JUPITER, Fla. (AP) Venezuela's baseball team was taking pregame batting practice when players heard that president Hugo Chavez had died.

``He was a baseball man,'' manager Luis Sojo said after a 6-5 loss to the Miami Marlins in a warmup game for the World Baseball Classic. ``At the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, the first call in the morning was his. And after the game, he used to call me, too. It's a very sad moment for our country. We wish the best to his family, we know they are going through a tough time right now.''

Chavez died Tuesday at age 58 after a nearly two-year fight against cancer.

``It's sad what's happening to our country,'' first baseman Miguel Cabrera said. ``We send our condolences to his family. This is something you don't wish on anybody.

``I don't know how his family is right now. He's no longer with us - it's very sad. I cannot comment a lot on it because I feel a lot of pain, and I'm not there in Venezuela.''

Pitcher Carlos Zambrano said he hoped his fellow Venezuelans would come together.

``I'm very sad. I ask that the Venezuela people stay calm,'' Zambrano said. ``We have to understand that the president had a family. He's a human being and it's sad. We send him the condolences to the Chavez family. We know it's a difficult moment. This caught us by surprise.''

Some players did not want to discuss Chavez's death. Pitcher Anibal Sanchez and third baseman Pablo Sandoval both declined when asked to comment.

A Venezuela spokesman said the team had requested a pre-game moment of silence for Chavez and asked that flags be flown at half-staff, but was told all parties involved - the Marlins, Major League Baseball and Roger Dean Stadium - were not prepared to do so.

``There are things we can't control,'' Zambrano said. ``For the respect of Venezuela, they have to do something before the first game against the Dominican Republic (at the WBC in Puerto Rico).''