Rule 13 on page 2 of the Official Blogger’s Handbook requires that each and every blog-head spin out someplace or other his own personal list of favorites and zanny preferences. So not to be remiss in this area I will provide mine once and for all here, for whatever these choices might reveal to the potential reader about my own narrow world and my own broad prejudices. Once this nonsense is out of the way we can return with appropriate haste to the more serious busines of discussing news and notes surrounding Latino baseball.

Favorite All-Time Ballplayer: Frederich Cepeda (Sancti Spiritus)

Favorite MLB Ballplayer: Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh Pirates)

Favorite Team: Sancti Spiritus (Cuban League)

Favorite Stadiums: Estadio Latinoamericano (Havana, Cuba) and Estadio 5 de Septiembre (Cienfuegos, Cuba)

Favorite Non-Cuban League Stadium: Neptunus Stadium, Rotterdam (The Netherlands)

Favorite Cities: Havana (Cuba) and Split (Croatia)

Favorite Author: Ray Bradbury (Runners-Up: Frank Herbert and Edgar Rice Burroughs)

Favorite Books (Fiction): Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury) and the Dune novels (Frank Herbert)

Favorite Books (Non-Fiction): Seven Pillars of Wisdom (T.E. Lawrence) and Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (Hugh Thomas)

Best Baseball Book Read in Passed Five Years: The Pride of Havana (Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria) (although we disagree about Cuban politics, no one has taught me more about Cuban baseball)

Worst Baseball Book Read in Last Five Years: Baseball’s Other All-Stars (William F. McNeil) (poorly written and full of historical inaccuracies!)

Best Hitters Ever Witnessed in Person: Osmani Urrutia and Ted Williams

Best Pitcher Ever Witnessed in Person: Maels Rodriguez during 2002 Cuban League Season (100-mph-plus fast ball with insane movement)

Best Baseball Game Ever Witnessed: Cuba 4, Puerto Rico 3, final WBC 2006 game in San Juan

Craziest Baseball Game Ever Witnessed: Cuba 15, Panama 2, semi-finals of World Cup 35 (October 2005) in Haarlem, The Netherlands

Favorite Thing About Major League Baseball: The game’s pre-1960 history (especially my memories of "The Boys of Summer" fifties)

Least Favorite Things About Major League Baseball: Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, home runs (baseball would be far better without them), televised baseball

Proudest Professional Achievement: Writing A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 (McFarland, 2007)

Greatest Personal Achievement: Finding Ronnie Wilbur

Personal Wish for the Future: That major league baseball stays out of Cuba for as long as possible