'Magazine Deportivo Alerta' commemorated the start of the 1950-51 Cuban League season

Cover of the October 1950 issue of Magazine Deportivo Alerta, depicting a drawing of El Gran Stadium of Havana.

This issue, which was up for auction at CubanBaseballCard.com in September 2010, was dedicated to baseball to commemorate the beginning of the 1950-51 season.

According to Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878-1961, Habana and Almendares were tied atop the standings at the conclusion of the regular season, forcing a one-game playoff between the eternal rivals.

In the first such game since the 1936-37 Cuban League season, the Lions won 4-2 with Adrian Zabala on the mound. Habana’s pitching staff also included Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm, who went 8-6 with a league-leading 2.36 ERA.

Before joining Dodgers, Jackie Robinson was in Cuba with Royals

April 15: On this day in 1947, Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, thus breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

What was the most socially significant event baseball history began that spring in Havana, Cuba, where the Dodgers and their Montreal Royals farm team -- which included Robinson --held spring training.

In this photo that was up for auction at Leland's in February 2007, Robinson shakes hands with Dodgers manager Leo Durocher at El Gran Stadium de la Habana, where the Dodgers played exhibition games.

Salvador Hernandez's finest stint as manager came in Federation League

A 1947-48 Kellogg's postcard of catcher Salvador Hernandez with Leones of the Players Federation League.

This was up for auction at CubanBaseballCard.com
in September 2010.

Hernandez was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.

Serving as a player-manager with Leones of the short-lived Players Federation, which operated outside Organized Baseball at Stadium La Tropical, Hernandez led the team to that league’s pennant over Cuba, Alacranes and Santiago.

Hernandez played 10-plus seasons for Habana during 15 winters in Cuba from 1935-51, but he only played two seasons in the majors -- 1942 and '43 with the Chicago Cubs.

Chuck Connors had acting in his blood even when he played in Cuba

April 10: On this day in 1921, Kevin Joseph Aloysius Connors was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.

If the name doesn't ring a bell, how about Chuck Connors of The Rifleman fame?

Before he embarked on his acting career, Connors was a Brooklyn Dodgers farmhand and played two seasons with Almendares, winning back-to-back Cuban League pennants from 1948-50.

In Cuba, Connors batted .257 with three home runs and 35 RBI during the 1948-49 season and .287 with three homers and 17 RBI in 1949-50.

As this photo might indicate, Connors was interested in the movies and acting even while he was playing in Cuba, according to former Almendares teammates and major-league catcher Mike Sandlock:

“When I got to Cuba … and [Connors] found out I was traded or sold from Montreal ... and he found out I was going to Hollywood [to play with the Class AAA Stars], oh jeez, he got in my ear and he says, 'When you get there, do some talking for me. I want to be up there.' Suddenly he got hooked up with L.A. [the Class AAA Angels]. The next thing you know, he got his foot in the door with acting.”

Octavio Rubert starred for Almendares in the 1940s and '50s

April 9: On this day in 1925, Cuban League star Octavio Rubert was born in Sancti Spiritus, Las Villas, Cuba.

Elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997, Rubert pitched seven winters for Almendares between 1947-54.

His best seasons came over three consecutive winters as Rubert went 8-1 with a Cuban League-leading 1.63 ERA (1948-49), 5-1 with a 3.70 ERA (1949-50) and 7-2 with a 1.79 ERA (1950-51).

Rubert never reached the majors, instead playing 10 seasons in the minors.

Adolfo Luque, Cristobal Torriente led Almendares to 1915-16 pennant

The 1915-16 Almendares team that won the Cuban League pennant.

Adolfo Luque led the league with 12 victories, and Eustaquio Pedroso led the league with a .413 average and Cristobal Torriente led the league in runs, hits, triples, home runs and stolen bases, according to Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878-1961.

Almendares edged Habana by 2 1/2 games after the San Francisco entry in the league withdrew on March 23, 1916.

Club Habana's motto: The red beating takes time but it arrives

A 1952-53 Crusellas y Cia team card for Havana, which won its third consecutive pannant under manager Miguel Angel Gonzalez that season.

The card displays the Leones' team motto: "La leña roja tarda pero llega," The red beating takes time but it arrives.

In 1952-53, Habana’s Lou Klein led the league with a single-season record 16 home runs and teammate Pedro Formental drove in a league-high 57, but Marianao’s Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso (.327, 13 home runs, 42 RBI) was named MVP, according to Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878-1961.