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Bacardi Untameable - Yasiel Puig, force of nature

Robert Hanashiro / USA TODAY Sports

There is no straight line from Cuba’s dusty ball fields to the Major Leagues. The ongoing embargo makes it impossible for Cuban players to participate in baseball’s draft or open themselves to international free agency.

A simmering Cold War feud 60 years in the making exposes talents like Yasiel Puig to all manner of outside influence, to interlopers and profiteers and human smugglers.

But professional baseball talent has a way of moving mountains. Few players are as talented as the Dodgers Yasiel Puig and few players experienced the unbelievable trajectory from virtual unknown in Cienfuegos, Cuba to the the professional minor leagues to big league supernova as quickly or as spectacularly as Puig.

The story is a hard one to believe. Yasiel Puig, finally smuggled out of Cuba and into the relatively safe haven of Mexico after repeated efforts were continually thwarted, huddled in a motel room awaiting his representatives pay what amounts to a ransom to “agents of dubious origin.”

Improbably still, the Dodgers made their move to sign Puig after a single workout and hazy memories of an teenaged international tournament. International scout Mike Brito watched a batting practice a display impressive enough to warrant a contract offer on the spot.

New rules governing the prices international free agents could command were set to take effect so the Dodgers moved quickly, inking the mysterious outfielder to a seven-year deal with $42 million, an astronomical sum for such a Cuban import.

Getting him signed and onto U.S. soil was only the beginning. Culture shock and the acclimation process still stood between the unproven talent and the big leagues.

Given the arduous road between Puig and the big leagues, it is understandable if he approaches the game (and life) with a different perspective. Consider a free spirit and emotional wild card even within the comforts of his hometown, Puig’s enthusiasm for baseball was matched only by his skill.

He flipped bats during BP and ran the bases with reckless abandon, turning heads during his brief stay in the minor leagues for his play in addition to his affinity or driving at high speeds on expansive American highways.

The Dodgers big league team got off to a slow start in 2013 and experienced waves of injury, forcing them to reach down to double-A and call on Puig. He wasn’t supposed to save the season of an expensive club spinning its wheels, it just so happened that way.

On his way to a record-setting season, Puig attracted attention for his brash play and inability to “play the game the right way.” He drew the ire of Carlos Beltran in the post-season while his teammates hosted closed-door meetings to better instill Dodgers culture in their unpredictable teammate. 

Opponents bristled at his lack of couth and analysts patiently waited for his production to taper off given his unrefined approach at the plate.

But Puig adjusted, continuing to learn and approve not only the vagaries of playing the game at its highest level but the nuance of baseball’s ancient culture. He lead the Dodgers to the playoffs in 2013, reaching the National League championship series where they bowed out to the St. Louis Cardinals - the antithesis of his wild style.

Controversy follows Yasiel Puig mostly because so many in the media seek to connect it to the Dodgers outfielder. He became one of the biggest stories in baseball, making his every misstep a story itself.

His second season in the Major Leagues shows his capacity for adjustment, as he continually develops his skills and ranks among the most fearsome and prolific hitters in baseball. Not yet a finished product, Yasiel Puig is one of the game’s best players and biggest stars, voted into the All Star game by the fans and invited to the Home Run Derby by his peers.  

His talent and physical skills carried him from Cuba to Mexico to Florida and on to Los Angeles, the only city suitable for a player with a backstory so unbelievable, no screenwriter would dare to create something so audacious.

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