March 2010
8 posts
4 tags
Don Zimmer: A baseball life in Cuba
Don Zimmer was honored earlier this month for his 62-year career in baseball, a resume that includes:
12 major-league seasons as a player, including as a member of the Dodgers’ only World Series-winning team in Brooklyn (1955) and as the first of 139 player who have played third base for the Mets (1962).
Managing the Padres, Red Sox, Rangers and Cubs.
Bench coach under Joe Torre during...
February 2010
7 posts
4 tags
Coming soon: Cuban League stats online
Fans of baseball statistics have something to look forward to.
From my colleague Bob Kimball, on USA TODAY’s Game On! blog, came word recently that two historians — Chicago limousine dispatcher Scott Simkus, 39, and North Carolina book editor Gary Ashwill, 42 — are combining on a four-year project to put Negro League statistics from 1900 to 1948 on Baseball-Reference.com.
As...
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On this date in 1947: Almendares sweeps Habana to...
It remains the greatest season climax in Cuba’s baseball history.
With less than a month remaining in the season, the Habana Lions, having forged a seemingly insurmountable 6 1/2-game lead over Almendares, were cruising to another league pennant.
But Almendares reeled off 13 victories in its final 14 games to win the league’s championship, as the Habana stumbled to a 5-8 record down...
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WatchHall of Famer Monte Irvin turns 91 today. Happy Birthday.
Using the 11 still photos of one of Irvin’s swings from this cover (left) of Fotos magazine, Cuba’s version of Life/Sports Illustrated, I created above “slide show” of a much younger Irvin in action from his playing days in Havana.
The former Newark Eagles and New York Giants star outfielder was also a star in the...
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This week in history: Jackie Robinson and the...
Sixty-three years ago this week, a ship carrying members of the Brooklyn Dodgers and their minor league team, the Montreal Royals pulled into Havana Harbor for spring training.
Among the passengers were former Negro League players Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe and Roy Partlow. With Dodgers president Branch Rickey intent on having Robinson (shown playing an exhibition game in Cuba...
3 tags
Mottos to live by in Cuba's winter league
Of the mottos used by teams in Cuba’s now defunct professional winter baseball league, perhaps none stood out more than that of the Almendares Scorpions: “El que le gane al Almendares se muere,” or “Whoever defeates Almendares dies.” It spoke to the intensity of the competition among the four traditional teams — Almendares, Habana, Cienfugoes and Marianao...
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'Mr. Baseball' Bobby Bragan was a central figure...
When Bobby Bragan died last month at age 92, he was remembered as a popular and beloved former major league player, manager and executive who earned the nickname “Mr. Baseball.” An infielder and catcher for the Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers who later managed the Pirates, Indians and Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, Bragan also was a central figure in Cuba’s now defunct winter...