The political fallacy of baseball diplomacy

Abstract

In May 1999 the Cuban national baseball team visited Baltimore to play a second exhibition game (the first was held earlier in the year in Havana) against the Baltimore Orioles. The U.S. media portrayed this cultural exchange as “baseball diplomacy.” As it is usually understood, diplomacy is the practice of international politics between states. Yet, no U.S. government officials were involved in the negotiations in Havana that produced this exhibition series. Nor did any U.S. government officials attend either game. In fact, the opposite was more prevalent, with Cuban‐American members of Congress condemning the series as a show of support for the Castro government. No new political discourse emerged between the U.S. and Cuba as a result of this international exchange. Categorizing the Cuban‐Baltimore baseball games as “diplomacy” is simply false.