The historic sports commentator Andy Vargas has returned to Cuban soil to meet the team that marked his professional and personal life: the Industriales.
This was confirmed by the journalist Pavel Otero in a post by Facebook where he celebrated that the veteran commentator came from the United States to accompany the Lions in their playoff series against Mayabeque.
“Andy Vargas is already retired and resides in the United States, but has traveled to Cuba in recent days to enjoy the team he carries in his heart,” Otero wrote.
The return was not accidental: Industriales has just secured its passage to the semi-finals of the 64th National Baseball Series, after beating the Huracanes de Mayabeque 5-3 in the Nelson Fernández stadium, in San José de las Lajas.
Vargas, who for almost 30 years was the inseparable voice of the Industriales on the broadcaster COCOremembered that day two illustrious players of the capital team who died in 2025.
“Dedicate this triumph to play off against Mayabeque to two emblematic figures of the Industriales who have physically left us in recent months: Peter Medina e Armando Capiro“Otero specified.
The match that motivated the visit was decisive.
According to the weekly Havana Tribunethe lions led by Guillermo Carmona stormed the Mayabequense fiefdom and, with this fourth victory in six games, they also ensured their presence in the next Liga Elite.
The return of Andy Vargas to the audience, no longer as a narrator but as a fan, had a strong emotional component. His name is linked to some of the most glorious phases of the Industriales in recent decades, and his voice has accompanied generations of Cuban baseball fans.
Vargas, whose full name is Ángel Andrés Hernández Vargas, he arrived in the United States in May 2024 through the family reunification programrequested by one of his sons who lives in Miami.
The previous year he had officially retired after more than three decades of work in the COCO.
The journalist Yasel Porto then described him as an “iconic figure of the COCO and in particular of the Industriales team” and recalled that he was “the narrator who was linked to the Lions of the Cuban capital for the longest time”, accompanying them in national titles such as those of 1996, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2010.
Now, stepping out of the microphones, Andy Vargas finds himself with his team again from another position: that of the fan who crosses borders to see the Lions win and pay homage to those who were also part of that history.
