In Cuba, they belonged to Fidel Castro and to that island’s rabid baseball fans, they were Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson. Last night Rolando Arrojo and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez met for the first time as big leaguers at Yankee Stadium. And while they are a whole lot better off financially, it might as well have been Viella Clara against Industriales in Havana.

“Our teams played five times in the playoffs,” said Arrojo, who hurled for Viella Clara then and pitched the Red Sox to a 4-0 victory over the Yankees and El Duque last night. “I think he won two and I won two. Every game was a great game. It was like for five years, the best actors in a movie, a great show. One time I pitched a two-hitter and lost to El Duque, 1-0.”

They were teammates on the Cuban National team and have stayed friends while pitching in a world that couldn’t be more different than the one they grew up in.

“He is my best friend in baseball,” said Arrojo.