Friday, March 11, 2011

Dodgers were one of five MLB teams to play in Cuba in 1941

Two Brooklyn Dodgers players getting their spikes shined in Cuba, where the team held spring training in 1941.

This photo was up for auction at CubanBaseballCards in September, 2010, and according to description by Cesar Lopez, the creator of the Cuban Ball website, a sticker on the back of the photos reads "Property of Pee Wee Reese Library" and lists an address and phone number.
According to the description:
We tried to call this number just to make sure this photo was not stolen and then sold on the secondary market, but it was a wrong number. We've asked numerous industry experts if they know anything about this "Library" but none had heard of it. The lack of any information about a "Pee Wee Reese Library" leads us to believe that it was likely part of Pee Wee Reese's personal collection and was sold at some point after his death in 1999.
Reese was with the Dodgers when they went to Cuba in 1941, when five major-league teams came to play at La Tropical Stadium: the Dodgers, New York Giants, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox.

The Dodgers swept a pair of three-game series against the Giants and Indians, according to Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878-1961. But Brooklyn split a five-game series (there was a 7-7 tie) against a Cuban squad put together by manager Joseito Rodriguez. Gilberto Torres and Adrian Zabala were the winning pitchers for the Cuban team.

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