Baseball, which arrived in Cuba in the 1880s, has come to symbolise national pride, and as with soccer in Brazil it is both an escape and a unifying force. "I think baseball calms people because it's a chance to forget," says one observer.
Improvised games begin early. "The minute we start to walk we drop our rattles or dolls and pick up a bat," says sports commentator Julia Osendi.
Most players remain faithful to their fiercely egalitarian society and its struggling economy, and defections to America and the big money are surprisingly few. Says star player Victor Mesa: "If they want to buy us for dollars we will always say no, because we're going nowhere. We're doing this for our people. We want them to feel good, forget about what they don't have, even for a short time."
Director Sylvia Stevens
Producers Peter Day and Grant Keir
A Faction production for BBCtv