Check Swing: Yunior Ibarra Chasing New Dream by Carlos Verde
Check Swing by Carlos Verde is published weekly on the IBL website and for the first time today also available in Spanish.
At 18, catcher Yunior Ibarra was a fresh-faced Sancti Spiritus rookie with a dream. Singularly driven by beisbol, he sought Cuban national team and Serie Nacional glory.
Today, at 30, Ibarra is one of many Cubans cast from their homeland: A dependable catcher for the Kitchener Panthers, he has not seen his family in two years.
Back home, wife Laura and children Edgar (6) and Emily (3) wait for the day they can join papá.
“My dream, first and foremost, is to have them in Canada,” says an emotional Ibarra, who has not granted media interviews since he decided to sever ties with Cuba at the end of the 2023 campaign. “To have them watch me play, here in Canada with the Panthers, would mean the world to me.”
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His journey to becoming one of the best catchers on the island began in earnest with Los Gallos, where he tutored under greats such as 350-homer hitter Frederich Cepeda and Olympic gold-medallist Eriel Sánchez.
“I debuted at 18, when I was just a kid, and playing with guys like Eriel, Frederich, and Yunier Mendoza was helpful,” reflects Ibarra. “They were legends in Cuba, in my town, and in world baseball, and they helped me a lot on and off the field.
“Managing pitchers, understanding how baseball worked, life outside the lines — there were a lot of lessons that still help me today.”
Beyond simply being his hometown, Sancti Spiritus is a place that will never leave Ibarra. Even if he is never permitted back.
“I spent over half my life playing with Sancti Spiritus; my experiences there shaped me as a baseball player and as a man,” says the veteran catcher. “I will always carry it with me.”
Plucked from the island by longtime Kitchener general manager Mike Boehmer as part of Kitchener’s 2023 import class, he is slowly building the foundations for a life in Canada after baseball.
“Obviously, it was a difficult decision, moving into a new culture, people, language,” admits Ibarra, who declined a 2023 Pan-Am Games call-up to stay in Canada. “But there are a lot of people who have helped me since I got here, whether it was with English, work, whatever, and I made this move for my family.”
To say that Boehmer has had a positive impact on the lives of the Cuban players he has brought to Kitchener over the years would be an understatement. The Panthers have hosted more than 20 imports from the island over the years, all of whom have made positive contributions on the ball field and in the community. From the ‘23 import group, Yamichel Perez now plies his trade in Italy while Ibarra and Yadián Martinez — who returned to Cuba this off-season — remain with Kitchener.
“Mike allowing me to come here means everything,” reflects the 30-year-old. “Trusting my talent, bringing me to Kitchener — it changed my life.”
Boehmer remains with the organization as a scout, and the impact he has had on this group of Cuban players will last long after he leaves the game.
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While baseball is a game of absolutes — nine innings, played 90 feet at a time — there is no concrete timeline for the Ibarra family.
It could be a year, it could be two: He has missed family birthdays and baseball games, living them through Facebook and WhatsApp while grinding out a baseball life more than 2,000 kilometres from home.
Yet watching him work behind the dish for Kitchener, you would never know it: He is every bit the calm veteran presence, despite the churning waters of international politics which have upended his personal life.
“To have my kids, who have never really known me as a baseball player, here — or my parents, who gave everything for my success and baseball career,” he trails off, grappling with emotions. “Those are my only dreams now.”
Ibarra still dreams in red and white, as he did as a rookie in Sancti Spiritus: Now, though, he dreams of a day his children can watch him play for the Panthers and go to school flying the red-and-white maple leaf of Canada.