HAVANA, Cuba — It’s not just the music and fifth- inning coffee break that make baseball different in Cuba.
For the first two games of Penn State’s four-game exhibition tour against clubs from Cuba’s top league, one member of the umpire crew has been female.
Meet Janet Moreno Mendinueta, the only female ump in Cuba’s National Series.
She’s one of seven women umpires in this country at any level.
“In umpiring, I see my dreams come true,” Moreno said Wednesday after she handled home plate duties in the Nittany Lions’ 2-0 loss to Ciego de Ávila.
Her highlight came when she nailed a close call as Penn State catcher Ryan Sloniger tagged out a sliding Yorbis Borroto at the plate.
Moreno played in Cuba’s women’s leagues for years until, she said, she aged out of the leagues that are available to women. Cuba has women’s baseball — not softball — leagues that begin at age 15.
In Moreno’s case, she took on umpiring to stay close to the game she loves.
She’s the only woman who can officiate games for the men at the highest level. There are six other women in the lower leagues who are working their way up.
“Little by little, we have achieved the inclusion of
women, (for which) I was the driving force,” Moreno said.
Compared to other major league sports in the United States, MLB lags behind in gender diversity among officials. The NFL hired its first female official earlier this year, and the NBA had two female officials last season.
Moreno said that, in Cuba, the atmosphere for women who are involved in the game is changing.
“There isn’t as much machismo,” she said. “When people see women on the field, they are happy because they see we’ve crossed that barrier.”
Since she was born not far behind the Estadio Latinoamericano, the island’s most famous ballpark, the game has always been a huge part of Moreno’s life. Her dad took her to games for years afterward, feeding her a bottle while in the stands.
“I spend more time on the field than I do at home,” she said.
When she’s not making calls behind the plate or in the field, Moreno is a fan of the game, too. Her favorite team in Cuba is her own crew of umpires, but in the United States, her player of choice is the Los Angeles Angels’ Albert Pujols.
“He’s an example of discipline on the field ... and he’s serious about playing baseball. I like that very much,” Moreno said.
Moreno won’t be in the crew for Penn State’s final two games, which are out of Havana today and Saturday — the Nittany Lions are 0-2 — but she hopes to be a part of the 2020 Olympic Games as an official.
“I’m going to stay with baseball until the very end, ” she said.