April 2010
10 posts
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Rare unassisted triple plays: Cuban League's turn...
An item in the latest USA TODAY Sports Weekly points out that on this day in baseball history (April 29, 2007) Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki completed one of the 15 unassisted triple plays in major league history, an accomplishment more rare than throwing a perfect game.
The Cuban League has it’s own history with the uncommon baseball feat, as author Jorge Figueredo reminded me...
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Conrado 'Connie' Marrero turns 99 today ... next...
Happy birthday Conrado “Connie” Marrero … probably.
According to Cuban baseball historian Peter Bjarkman’s article for Havana Times, Marrero, who lives in Havana, is still going strong at age 99. Bjarkman lists Marrero’s birthday as April 25, 1911, which the same as what’s listed on MLB.com and in the Baseball Encyclopedia.
Pretty straightforward, right? Maybe...
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The late Sam Lacy of The Baltimore Afro-American...
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Black press played key role during Jackie...
Thursday marked the 63rd anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball with every player in baseball wearing Robinson’s retired No. 42.
As I’ve noted before in this blog, that historic event began in Cuba, where the Dodgers held spring training in 1947.
But Robinson (shown playing in an exhibition game against the Havana Cubans), the Dodgers and...
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Diario de la Marina editions available online from...
It might not be as voluminous the New York Public Library’s collection of Cuban newspapers dating back to the 1800s, but it is available online.
The University of Florida — my alma mater — has in its Digital Library of the Caribbean editions of Havana’s Diario de la Marina newspaper. Although the complete collection isn’t available online, anyone can access...
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A message from Jorge Figueredo, author of three...
It’s good to know somebody out there is reading this.
And not just any somebody.
I arrived at my office Sunday to find a voicemail waiting for me from author Jorge Figueredo.
If the name is familiar perhaps it’s because I’ve mentioned his excellent book, Who’s Who in Cuban Baseball, 1879-1961 (left), several times on this blog.
I was surprised and thrilled to hear his...
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Spanish-language Cuban baseball blog relaunches...
Looks like t he Cuban baseball blog Baseball Empire has relaunched under a new name.
It’s now Desde Mi Palco de Fanatico.
The Spanish-language site includes biography capsules on numerous Cuban players from the pre- and post-Castro era, as well as a lot of historical information on the teams from both eras.
But perhaps the coolest thing on the site by Rogério Manzano are year-by-year...
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7 Cubans on opening-day rosters; Cuba used to top...
Major League Baseball’s opening day rosters had 231 players born outside the 50 United States — 27.7 percent, shy of the all-time record set in 2005 (29.3 percent).
Of those foreign-born players, seven were born in Cuba: Danys Baez (Philadelphia Phillies), Yuniesky Betancourt (Kansas City Royals), Jose Contreras (Phillies), Yunel Escobar (Atlanta Braves), Kendry Morales (Los Angeles...
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Ex-Orioles all-star Mike Cuellar played in the...
Miguel “Mike” Cuellar, who died Friday at age 72, is best remembered as being a part of the Baltimore Orioles’ quartet of 20-game winners in 1971.
But the lefty began his professional career as a 19-year-old during the 1956-57 Cuban League season with Almendares. He pitched for the Scorpions during the final five seasons of the league, compiling a sub-.500 21-28 record...