Collegiate Baseball The Voice Of Amateur Baseball Started In 1958 At The Request Of Our Nation’s Baseball Coaches Vol. 62, No. 5 Friday, March 8, 2019 $4.00 Escape From Cuba 40-Day, 10,000 Mile Trip From Hell Ended In Heaven Enroute to United States, Randy Labaut and his parents are detained for 21 days in Mexico until immigration status is settled as family ultimately pays $7,500 fine to continue on to USA. By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR. Editor/Collegiate Baseball UCSON, Ariz. — Randy Labaut, along with his mom and dad, escaped from Cuba which took them on a dangerous T40-day journey to the United States in 2010 when he was just 13 years old. It involved 10,000 miles of travel and multiple stops in strange towns with complete strangers as guides in the quest to be in the USA. The plan to leave Cuba had its genesis many years prior as Raul and Ernestina Labaut, Randy’s parents, saved money for years with a goal putting aside $30,000 for this trip. This was extremely difficult to accomplish since Raul and Ernestina only made $20 a month each in this Communist nation on their jobs. Raul was a truck driver while Ernestina worked at a bank. They also earned additional money to supplement this meager income. Ultimately they saved $4,000 over many years. Their biggest asset was their car which they sold for $16,000. The other $10,000 was chipped in by an aunt and cousin who live in the United States. Living In Cuba “I have great memories of Cuba as I grew up,” said Labaut, the University of Arizona’s ace lefthanded pitcher. “I lived in a city called Alquizar which is about 40 minutes from Havana. “We have a lot of family members in Cuba. Just prior to the trip, my parents’ property was changed over to a relative so the Cuban government wouldn’t take it from us once we left. “If the property you own is in your name and you leave the country for the USA, then the property is automatically taken by the government. However, if you transfer the property to a family member, they will not take it. “Cubans in general don’t make enough money. My father Raul and mom Ernestina would make $20 each a month, and they utilized all that for food. “What your house looks like never mattered. What was important was having food on the table. “There were many things they did to make more money. If you work on a job, the most amount of money you typically earn in Cuba is $20 a month due to Communist rule. “What many people did for extra money was illegal. For example, if you work at a pharmacy, you have your normal job of filling prescriptions. But they also would sell medicine for extra income to people on the side. “My brother Raul, Jr. served in the military which everyone is forced to do when they turn 18. He would tell us horrible things that officers would do to the soldiers. “Soldiers were sleep deprived and worked long, long hours. Officers didn’t care about them. “The food was horrible. People from Cuba hate their time in the military. That is another reason my parents wanted us to get out of Cuba. They did not want me to serve in the military and suffer like Photo by Lou Pavlovich/Collegiate Baseball Arizona LHP Randy Labaut experienced wild trip to USA from Cuba. See CHALLENGING JOURNEY TO USA, Page 2 Inside Collegiate Baseball Web Site: www.baseballnews.com Special Catcher At Stanford Pitcher Owns Unique Company Motivational Video Tapes Work Maverick Handley balances brutal Nova Southeastern’s Ryan Maya Nobody did it better than former academic load in his quest to be has 6 figures in sales for his LSU Hall of Famer Skip Bertman an orthopedic surgeon/Page 6 fishing supply business/Page 11 as he helped players/Page 4 Page 2 Collegiate Baseball Friday, March 8, 2019 Challenging Journey To USA Collegiate Baseball The Voice Of Included 21-Day Stay In Jail Amateur Baseball Continued From Page 1 The Labauts had to secure visas and purchase every single plane my brother did.” ticket for such a trip to prove to Collegiate Baseball (ISSN 0530-9751) is published twice a month Practicing 5 Hours A Day Cuban authorities they were going January-May and once in June, July, September and October At the age of 11, Randy entered a to that destination. (14 total issues) by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, Inc., 2515 baseball academy in Cuba where he It began with a plane flight from N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705. Periodicals postage paid at Tucson, AZ. practiced five hours a day and went Havana to Peru and then to Brazil. to school for two hours. Then they flew back to Peru, on to “You would wake up and have Costa Rica and then to Guatemala Postmaster: Send address changes to: breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and then go where a paid guide picked them up Collegiate Baseball to practice from 9-2 where it’s all and took them to a bus station. P.O. Box 50566 Tucson, AZ 85703 baseball. Then from 2-4, you went “The bus trip took 6-8 hours to the border of Guatemala and to school. Overnight Mail: 2515 N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705 “As far as those daily 5-hour Mexico,” said Randy. practice sessions, we did everything “There were two buses that Past Publishers: Abe Chanin, Lou Pavlovich, Sr. you can imagine in baseball, such were taking people to the Mexican Single 1-Year Subscription Rate: $28 for 14 issues. as batting practice, infield and border. We were really fortunate Single 1-Year First Class U.S. Subscription: $45 outfield ground balls and flies, to be in the second bus that day Single 1-Year Foreign Air Mail Subscription: $50 scrimmages, run 30 minutes each because everyone in the first bus Special Team Subscriptions: 11 papers each issue sent to one day, plus much more. You became was robbed at gunpoint. address — $110 (save $198 off the single subscription price), and 21 papers each issue sent to one address — $189 (save $399). great at the fundamentals because “I have no idea what we would RANDY LABAUT have done if our money was taken Other Multiple Subscription Offers: Please inquire with sub- of all this work. scription department at (520) 623-4530. “I was fortunate my cousin in and can apply it to a real job of your away from us that we had for Cuba sent me a pair of cleats once a choosing. the rest of the trip. We were very year and also a glove. I didn’t have “Leaving Cuba was important to fortunate. While much of the money Directory a bat. I used whatever the coaches my parents because they had been had already been utilized for plane had. My entire family in Cuba was working in Cuba for many years travel and paying guides for our trip Area Code (520) very supportive.” and not really been paid.” as well as food since everything Publisher: Lou Pavlovich, Jr. (Call 623-4530) on the trip was setup, we still Editor: Lou Pavlovich, Jr. (Call 623-4530 to report stories) Looking For Better Life The Trip had money. But it wasn’t all that Advertising Director: Diane Pavlovich (Call 623-4530) Labaut said that his mom and On the night of April 11, 2010, much.” Subscription Department: (Call 623-4530) dad wanted to get out of Cuba so Randy’s parents told their 13-year- Randy said they arrived near the Fax Machine: (Call 624-5501) their family could have a better old son to pack up his stuff because Guatemala/Mexico border and were E-Mail: [email protected] opportunity in life. they were leaving Cuba the next met by another paid guide who they Web Site: www.baseballnews.com “They wanted me to get an morning. This completely caught didn’t know. education and be able to pursue him off guard. “A stranger picked us up and what I wanted in life. They knew His only brother Raul, Jr. was took us to a house at about 3 in the 2019 Publication Schedule that if we stayed in Cuba, I wouldn’t serving in the Cuban military at the morning. be able to advance in life. It was the time and couldn’t leave. January 4 March 8 May 3 September 6 “It was pitch black outside, and January 25 March 22 May 17 October 4 same with my brother. Randy had no idea that his it looked like a homeless house. February 8 April 5 June 14 April 19 July 12 “The crazy thing about Cuba is mom and dad had orchestrated an Frankly, we were all a little scared February 22 that if you go to a university in Cuba elaborate plan for years that would of the situation because we were and study to be an engineer or other take him and his parents to the trusting a complete stranger to highly regarded job, there are times United States. guide us. Moving? when you don’t even end up with It would be the start of a “We slept on a concrete floor Make Sure CB Moves Along With You! that job when you graduate. harrowing 40-day journey over for a few hours before we were To change your address, please write us 30 days in advance if “You might be driving a taxi 10,000 miles to the United States.