CHICAGO — Detroit Tigers infielder Andy Ibáñez walked down the stairs of the team plane Aug. 18 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the MLB Little League Classic, and was immediately greeted by Little League players from Santa Clara, Cuba.

Ibáñez, a 31-year-old who lived in Cuba until defecting in 2014, spent the entire day with the Cuban kids.

The Little Leaguers from Cuba were in town for the Little League World Series, a 20-team youth baseball tournament involving players and coaches from across the globe. It was only the second time a team from Cuba participated in the LLWS.

"When I was a kid, I never thought about playing in Major League Baseball," Ibáñez said in Spanish, interpreted by Tigers employee Carlos Guillén. "Our ceiling was to play for the Cuban national team in international tournaments. That was our vision."

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After the special day, Ibáñez — inspired by the love from the Little Leaguers in Williamsport — reflected on his journey from Cuba to the United States. Ibáñez, who made his MLB debut in May 2021, is one of 84 players from Cuba to play at least 300 MLB games.

As a child, his father taught him to play baseball.

"It was the thing I loved the most," Ibáñez said.

When Ibáñez was growing up, MLB games were not broadcast on the local television, as the media on the island is strictly censored by the Cuban government. The first full MLB game televised in Cuba since 1961 occurred in the summer of 2013, but the game — aired on a two-month delay — didn't feature any Cuban players.

More recently, people living in Cuba have been permitted to watch some games on TV and can access highlights via social media of Cuban-born players in MLB.

"Back in the day, we didn't have the chance to watch MLB in Cuba," said Ibáñez, who grew up in La Habana only hearing about Cuban legends such as José Canseco. "These kids, fortunately, they're able to watch our games, so they know all of us and follow all of us. They had the opportunity that I didn't."

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In 2013, Ibáñez thought about playing in MLB for the first time.

He was about to turn 20 years old.

"The first time I had the idea come into my mind, it was in the World Baseball Classic," Ibáñez said. "We were playing in Japan. I was impressed by the way major leaguers played, so that's how it clicked in my mind that I wanted to play here."

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At the time, Ibáñez competed for Isla de la Juventud in the Cuban National Series, the top league in Cuba. He was selected to Team Cuba, as the youngest player on the national team, for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. That's when Ibáñez realized he wanted to play baseball in the United States.

"I made the decision," Ibáñez said, "and I took advantage of some stuff down there."

He defected from Cuba in October 2014.

Ibáñez, at 21 years old, received legal permission to leave Cuba, obtaining a visa that allowed him to travel to Haiti, which shares an island with the Dominican Republic. He went from Cuba to Haiti with five other baseball players.

When Ibáñez arrived in Haiti, he was picked up by buscones (street-level agents/trainers in Latin American) who knew the optimal route to the Dominican Republic. He traveled illegally from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, officially defecting from Cuba.

"One of the toughest things is you're leaving your house, you're leaving your island, you're leaving your country," Ibáñez said. "You don't know when you're going to see your family again. That was one of the biggest burdens I carried when I was leaving home."

In the Dominican Republic, Ibáñez was supported by the buscones while he trained for eight months before signing a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers in July 2015, at age 22. He agreed to a $1.6 million signing bonus.

Ibáñez, a right-handed hitting infielder, made his professional debut in 2016, followed by his MLB debut in May 2021. He has played the past two seasons with the Tigers, establishing himself as a threat against left-handed pitchers, hitting .343 with a .920 OPS across 110 plate appearances in 2024.

"I get emotional thinking about that," said Ibáñez, who lives with his family in Miami during the offseason. "Everything that we went through, my mom and my dad, we were struggling back in the day, but now, I am a major leaguer, I have a family, my mom and my dad live here and can see me play here. I feel completely blessed. If you asked me, 'Would you do it again?' For sure, I would do it again."

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After defecting, Ibáñez represented his country by playing for Team Cuba in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. It was the first time MLB players were allowed to represent Cuba in the WBC. He keeps where he came from close to him, as the Cuban flag is tattooed on his left arm.

Last week in Williamsport, Ibáñez was the biggest superstar to all of the Little Leaguers from Santa Clara. He signed autographs for them, sat on the bus with them, walked to the ballpark with them and watched a baseball game with them, along with gifting them hats, batting gloves and other gear. They took photos and shared conversations throughout their day together.

He also spent time with Santa Clara Little League assistant coach Andy Zamora, a former .310-hitting outfielder who used to play against Ibáñez in the Cuban National Series. They hadn't seen each other in more than a decade.

"It was magnificent," Ibáñez said. "It was a beautiful experience for them and for us."

Ibáñez shared advice with the Little Leaguers.

"Follow your dreams and work as hard as you can," Ibáñez said. "When you get older, you will have a choice to make a decision, if you want to stay on the island or if you want to leave the island to play professionally somewhere. Keep working hard, do your best and time will tell, and opportunity will show up."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Andy Ibáñez hero to Cuba team in Little League WS