Like authentic game-worn uniform jerseys from major league baseball, Cuban League and Cuban national team jerseys provide a prime collectible and valid historical documentation of the sport's ongoing history. I began acquiring post-revolution Cuban baseball jerseys in 1997 and have now amassed a collection that numbers over 100 samples and constitutes the largest of its kind in existence.
This collection, now temporarily housed in Havana and compiled with the knowledge and support of the Cuban Baseball Federation, is intended for eventual donation to a legitimate and secure Cuban baseball hall of fame and museum, which is currently in the earliest planning stages and will likely be located in the port city of Matanzas, the Cuban version of Cooperstown and Hoboken and site of the "mythical" 1874 first documented Cuban baseball games.
Included in the current Bjarkman collection are flannels from Cuban League play of the 1960s and 1970s, plus more recent Cuban League jerseys from such notable players as Yulieski Gourriel (Sancti Spiritus), Osmani Urrutia (Las Tunas), Jose Ariel Contreras (Pinar del Rio), and Kendry Morales (2002 Cuban League All-Star Game).
Featured as well are national team jerseys from the late 1990s and early 2000s, including uniforms from the Sydney and Atlanta Olympics, 2001 Taipei World Cup, 2003 Havana World Cup, and 2005 Rotterdam World Cup, and 2006 Havana Olympic Qualifier Tournament. Players included are Omar Linares, Orestes Kindelán, Juan Padilla, Luis Ulacia, Norge Vera, Ariel Pestano, Victor Mesa, Yulieski Gourriel and Federich Cepeda, among others. The showcase items of this collection are ten game-worn shirts from Cuba's greatest-ever baseball triumphs at the 2006 World Baseball Classic in San Juan and San Diego. These jerseys include those of Pedro Luis Lazo (semifinal game versus Dominican Republic), Federich Cepeda (switch-hitting outfield star), Vichyohandri Odelín (closed quarterfinal win versus Puerto Rico) and Ormari Romero (starting pitcher of gold medal finals versus Japan). Also included are the WBC jerseys of Rudy Reyes, Juan Carlos Pedroso, Leslie Anderson, Carlos Tabares, Norberto González and Juan Carlos Moreno. A recent addition are the 2006 Olympic Qualifier Tournament jerseys of Frank Montieth (MVP) and Alex Mayeta, worn in the final game versus Team USA.
