the request or recommends denial, sending it to an immigration judge for a final ruling.

The two other methods are less orderly. A person who is being deported for not having valid documents can make a "defensive claim" for asylum that can be granted only by an immigration judge. Or someone who fears a forcible return by officials in his or her homeland may seek "consenting alien protection" from INS officials.

Michael Gilhooly, director of INS public affairs for the eastern region, declined to comment yesterday on any aspect of the Cuban defection, as is standard procedure. About midafternoon, a Baltimore police spokesman, unaware of the defection, released details only about the six old-timers who were said to have overslept.

Later, though, Baltimore police amended their statement, announcing about 4 p.m. that a defection had occurred.

Staff writer Manuel Perez-Rivas contributed to this report.