The Wall Street Journal Interviews Peter C. Bjarkman

Baseball writer Peter C. Bjarkman with Cuban national team member, Frederich Cepeda. 

Christopher Rhoads wrote a piece on The Wall Street Journal on one of my favorite baseball writers, Peter C. Bjarkman. {linked here}

U.S. scouts at a baseball tournament here last month salivated over Cuban national team players potentially worth millions of dollars in the major leagues. To keep any of them from defecting, Cuban security restricted them to their hotel rooms between games.

But one American was allowed to visit them, coming and going as he pleased.

"The guards know me," explained Peter Bjarkman, a 69-year-old retired linguistics professor from Purdue University.

Some compare him with Ry Cooder, the American musician who brought Cuban music to the wider world, leading to the album and film the "Buena Vista Social Club."

Bjarkman has been following the Cuban National baseball team for the last 15 years. He has access to Cuba's locker room even though he's an American. Cuban-Americans sees Bjarkman as a Fidel Castro defender.

I see Bjarkman as a reporter doing his job. 

Bjarkmam's site. {linked here}

Check out this post I wrote last year when I saw the Cuban national team in Petco Park. {linked here}

The Wall Street Journal Video: