An American ball player for the Phillies and his teammate Charley are less-than-affectionately called Flatt and Scrubbs due to their banjo batting. After several bad games they are both demoted to Allentown's double-A team and decide to spend the summer playing for Cienfuegos in Cuba.

They ride the train down to Florida with another washed up player named Ericksson and arrive in Cuba. While standing on the dock, they watch rioters chant "Castro" until they are ushered away.

While their first few games are rough, they begin to win a few here and there. They decide to stay through the winter, but protests against Batista and the rampant corruption in Cuba are starting to take off. At one game, with both Batista and Castro in the crowd, the spectators sing in protest. Someone throws a burrito at Charley. After that, one of their teammates, Rafa, hires an interpreter so that the three Americans can understand his political rants. Rafa explains Cuba's poverty and America's hand in it.

As the games continue, so do the political protests. The Cienfuegos play a series against the all-Cuban team, the Marianao. The crowds go wild for the all-Cuban team, so when the Americans on the Cienfuegos start to get some good plays, their Cuban teammates suggest they sit out for morale.

At one game, the two teams are tied, in extra innings, and the American goes up to bat. The Marianaos have gone through all their pitchers and to the crowd's delight, Castro himself takes to the plate, dress shoes still on. After two balls and a foul, Flatt takes the wonky pitch to his hip and walks to first, the crowd roaring at the perfectly fair but supposedly unjust play.

With the bases loaded, Charley takes to home plate. After two bad pitches, Charley accidentally goes for a curve ball and tips it toward the pitcher's mound. The runners on 2nd and 3rd make it, but as Flatt rounds out to home, Castro stands in between him and the plate with an unabashed hatred displayed on his face.