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The first person to call Jose Contreras and congratulate him on his one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Phillies was Danys Baez. Contreras was shocked to hear Baez on the other end -- How did he know already? -- and the two Cuban pitchers talked about their new team.
They share a strong bond.
In 1999, when both pitched for the Cuban national team during a tournament in Winnipeg, Baez took Contreras on a shopping trip. Baez bought something and handed the bag to Contreras. The only instructions were to give the bag to Baez's family back in Cuba.
"He probably knew he was going to leave already," Contreras said through a translator on Thursday.
Yes, Baez was going to leave -- defect from Cuba with the hopes of signing a major-league contract. He snuck away from the team the next day. And on Nov. 5, 1999, the Cleveland Indians signed Baez as a free agent. The Phillies signed Baez to a two-year $5.25 million earlier this month.
After Baez disappeared, Contreras stayed with the Cuban team and flew back home. His first stop was to the Baez residence, where he was expected.
"All the police officers in the town were waiting for me," Contreras said.
By that point, Cuban officials knew what Baez had done. They waited outside for Contreras, who gave the bag to Baez's parents, who were crying, Contreras said. Contreras wouldn't say what was inside, just that it was a "personal" item.
The police took Contreras in for questioning.
"I explained that Danys is a friend and I had a gift Danys had given me," Contreras said.
Since he knew few details of Baez's defection, Contreras was let go. Three years later, when he had attained the status of Cuban's best and most popular baseball player, Contreras defected during a tournament in Mexico.
He left behind a wife, two daughters, his mother and father plus six older sisters and two older brothers. Two years later, when he was already an established major-leaguer with the Yankees in 2004, his wife and daughters were allowed passage into the United States. But Contreras received the hardest phone call: His father had died.
Contreras listened to the funeral back in Cuba through a phone.
"My father wanted me to play at the top level, the best baseball in the world," Contreras said. "I don’t regret the decision I made."
The rest of his family remains in Cuba. Contreras' agent, Jaime Torres, said he has been working on obtaining a travel visa for Conteras' mother to enter the United States and expects to have it sometime this year.
Contreras, 38, said he would prefer to start for the Phillies but would accept any assignment the team has. It's hard not to believe him, considering everything the pitcher risked and surrendered just for a major-league career.
Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.
This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.
Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
To submit a question for Matt Gelb's Phillies mailbag, click here.
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