BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Cuban Defector Arocha to Start

Until he defected from Cuba to the United States, Rene Arocha had never tasted lobster, didn’t have a car, a television, or even a phone. As one of the most celebrated baseball players on Cuba’s national team, Arocha was one of the privileged few and still earned only $340 a month, about $100 less than some military officers.

Yet all Arocha wanted was his freedom. Two years ago while in Miami with his team, he defected, becoming the first baseball player to do so since Fidel Castro took over Cuba 33 years ago.

Tonight, he is the starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Dodgers Pedro Astacio, but the road wasn’t easy. After he defected, Arocha and his agent, Gus Dominguez, had to fight a decade-old directive by major league baseball forbidding clubs from negotiating with Cubans. They won, and St. Louis won Arocha’s rights in a lottery.

“There are three players who have defected from Cuba since, and I am in contact with them,” Arocha, 27, said through an interpreter.

Arocha won a spot in the Cardinals’ starting rotation in spring training, and won his major league debut Friday night, an 8-2 victory over Cincinnati. He went eight innings and gave up four hits and two runs.

When Arocha defected, some people thought he was really older than 25. “Maybe he is older, but what does it matter, he can pitch,” said Cardinal manager Joe Torre.

Arocha speaks little English, so Torre has Jose Oquendo interpret when he talks with him. “Rene is pretty quiet, maybe a little shy, but very smart” Oquendo said.