CT Hispanic Watch: Yasel Porto (Radio Announcer, Cuba

Yasel Porto sitting in the booth of Dinámica 1120, getting ready to call a game of the Hartford Yard Goats.|Credit: Reynaldo Cruz Diaz

EN Meet Yasel, a Cuban journalist who just got back in the booth! With over 25 years of experience doing radio and television, he just became an announcer for Dinamica 1120, a Spanish station that broadcasts the games of the Hartford Yard Goats. Having known him for over eight years, I know he is where he belongs.

SP ¡Conozcan a Yasel, periodista cubano que acaba de regresar a la cabina! Con más de 25 años de experiencia en radio y televisión, acaba de convertirse en comentarista para Dinámica 1120, una estación de habla hispana que transmite los partidos de los Hartford Yard Goats. Habiéndolo conocido por más de ocho años, sé que está donde debe.

I have known and worked with Yasel since 2016, when our shared passion for baseball put us on the same path, even while living over 700km away from each other. In 2017, he welcomed me into his national project and helped me with housing in Havana, after he, along with other people, encouraged me to move there.

Since that time, we became close friends and shared countless experiences and adventures, including a trip to Mobile, Alabama, the attempt to restore the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame, and finding the gravesites of Cuban greats Cristóbal Torriente and Esteban Bellán.

Upon my arrival in Connecticut, he was one of the most solid sources of support and friendship, and we have had yet another set of adventures. As we continued to see and support each other, I could not be happier when I found out he was going to be one of the radio announcers for the Hartford Yard Goats. Of course, with our longtime friendship, I had to make a CT Hispanic Watch for him.

As I myself have full season credentials with the team, I have now more chances to hang out with him when I go to games, and talk a little bit about baseball or our homeland.