Euclides Rojas fled Cuba with his wife and 2-year-old son. He put them in a raft, shoved off and aimed for a place where 22 years later he could grip the arms of a chair, have his eyes go red and say, “Cuba is a big jail. Communism and the Castro government are the slave owners,” then stand up and get on with his life as a husband, father and baseball coach.
He’d pitched seven seasons for the Cuban national team, and did not leave the island for better baseball. His monthly paycheck was for the equivalent of $6, and he did not seek wealth.