The game itself was a pitcher's duel and an extra-innings thriller, with the Orioles eventually winning the game 3 to 2.  Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras pitched 8 shutout innings against the mighty Orioles' lineup.  Some of Cuba's best players did not play, because the game coincided with Cuba's "World Series."  Still, it was clear to scouts, sports-writers, and fans that Cuba fielded a major league caliber team, especially their pitching staff.  A second game between the two teams is scheduled on May 3 at Oriole Park in Camden Yards.

This is not the first time that baseball has demonstrated its ability to promote diplomacy and enhance cultural exchange.  In fact, the game has a modern history of providing a home for anyone around the globe who can play the game well.

Ever since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, baseball has sought out the best players in the world who have shown fans the best the game can offer.  Outfielder Orestes Minoso arrived in the majors from Cuba when he signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1949.  Two years later, he joined the Chicago White Sox.  Minoso batted over .300 for eight seasons in the majors.  Hall of Famers Louis Aparicio (Venezuela), Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico), Juan Marichal (Dominican Republic), and Rod Carew (Panama) are well known names to baseball fans.  Scores of other minority players from third world countries have given us memories of great plays and performances on the field of dreams.

It's natural that major league baseball teams would seek the best players to help them win a pennant or the coveted World Series championship.  It is merely the practical application of a well known and unrefuted principle in economics called the law of comparative advantage.  According to this principle, an economic system gets the most productivity when it allocates scarce resources to those activities that they are relatively best at.

Comparative advantage is most often applied to international trade.  If countries specialize in the production of those goods and services for which they have a comparative advantage and trade with each other, then everyone benefits by getting more stuff at the lowest possible prices.  Trade restrictions and embargoes like the US has against Cuba violates comparative advantage and results in a misallocation of resources.

Comparative advantage is integral to the game of baseball.  The object of the game is to get 27 outs and at least one more run than the other team.  You have a better chance of winning if you get the best players that you can and position them according to their individual comparative advantages.  When each player specializes at what they do relatively best, the team gets the most effective defense and scores more runs.  To understand this principle and how it applies to players, consider the case of the immortal Babe Ruth.  He was a great pitcher and a great hitter, but his comparative advantage was in hitting.  That is, he was better than most other pitchers, but he was much better than most other hitters, especially when it came to hitting home runs.  That's why he played in the outfield and batted in the line-up every day, instead of pitching every 4 or 5 games.

When making up the line-up, a good manager will lead off with the player who has the highest on-base percentage and is fast enough to steal bases.  The third batter is usually the team's best all around hitter.  The fourth hitter is a slugger.  He may not have a high batting average, but he often hits the ball over the fence for a home run.  Home runs are more efficient when the1st, 2nd, and/or 3rd hitters are already on base.  The weakest hitters bat near the end of the line-up.  That way they don't bat as often as the others.  Baseball is full of these nuances which are essentially applied principles of economics.

Today's major league baseball teams have acquired the best players from all over the world.  Like diamonds in South Africa, South America and the Caribbean countries have become gold mines of  baseball player talent.  Jose Conseco (Cuba), Andres Galarraga (Venezuela), Sammy Sosa (Dominican Republic), and Sandy Alomar, jr. (Puerto Rico) are among today's baseball superstars.

Two of the best teams in baseball today are the defending champion New York Yankees in the American League and the National League's Western Division Los Angeles Dodgers.  Between the two teams' rosters, players from nine countries outside of the US are represented.  One of the Yankee pitching aces is Orlando Hernandez (El Duque), who defected from Castro's Cuba in 1997.  (His younger brother Livan Hernandez was the MVP in the 1997 World Series).  Imagine a best-of-seven series between these two teams.  It would truly be a "world series" with players from so many different countries.  Here's what their starting line-ups might look like:

Fantasy World Series 1999:  Game 1

 New York Yankees                                    Los Angeles Dodgers

Player	Pos	Country of Origin		Player	Pos	Country of Origin
1 C. Knoblauch	2b	USA		1 E. Young	2b	USA
2 D. Jeter	ss	USA		2 M. Grudzielanek	ss	USA
3 P. O'neill	rf	USA		3 G. Sheffield	lf	USA
4 B. Williams	cf	Puerto Rico		4 R. Mondesi	rf	Dominican Rep.
5 T. Martinez	1b	USA		5 E. Karros	1b	USA
6 C. Davis	lf	Jamaica		6 D. White	cf	Jamaica
7 C. Bellinger	3b	USA		7 A. Beltre	3b	Dominican Rep.
8 J. Giradi	c	USA		8 P. Laduca	c	USA
9 O. Hernandez	sp	Cuba		9 C. ho Park	sp	South Korea
10 L. Sojo	ph	Venezuela		10 J. Vizcaino	ph	Dominican Rep.
11 R. Mendoza	rp	Panama		11 A. Osuna	rp	Mexico

All of the players in major league baseball are doing what they are relatively the best at.  They may also be good musicians. Some of them could be great comedians, and a few could probably cook a great hot dog.  You might even find some that would be good economists.  But they are relatively better at playing baseball than the rest of us than they are better at doing anything else.

Fans who love baseball love it for different reasons.  One reason to love and appreciate baseball is the opportunity it affords people to be the best that they can be.  By scouting for players from all over the world and letting them play, regardless of color or ethnic origin,  baseball is truly an economic model of equality of opportunity and efficiency of resource utilization.  It gives the fans the game they want to see, it applies basic principles of economics, and it does it with a flair.