USA/Cuba: Sydney Baseball [DragonHeart]

Fanfare diorama of the thrilling USA-Cuba rivalry in baseball during the Sydney Olympics, a nod to the American day.

A fanfare diorama of the awesome Sydney Olympics Baseball (2000) tourney, which saw the USA team contend with a rather 'dusty' Cuba team. Enjoy (and thanks for reading!), 

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The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics saw a great highlight in the baseball tournament, as the red hot team from Cuba was squared against the United States, coached by legend Tommy Lasorda (Dodgers). This would be a terrific moment in the history of international baseball, but it's not without tremors! Follow along.

My name's Amlan Satan (pseudonym!). I'm a huge baseball fan, just a fan. I played in junior-high and then mostly in video-games and enjoyed watching/cheering on American teams like the Kansas City Royals (2015) and Atlanta Braves (1995). I'm writing this sports-fanfare diorama about the USA-Cuba matchup in Sydney 2000 (Summer Olympics). Follow along.

Sydney 2000 was the first Summer Olympics of the new millennium and 21st Century. Australia would be a terrific host for this turn-of-the-era world-sports event, and there were obviously plenty of ads and markets and endorsements. The Sydney Summer Games would see many exciting sports events and the opening ceremony was first-rate, a real triumph for the Aussies.

"Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand" (Leo Durocher).

Baseball is indeed a church, a unique bat-and-ball game quite separate from 'comparable' sports (i.e., cricket!). Baseball involves two teams rotating on offense (batting) and defense (pitching-fielding) for about 9 innings of double-chance play to see who ends up with the most runs (by crossing the home-plate of a diamond of 4 bases/plates after hitting/running; or by batting in runners who've made it 1st/2nd/3rd base; or by single-hit out-of-the-stadium balls by bat called home-runs). There're referees, coaches, umpires, monitors, and of course countless fans.

American baseball coaching legend Tommy Lasorda would coach the USA team in Sydney 2000, and he was up to his neck in claims that red-hot Cuba would simply overpower the United States in those Summer Olympics.

On September 23 (2000), USA faced Cuba for the first time. It was rough and tough. Cuba was really red-hot, and the team's style of gunning pitching and rough hitting/running/fielding proved to be shocking for the Americans, and Coach Lasorda watched in shock as his players were hit by the pitcher and struggled to score while Cuba kept scoring.

The Cuban team dominated and bullied the USA team in that first meeting of the Sydney Olympics baseball-tourney. There was a moment when an American batter, Ernie Young, was almost hit severely by the pitches, prompting a near-fight moment on the field, which was then controlled by USA Coach Lasorda. The Cubans were more arrogant and bulldozing than the Americans had figured.

However, both the USA and Cuba were on-course to continue to dominate throughout the tournament that summer in Sydney (2000). They'd both go on to boast a final 6-1 record going into the final/championship to face each other again, where USA/Lasorda would seek retribution/revenge. That 9/23/2000 6-1 loss to Cuba, however, would be a scar for Lasorda.

Lasorda and the other Americans remarked on the remarkable pitching of the Cubans and their relentless ability to complement that with consistent powerful batting/scoring. The Cubans would end up in the Semi-Final to face Japan, where they simply won 3-0.

Meanwhile, the United Sates faced South Korea in their own Semi-Final match, and it was a late-game stunner, with a 2-hour rain delay requiring the continuation to occur at midnight in summer Sydney. The USA managed a bottom-9th home-run victory and won 3-2 finally, ready to replay the Cubans in the Sydney final/championship. This time, the Cubans were even more ready with solid pitchers/closers.

However, something unusual occurred. Firstly, the Americans came out swinging confidently and proved to offer a turnaround offense-magic from their devastating/bullied 6-1 loss on 9/23, going out to a great lead. Meanwhile, the American pitches Ben Sheets proved to be too much for the stunned Cuban batsmen, throwing a shutout, giving up only 1 hit well into the championship game. The Americans won 4-0 and avenged their scarring loss early in the Olympics tourney.

It was a great moment for the Americans and for world baseball. There was revenge, retribution, revelry, and of course resplendent baseball. The Cubans were simply overwhelming in the first matchup, and Lasorda's USA team proved to be the 'right stuff' for revenge, earning the Americans a Gold Medal in Sydney (2000).

In fact, someone wrote a book about the entire ordeal, and it's a great read for any fan of baseball (American or global!).

That's my diorama. The point of this portrait was to convey the image that Lasorda's USA team revenge in the Sydney Olympics gold-medal final game against red-hot Cuba was a point of excellent confidence, courage, and character. It was also a cool moment in the signature tone of American baseball --- detention/daylight.

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"Money is everything" (Ecclesiastes)