They fled after dark on a homemade boat from Morro Castle, the 16th-century fortress that guards the entrance to Havana Bay.

Euclides Rojas, the best relief pitcher in the proud history of Cuban baseball, saved for a year to buy enough wood for his fisherman friend to build the 15-foot boat.

They used a half-dozen empty 55-gallon oil drums — three on each side — to buoy the crude vessel.

On Aug. 17, 1994, Rojas; his wife, Marta; and their 2-year-old son, Euclides Jr., along with 10 others, jammed into the makeshift craft to begin the 90-mile journey from Cuba to the Florida Keys.

"We didn't know if we were going to make it," said Rojas, the Pirates' first-year bullpen coach. "But if we didn't make it, at least we would have died trying to be free."

The group -- five women, four men and four children -- spent 4.5 days in the rough, shark-infested waters of the Florida Straits.

When the outboard motor broke down a couple of hours into the journey, they paddled the rest of the way.

When they ran low on water, they traded rations with refugees on another nearby raft, some ham or cheese and crackers, for clean water to drink.

Finally, a Coast Guard ship, one of 38 patrolling the Atlantic Ocean as part of Operation Able Vigil, plucked them from the water 23 miles south of Key West.

'Escape from slavery'

"I didn't come to the United States to play baseball," Rojas said. "We came to the United States looking for freedom."

The decision was easy for Rojas, a then-26-year-old star athlete who grew weary of Fidel Castro's oppressive rule. Civil liberties were scarce; citizens could not visit another state in Cuba without having the travel plans and length of stay approved by the national government. He feared for his safety after joining the anti-Castro party, Demo?cratic Solidarity.

"That's how bad it is," he said. "You are not allowed to express what you feel or what you see. We only had the hope to become free people and escape from slavery."

They left behind their families, including Rojas' mother, father, three sisters and two brothers. They remain only in their memories and an occasional phone call.

"Luckily, my son doesn't remember," Rojas, 43, said. "He was 2.5 years old. But it's been tough for all of us,

especially for my wife and for myself. We lost everyone."

While no one knows the number of rafters who perish at sea, Rojas said, the Coast Guard told him as many as 8,000 Cubans died during the exodus in the summer of 1994.

Rojas spotted many empty rafts floating in the ocean. He saw a drowned woman's bloated body being pulled from the water.

But their journey wasn't over. So close to the Florida shores, Rojas and his family were returned to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they joined tens of thousands of Cuban refugees.

'It makes me real sad'

During their escape, President Bill Clinton reversed the 28-year policy so those on rafts and small boats would be treated as illegal aliens and taken to safe havens outside the United States. The policy change occurred as 30,000 Cubans took to the ocean in August 1994, including 6,000 in a two-day span, after Castro vowed he would not hinder anyone who sought to flee the island.

It was the third-largest migration since Castro took power in 1959, and the biggest since the Mariel Boatlift in 1980, in which 125,000 fled Cuba in five months.

After six months at Guantanamo Bay, the Rojas family was allowed to enter the United States when Major League Baseball pitcher and former Cuban National teammate Rene Arocha agreed to sponsor them. In July 1991, Arocha became the first notable Cuban baseball player to defect.

Nearly two decades later, Rojas still gets emotional when he talks about Cuba. There is a soulful look in his eyes as he stands in the dugout at PNC Park on a sunny afternoon.

"I usually don't talk about my story," he said. "It makes me real sad. I know while we are talking here, there are some other Cuban people in the ocean right now."

The former hard-throwing right-hander is the all-time saves leader for the Cuban National Team (90), but his name has been wiped from the record books because he defected.

He was interrogated by Cuban security during the 1991 Pan-American Games and suspended from the Cuban National Team that won the 1992 Olympic gold medal because he knew about but not divulge Arocha's plan to defect.

After Rojas defected, Cuba's state-run newspaper printed a large photo of the former baseball hero, calling him a traitor.

But it was worth the sacrifice: The Rojases, who live in Miami, became American citizens. Euclides Jr., 19, hopes to become a doctor.

"If we had to be 15 more days on the ocean to become free again," Rojas said, "there is no doubt we are going to do it again."

'He's done wonders'

Rojas is a valuable part of the Pirates pitching staff. Whenever a Pirates reliever struggles — a rare scene this year — they only have to look at the personable coach sitting with them in the bullpen behind the left-center field wall to find motivation.

"God bless him," reliever Jose Veras said. "He's an unbelievable person."

Under Rojas' guidance, the Pirates bullpen ranks 10th in the majors this year with a 3.24 ERA entering Saturday night's game against the Boston Red Sox after being 28th (4.57) last year and at the bottom in hits allowed and walks allowed.

"He's a great guy to be around on a daily basis," said reliever Daniel Moskos, who is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA. "He's done wonders for me."

Rojas, known by all as "Euky," never reached the majors after being drafted in the 30th round by the Florida Marlins in 1995.

He coached in the Marlins farm system for six years and was the bullpen coach for the 2004 World Series champion Red Sox. He worked as the Latin American field coordinator for the Pirates from 2005-10, before joining manager Clint Hurdle's staff.

Hurdle learned about Rojas' incredible journey after arriving in Pittsburgh.

"I was not aware of his story, and the first time I heard it, we were talking about mental toughness," Hurdle said. "I just kind of had to drop it after that."

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