Estadio Latinoamericano

Estadio Latinoamericano (also known as Gran Stadium) is a baseball stadium located in Havana, Cuba.

The ballpark was built as Estadio del Cerro for $2,000,000 thanks to Bobby Maduro as a new home for the Cuban Winter League and first saw use on October 26, 1946. It held 34,000 fans and was used for the CWL for its last 15 years of operation. Additionally, it housed either the Havana Cubans or Havana Sugar Kings during the summer during this period. It was also home to the 1949 Caribbean Series, 1953 Caribbean Series and 1957 Caribbean Series.

It was later nationalized under the Fidel Castro regime and renamed to Estadio Latinoamericano. It has remained one of the most popular stadiums in the country hosting Havana's two Serie Nacional teams, Industriales and Metropolitanos. In 1971, capacity was expanded to 55,000. It was used for the 1991 Pan-American Games and the Havana leg of the historic 1999 Baltimore Orioles Exhibition Series.

Another historic event took place on March 22, 2016, when the ballpark played host to an exhibition game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team in the presence of President Barack Obama as a further sign of improving relations between the United States and Cuba.

Further Reading

• Jesse Sanchez: "Live today from Cuba: History, must-see MLB: President to be on hand for exhibition between Rays, Cuba", mlb.com, March 22, 2016. [1]