Success in baseball, Cuba's national past time and a favorite pursuit of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, is increasingly measured beyond its borders. That mirrors a broader exodus of Cubans from the stagnating communist-run island racked by social and economic crisis. "In the past six years the number of baseball players that have left the country has also tripled compared with the decade between 2000 and 2010," said Francis Romero, a Cuban baseball expert and book author who lives in Florida. "No baseball league...could survive that. Players once waited a long time to emigrate, to prove themselves. Now they leave at 16 or 17 years of age," he said. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini SEARCH "MENEGHINI CUBA BASEBALL" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY TEMPLATE OUT