Facing Political Upheaval, Cal Ripken Cuts And Runs From Nicaragua

Volatile Central American politics can affect our sugar prices, our oil and how we get our cocaine. But did we ever think it could fuck up our baseball?
It has. Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken was forced to abandon his baseball clinic in Nicaragua on the last day due to political unrest in that country following recent local elections. Like Michael Corleone from Cuba before him, he was forced to make a last-minute escape, which forced the cancellation of the final day of the clinic.
No word yet on whether or not the Ripkens’ very own Fredo, Billy, made it back to the homeland.

Ripken and his former Baltimore Orioles teammate Dennis Martinez, a Nicaraguan native, provided instruction to 300 children and 60 youth coaches in Managua and Granada since last week. They were scheduled to give their final clinic in Leon.

But the program sponsors canceled the last day of the tour because protesters were blocking major roads in Leon and they were concerned parents and the youths would not be able to attend, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Kristin Stewart said.

Opposition party supporters are claiming election fraud and have clashed with leftist Sandinista party supporters, blocked roads and held protests since the Nov. 9 municipal elections.

Ripken had been blogging about the trip for The Sporting News, and though he mentions the unrest in his most recent post, it’s to describe his camp as a holiday for Nicaragua’s journalists, who are so weary of the political strife just down the road.

In case you weren’t away there has been a great focus on the recent Nicaraguan elections and there is some controversy over the results. I get the impression from the media that they are enjoying a reprieve from politics by covering our activities. The coverage has been outstanding . . . Dennis and I have been on the front page of the sports sections of the two largest papers, El Nuevo Diario and La Prensa, every day since our arrival!

Now, Cal didn’t go to journalism school, so we can cut him some slack here. But we can assure him that any journalist worth their salt is covering the political breakdown. It’s what we live for. Sure, the reporters you met might have been pleasant enough, but we’ll garuantee they were dying inside, covering the old baseball gringo while full blown riots were breaking out just a few miles away.
Cal Ripken’s baseball clinic cut short [USA Today]
Cal’s Chronicles: Spreading the message of baseball [Sporting News]