Cuban ballplayers feared lost at sea

By OLANCE NOGUERAS
Herald Staff Writer

Four members of the Cuban national baseball team and a coach are feared lost at sea after setting out for the United States in a flimsy boat more than a week ago.

The five Cubans left March 10 from Villa Clara province between Caibarien and Isabela de Sagua, a relative told Cuba's independent Centro Norte Press news agency.

One of the missing men is Jorge Luis Toca, former first baseman for the national team and one of Cuban baseball's most promising players. The others are catcher Angel Lopez, second baseman Jorge Diaz Olano, young prospect Michael Jova and pitching coach Enrique Chinea, said CNP reporter Hector Trujillo.

``I talked to Toca's father, who lives in Remedios, and the whole family is desperate, in view of the recent spate of bad weather,'' Trujillo said. ``They're holding on to the hope that they are hiding on some key near the Bahamas.''

Rafters fleeing to South Florida from that part of Cuba occasionally seek shelter on barren islands and wait there for the weather to improve, Trujillo said.

``If they're hiding on some islet, [their survival] will depend on the supplies they took with them,'' he said. ``No matter how you look at it, it's a dangerous venture. Two families that sailed on Jan. 25 are still missing.''

U.S. Coast Guard spokesman H.A. Twist said the agency had no news of the five missing Cubans.

Toca, 24, became a member of the national team in 1993. Last year he was given a lifetime suspension for publicly expressing his desire to play in the U.S. major leagues and for criticizing his country's sports policies.

Lopez, 28, was a catcher for Rolando Arrojo, a Cuban defector who will make his U.S. debut in April, pitching for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Jova, a member of the national youth team, is the son of Pedro Jova, who managed the national champion Villa Clara provincial team. According to the official daily Granma, the elder Jova was penalized by the authorities for ``speaking on the telephone with traitor Rolando Arrojo.''

Diaz was to report last week to the Villa Clara team.