Cuba Béisbol

Back in April, a post here took note of the varied dates of birth listed in several credible sources for Cuban pitcher Conrado “Connie” Marrero.

Depending on where one looks, Marrero was born on:

• April 25, 1911
• Aug. 11, 1911
• May 1, 1911
• May 1, 1915

Cuban baseball historian Peter Bjarkman saw the post and emailed with this explanation about the April 25, 1911 date which he, MLB.com and the Baseball Encyclopedia list as Marrero’s date of birth:

There is absolutely no mystery here and the correct date has been verified by his family in Havana for some period of time. Also, there is an official celebration of his birthday in Havana each year on the correct date.

Bjarkman, who earned his Ph.D. in Linguistics at the University of Florida in 1976, has written A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 and Smoke: The Romance and Lore of Cuban Baseball, among many others.