Rolando Viera (born August 1, 1973) is a
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
n-born, left-handed
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
who unsuccessfully sued
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
to challenge its
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
procedures for Cuban players. Viera signed with the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
and played for its
minor league affiliates
In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or ...
before being released.
Background
Viera first pitched for
Industriales
Industriales is a baseball team in the Cuban National Series. Located in Cerro, La Habana, it is known as the only team representing the country’s capital, Havana. Industriales is historically the most successful team in the National Series, a ...
in Havana, Cuba, in 1993. He missed the 1994 and 1995 seasons due to
hepatitis
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes ( jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal ...
. In his last two seasons, he achieved an 18-10 record and a 3.12
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
. He was suspended for the 2000 season by Cuban officials after his wife, Lorraine, applied for a
visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
for him to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
without his knowledge. The two subsequently divorced and Viera remarried. After receiving the visa, Viera came to the U.S. on April 25, 2001 and began working in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
. He had initially left his young son, Rolando Viera, Jr., behind with Lorraine in Cuba, and attempted to bring his second wife to the U.S. After Lorraine secured a U.S. visa in a lottery and travelled to
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
with their son, Viera instead divorced his second wife and remarried Lorraine.
MLB lawsuit
According to MLB rules, Cuban players were subject to the draft unless they signed with an MLB team while residing outside of the U.S.,
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, or
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Wishing to be instead treated as a free agent, Viera, represented by attorney
Alan Gura
Alan Gura is an American litigator practicing in the areas of civil litigation, appellate litigation, and civil rights law at Gura P.L.L.C. Gura successfully argued two landmark constitutional cases before the United States Supreme Court involvin ...
and agent
Joe Kehoskie
Joe Kehoskie (born January 18, 1973) is an American baseball consultant, executive, and entrepreneur. He has worked in professional baseball in a variety of capacities since 1984, formerly working in minor league baseball (1984–1994) and as a ...
, filed the first
lawsuit by a player ever to challenge the baseball draft, in the
, and argued that the MLB draft rules were discriminatory. His request for an
injunction was denied by Judge
James D. Whittemore on June 4, 2021, who ruled that Viera could not meet the federal injunction standard because inclusion in the draft would not cause him to suffer irreparable harm.
Playing record
Viera became a seventh-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox the same week; at 27, he was the oldest player in the draft that year. One Red Sox spokesman called the selection "a gamble" because no one from the team had yet seen him pitch; all they knew was that Viera had a winning record with Industriales and was left-handed. He signed a minor league contract with the team that gave him a $175,000 signing bonus and guaranteed him a Triple-A level salary despite the fact that he would be starting out as a Class-A player.
After signing with the Red Sox, Viera had a falling out with his agent, reportedly due to Viera's reluctance to pay any of the agent's fees or the costs of the lawsuit. Viera's trainer raised similar allegations against him, stating that Viera had failed to fully compensate him for the costs he had incurred on his behalf.
Viera started with the
Trenton Thunder
The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark.
From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the ...
, the Double-A affiliate of the Red Sox, in the 2002 season. He was promoted midseason to the Triple-A
Pawtucket Red Sox
The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...
. His season began strong but his performance dipped towards the end, which he and the Red Sox international scouting coordinator attributed to his need to adjust to the more intensive American training schedule, particularly since Viera had missed a year playing. Due to his disappointing performance, the Red Sox released Viera from his contract after 2002, giving him the free agent status he wanted in the first place. Viera then played for the unaffiliated
Newark Bears
The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. T ...
in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
Viera subsequently played for the
Elmira Pioneers—a team in the
Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball
The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional, independent baseball league with teams in the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada, founded in 2005 as a reorganization of ...
—and was recognized for player of the week two weeks after he had joined the league. He also played for the
York Revolution
The York Revolution is an American professional minor-league baseball team based in York, Pennsylvania. It is a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Baseba ...
of the
Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
External links
''Cuban Player Denied Free Agency'' by Amy Armond. Mark's Sports Law News, June 6, 2001.
by Jimmy Golen,
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
Sports Writer.
Yahoo! Cuba News, June 6, 2001.
''Cuban defector comes to contract terms with Red Sox'' by Tom Farrey and Wilie Weinbaum.
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
.com, July 30, 2001.
''Viera starts over again'' by Tom Farrey. ESPN.com, November 11, 2002.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viera, Rolando
Cuban baseball players
1973 births
Living people
Minor league baseball players
Sarasota Red Sox players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
Trenton Thunder players
Newark Bears players
Elmira Pioneers players
Olmecas de Tabasco players
Brockton Rox players
Camden Riversharks players
York Revolution players