Armando Marsans is Cuban League's career leader in stolen bases

 

Oct. 3: On this day in 1887, Cuban baseball pioneer Armando Marsans was born in Matanzas, Cuba.

On July 4, 1911, Marsans (shown in this photo that was up for auction at CubanBaseballCards.com in September 2010) and Rafael Almeida became the first Cuban-born players to play in the majors during the modern era.

Marsans batted .269 in eight major league seasons with the Reds, St. Louis Terriers (Federal League), St. Louis Browns and New York Yankees.

In the Cuban League, Marsans, elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, played 20 seasons, mostly with Almendares.

According to Who's Who in Cuban Baseball, 1878-1961, he’s the all-time league leader in stolen bases (135) and six times batted over .300, including leading the lleague with a .400 batting average in 1913.

Marsans also led Orientals to the Cuban League pennant as manager in 1917.

'El Score' featured articles about baseball in the United States as well as Cuba

El Score from Sept. 23, 1911 with Joe Tinker of Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance fame on the cover.

This was up for auction at Lelands in 2006.

According to the description, the interior features box scores of Negro League teams, such as the Cuban Stars, Chicago American Giants and Brooklyn Royal Giants, which barnstormed through Cuba.

It also includes box score of the Amateur Championship Game between Marianao and Vedado, featuring a young Adolfo Luque, and a section dedicated to coverage of Armando Marsans and Rafael Almeida, who made their major-league debuts 100 years ago.

100 years ago today: Armando Marsans, Rafael Almeida made their major-league debuts for Reds

One hundred years ago today, as America celebrated Independence Day, Cuban-born Armando Marsans and Rafael Almeida made their major-league debuts for the Cincinnati Reds.

Although Esteban Bellan had played for the Troy Haymakers of the National Association in 1871, Marsans and Almeida were the first Cuban-born players to play in the majors during the modern era.

According to Retrosheet, Marsans (shown above with the Reds in this 1913 photo found at the Library of Congress) played right field and went 1-for-2. Almeida (shown below in this 1912 T207 card) also went 1-for-2 at third base.

NPR did an interesting report Monday, entitled Light-Skinned Cubans Cross Baseball's Color Line.

Marsans would go on to play for the Reds, St. Louis Terriers, St. Louis Browns and Yankees during eight major-league seasons from 1911-18.


Elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, Marsans played for Almendares, Habana, Orientals and Cuba during 21 winters from 1905-28 and ranks first in Cuban League history in stolen bases (135), according to Who's Who in Cuban Baseball, 1878-1961.

He also managed nine seasons in the Cuban League with Almendares, Orientals, Cuba and Marianao, winning a pennant in 1917 with Orientals.
Almeida, who was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, only played three major-league seasons with the Reds from 1911-13.

But in the Cuban League, he played 17 seasons for Habana and Almendares from 1904-35.

Cabañas cigarette set from 1909: 'Holy Grail of Cuban cards'

Eight Cabañas cigarette cards from 1909, the "Holy Grail of Cuban cards," as described by Leland's.

Clockwise from top left, the players are Almendares' Rafael Almeida, "Pajaro" Cabrera, "Mamelo" Garcia, Armando Marsans, "Chino" Cabañas, Esteban Prats and Carlos Royer and Habana's Emilio Palomio. All are in the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame.

These cards brought a $2,259.08 winning bid in June of 2005.

On this date in 1887, Amrando Marsans was born

Oct. 3: On this date in 1887, Armando Marsans was born in Matanzas, Cuba.

Marsans, along with Rafael Almeida, were the first Cuban-born players to play in the majors during the modern era -- Esteban Bellan played for the Troy Haymakers of the National Association in 1871 -- when they debuted on July 4, 1911 with the Cincinnati Reds.

Marsans batted .269 in eight major league seasons with the Reds, St. Louis Federals, St. Louis Browns and New York Yankees.

In the Cuban League, Marsans, elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, played 20 seasons, mostly with Almendares. He's the all-time league leaders in stolen bases and led the league with a .400 batting average in 1913.

He also led Orientals to the Cuban League pennant as manager in 1917.

Chapman likely to start in minors; Reds have history of Cuban debuts

Looks like the back injury Aroldis Chapman sustained this spring will force him to start the season in the minors, delaying the 22-year-old Cuban defector's debut with the Cincinnati Reds.

As potentially important as Chapman's debut could be for the 2010 Reds, the team was involved in a more historically significant debut ... in 1911.

That was the season Armando Marsans (top row, second from left) and Rafael Almeida (bottom row, first from left) debuted in the major leagues, playing their first games on July 4 for the Reds.

Marsans and Almeida (shown with the 1913 Reds in this Library of Congress photo) were the first Cuban-born players to play in the majors during the modern era (Esteban Bellan first played for the Troy Haymakers of the National Association in 1871).

The debut of Marsans and Almeida, of course, was before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1947. But despite their light skin, the Reds had to assuage doubts about the pair's racial heritage, insisting that Marsans and Almeida were "two of the purest bars of Castilian soap ever floated to these shores."

Marsans and Almeida aren't the Reds' only Cuban connection. Among them:

• Cuban Baseball Hall of Famer Adolfo Luque, whose 194 victories ranks second behind Luis Tiant among Cuban-born major league pitchers, played for the Reds from 1918-29 during his 20-year career.


• The International League's Havana Sugar Kings were the Reds' Triple-A affiliate from 1955-60.


• Hall of Fame first baseman Tony Perez was a key cog in The Big Red Machine teams that won the World Series in 1975 and 1976.

Cuba's spring training history

Long before Florida and Arizona came to monopolize spring training, major league teams would set up camp in small towns all across the country to prepare for upcoming seasons.

Occasionally they even ventured to cities beyond America's borders, including Havana, Cuba.

According to Cuban Ball, the Federal League's St. Louis Terriers, with Cuban outfielder Armando Marsans, was the first major league organization to hold spring training in Cuba in 1915.

The Brooklyn Dodgers were the major league's most frequent visitors to the island, training in Havana in 1941, 1942 and 1947. An earlier blog post described the spring of '47, a prelude to Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier and you can view Life magazine photos that chronicled the Dodgers' 1942 visit.

The first major league team of the modern era to call Havana its spring training home was the 1937 New York Giants (right). The then-defending National League champions didn't fare all that well in their games against the local nines, losing to a military team, Habana, Almendares and Fortuna, a local amateur club, according to an online article by David Marasco.

Finally with the Giants' Carl Hubbell matched against Cuban pitcher Luis Tiant Sr., the Giants won 7-3. In their six games against Cuban professionals, the Giants won one game, tied one and lost four as Cuban pitcher Ramon Bragaña held the Giants to two runs in 21 innings.

But however rough things were for the Giants that spring was nothing compared to what the Pittsburgh Pirates experienced when they trained in Havana in 1953, according to an item in a 1967 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The last major league team to hold spring training in Cuba was invited to train on the island by Cuban president Fulgencio Batista at his expense. Branch Rickey, who had been the Dodgers' president during their 1947 trip to Cuba, accepted.

But when slugger Ralph Kiner was held out -- presumably because of an injury -- Cuban fans stopped coming to the games. One game drew 15 fans, including the team's bus driver.