This story is a collaboration with Outside the Lines. It appears in ESPN The Magazine's June 26 Béisbol Experience Issue. Subscribe today!
On the afternoon of April 28, 2014, Lerys Aguilera stepped out of his house in Holguín, a provincial capital in Cuba's rustic eastern half. He hadn't gone far when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and faced a young man, a stranger, who looked to be in his early 30s. In Holguín, Lerys Aguilera was famous. For the prior 11 seasons he'd played first base and hit cleanup for the Holguín Sabuesos, one of 16 teams in the National Series, Cuba's grandes ligas.