PORT CHARLOTTE — Three years ago, Dayron Varona was racing through the sea on a 12-hour trip to freedom, an escape from Cuba, to Haiti and eventually: America. His mother and four others were with him.
Small boat. Big dream.
The story is steaming toward full circle. The Rays will make history when they travel to Havana later this month to play the Cuban national baseball team in a goodwill exhibition game. President Obama is expected to attend. No word on Fidel.
But Dayron Varona, the only Cuban-born player on the Rays’ spring training roster, would love to be there.