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November 22, 2008 9:47:48 CST

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Prison of Cuban Baseball Ensnares US Agent, Too

Posted Jun 13, 08 3:17 PM CDT in World,  Politics,  Sports,  Glossies 

(Newser) – Politics is keeping "at least half a billion dollars of baseball players in Cuba right now," one agent tells Michael Lewis as he investigates, for Vanity Fair, the case of an American sports agent now in jail for smuggling athletes. Gus Dominguez appears to be a victim of politics on the US side—though that web isn't half as tangled as the one facing athletes on Castro's island.

"The governments of the United States and Cuba now agree on at least one thing," Lewis notes: "Americans with a commercial interest in springing Cuban ballplayers should be jailed for pursuing it." The underbelly of the Cuban system gets the full treatment from the Moneyball author, with time out for jabs at Fidel Castro, current Seattle Mariners shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, and plenty more.

Source Vanity Fair

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Antonio Castro, left, Cuba's team doctor and Fidel Castro's son, celebrates with members of the Cuban team after beating the United States in their Pan American Games gold medal game, July 20, 2007.   (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Dayan Viciedo, 19, one of Cuba's top baseball prospects, talks to the media in Hialeah, Fla., June 9, 2008. Viciedo defected from the island and settled in South Florida nearly a month ago.   (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
Cuban expatriate Francisley Bueno, a left handed pitcher for the AA Mississippi Braves, smiles as he walks through his team's dugout during their July 21, 2007.   (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Cuban player Andy Morales, left, listens as agent Gus Dominguez discusses his pro baseball chances, in this July, 2000 file photo. Dominguez got five years in prison for smuggling Cuban players.   (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Cuban winner pitcher Elier Sanchez throws against Nicaragua during the semifinal baseball game, July 28, 2007, at Cidade do Rock stadium, in Rio de Janeiro during the Pan American Games.   (AFP/Getty Images)
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