M's Betancourt put everything on line for dream

Even after all that time, there are many details of Betancourt's life-altering, four-day trip from Cuba to Mexico that he doesn't want to share with the world.

The reasons for his decision, the cost of the ride, the shape and type of the boat, even the name of the boat are details Betancourt isn't comfortable discussing.

After all, his family remains behind in Cuba, and he doesn't want anything he says to make their life harder. And there are others like him, willing to take to the high seas in pursuit of a different existence, and he doesn't want to make the passage any harder for them than it was for him.

And make no mistake, the decision to escape with the one-way ride from his homeland was difficult.

Betancourt is 23 now and a member of the Mariners' 40-man roster. He's in camp as a middle-infield prospect, but because he played just a handful of games during the 2004 calendar year, he will probably start this season in Class A or AA.

He was 21 when he thoughtfully resolved to leave his mother, Maura, his grandmother, Maria, and his two brothers to pursue a dream of baseball in the United States. At the time, Betancourt was a prospect in his first year on the Villa Clara team in Cuba. He was a shortstop when he joined the team, but was moved to second base because a veteran of the Cuban national team, Eduardo Paret, was the reigning Villa Clara shortstop.

"I talked it over with my family," he said yesterday through a translator. "My dream was to play baseball in the United States. After I'd played ball one year (for Villa Clara) I decided it was time. There were political reasons for it.

"I knew the risks. If I was caught, there would be no more baseball for me. I'd be thrown in jail and some harm might come to my family. Was I scared? Yes. But I knew what I had to do."

Betancourt had to get himself to a concealed boat at a secret location at 2 a.m. on Nov. 28, 2003. He couldn't bring any luggage, because that would be a sure tip-off that he was planning to defect from the regime of Fidel Castro. He and another player, Saidel Beltran, and eight others pushed off for a new life. Beltran is now playing baseball in the Dominican Republic.

Once he was in the boat, there was only an unknown future ahead of him.

"I didn't have all the liberty and freedom I wanted," Betancourt said. "There was no way to go back."

The four days on the open sea -- he said waves got so high that the boat docked at a small Caribbean island for a bit until things calmed down -- were the worst.

"I didn't know what was happening with my family," he said. "I was afraid. I feared for my family."

Betancourt, who landed at Cancun, Mexico, after the four-day trip, has been able to alleviate that fear some; he now talks with his family two or three times a week.

He's free to play baseball now, having signed a four-year, $3.65 million contract with the Mariners on Jan. 26. But he won't rest easy until he can find a way to get his family out of Cuba.

"I want to get them here as soon as possible," he said.

It's entirely possible that the process will take years. Meanwhile, between telephone calls, Betancourt is itching to get to work.

He didn't play more than five or six games last year while getting his legal status in Mexico clarified, applying for a U.S. visa and preparing to perform in a tryout in front of scouts from all major league teams.

"I think I can play here now," he said.

The Mariners don't agree. He's missed a year, and there is inevitable rust to expunge as the right-handed batter attempts to get his swing back.

"When I saw Betancourt in 2000 (in an international amateur tournament in Edmonton, Alberta), he could run, throw, had real soft hands and hit for an average," Bob Engle, the Mariners' director of international operations, said yesterday. "He's been playing second base since then, though."

Shortstops moving to second base have to shorten their motion in throwing the ball to first base.

Some have no problem moving back to shortstop and regaining their old form. Others do.

"We're going to have to see if he still has the same arm strength," Engel said.

The Mariners' Canada/Europe scouting coordinator Wayne Norton, who scouted Betancourt a couple of times in international tournaments, has long been a fan.

"To see what he could do at 17 or 18 was special," Norton said yesterday. "He's a very exciting player. He's an excellent all-around player and very athletic. I like his future."

For the present, however, fans in the Northwest will have to wait for their first glimpse of this man who is driven to be among the very best.

"You think about putting yourself in his shoes," said Benny Looper, the club's vice president for player development and scouting. "But I'm not sure that we can."

Looper then summed up Betancourt's future with a few slightly chilling words.

"He has nothing to go back to."

P-I reporter John Hickey can be reached at 206-448-8004 or johnhickey@seattlepi.com

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