Cuba state TV airs 1st MLB game in 52 years, 2 months late and featuring no Cuban players

HAVANA – Major League Baseball has made a comeback on Cuban TV screens after a 52-year absence.

Sunday night’s open-airwave broadcast of a complete MLB game is the first of its kind since 1961.

But early reviews are not overly enthusiastic.

For one thing, the game turned out to be a recording of a nearly two-month-old matchup between the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves.

And neither team has any of the defected Cuban stars like Yasiel Puig and Aroldis Chapman that islanders are most eager to follow.

It was unlike a normal U.S. broadcast, stripped of commercials and lasting just an hour and a half or so.

Cuban commentators provided colour and play-by-play over the original English, which could be heard faintly in the background.