Miamians feel they can't lose whichever team wins the World Series - the Yankees from their past or the Marlins from their now.
By CURTIS KRUEGER
Published October 23, 2003
MIAMI - The men who play dominoes in the back room of Nene's Barber Shop celebrated when Miami got the state's first Major League Baseball franchise. They rejoiced when the Florida Marlins won the 1997 World Series, and they are cheering this week for their beloved hometown team.
But follow Miguel A. Lorente as he steps away from the domino table and passes beneath a Marlins banner. Listen as he waves a hand toward the yellowed clippings and framed photos that cover the barber shop walls, depicting Cuban baseball legends who once played for big league teams such as the New York Yankees.
Then you will begin to understand why many Miamians are rooting for two teams in this World Series and why, for some, passion for both the New York Yankees and the Florida Marlins symbolizes their love of two homelands.
Decades ago, back in Cuba, when the domino players followed Major League Baseball in their local newspapers and radio, many rooted for the distant Yanquis because of their great players and winning tradition.
"I can tell you 85 percent of the people loved the Yankees," said Jesus Hernandez, 71, a retired hotel worker.
"Ninety, 90," put in Benito Gonzalez, 81, who arrived in the United States in 1951.
As Hernandez puts it, "I love Miami, I love the Marlins. In Cuba, I loved the Yankees." He's rooting from his heart for the Marlins this week, he says, "but if New York wins, I'll love it, too."
To be sure, Miami is home to die-hard Marlins fans who wince at the sight of Yankee pinstripes winning on their home field.
But New Yorkers have a long tradition of moving to South Florida. In the greater Miami area, more than 5 percent of residents were born in New York state, according to the U.S. Census - second only to Cubans in percentage of residents born elsewhere.
For some, love of the two teams breaks down by generations.
Take Jason Gonzalez, 19, a process server in Miami-Dade County. His family emigrated from Cuba to New York, where they promptly became Yankees fans.
Later, they moved to Miami but saw no need to change their baseball allegiance. Gonzalez's grandparents, his father's uncles and a cousin tell him the Marlins will never keep their good players and remain a competitive team. As evidence, they cite the dismantling of the Marlins' 1997 championship team.
But Gonzalez is a Miami guy; he played third base in high school and for a year at Broward Community College. So he broke with family tradition; he has been rooting for the Marlins ever since they arrived.
Albert Canton and his wife Mary moved here three weeks ago from Palisades Park, N.J., where they grew up rooting for the Yankees. He has observed Marlins fans so far and is not impressed.
"Yesterday it rained, and they left in the fourth inning," he said Wednesday. "They ought to be ashamed."
Still, considering that Miami is often accused of failing to support the Marlins, as evidenced by low attendance figures during the regular season, the Cantons were somewhat surprised to hear their neighborhood whooping it up in delight after the Marlins won Game 1 of the series on Saturday.
"They were beeping their horns like crazy," Mary Canton said. "I missed New York."
"One game," Albert Canton said dismissively. "They thought they won the World Series."
Marlins backers can be accused of being fair-weather fans, but at least they're turning out now. At Marlins en Miami, a ticket and merchandise store on Calle Ocho in Little Havana, security officers were preventing too many people from entering on Wednesday for fear of crowding.
"Everyone's going crazy with it. Everywhere you go it's Marlins, Marlins," said George Taboada, 32, a letter carrier who was No. 16 in line outside the shop. He has seen the town go nuts over the Miami Dolphins football team before, but "they're like the second string right now."
If the Marlins beat the odds and beat the Yankees in this series, Nene's Barber Shop will find a few more square inches of wall space for a pennant or a banner to go alongside the photo of shop owner Mario Temes with Yankees great Joe DiMaggio, the maps of Cuba and other hallowed memorabilia.
Even if they don't, it won't shake the pride of Lorente, a 65-year-old salesman, domino player, unofficial baseball historian and Marlins fan.
"You have a team, it's 11 years old, and two times went to the World Series. That's incredible."
- Times staff writer Matthew Waite and researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
