The practice match between Cuba’s national baseball team and South Korea’s professional club was over before it started — all because of a ball.
According to Yonhap News, the two teams had agreed they would each pitch their own type of ball, but right before the game was scheduled to start, Cuba insisted both teams use a ball made by the U.S. brand Brett Bros.
“The ball had thick and wide seams, and it posed injury risks for our pitchers,” an official of Korea’s NC Dinos said. “Then Cuba suggested we both play a Taiwanese ball. That ball also had big seams and we said we didn’t want to play it. Finally, Cubans brought out some mysterious ball, and again we told them we couldn’t play it.”
The two were set to face off to prepare for the World Baseball Classic slated to begin March 2, but after they were unable to agree on a style of ball to use the game was ultimately cancelled.
This news comes just a day after Taiwanese scouts posed as umpires to gain access to a South Korean scrimmage. Here’s hoping the actual World Baseball Classic is as exciting as the stories leading up to it.
Photo via Twitter/NCdinos_fan
