Buck Leonard helped lead Marianao to Cuban League flag in 1936-37

Sept. 8: On this day in 1907, Negro leagues star Walter "Buck" Leonard was born in Rocky Mount, N.C.

Leonard, who played for the Homestead Grays from 1934-1950, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. by Negro Leagues Committee in 1972.

In the Cuban League, Leonard played two seasons with Marianao in 1936-37 and 1948-49.

According to Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878-1961, Leonard batted .304 for the Tigres in 1936-37, helping Marianao beat Santa Clara for the Cuban League pennant.

Trailing Santa Clara by three games with three games to play in the regular season, Marianao swept the series against the Leopards to force a playoff series, which Marianao won.

Regino Otero brought slick fielding, triples to his 11 seasons with Cienfuegos

Sept. 7: On this day in 1915, Cuban League star Regino Otero was born in Havana, Cuba.

Elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, Otero was considered the finest defensive first baseman of his era in the Cuban League.

Otero, who played only one major-league seasons (1945) with the Cubs, played 11 of his 14 Cuban winters from 1936-53 with Cienfuegos, compiling a .244 career batting average.

According to Who’s Who in Cuban Baseball: 1878-1961, Otero never hit a home run in 2,202 career at-bats in Cuba but he ranks seventh in Cuban League history in triples (33) and twice led the league triples.

Otero (far left with Cienfuegos teammates Stanley Bread and Coaker Stanley in this photo that was up for auction at Mears Auction in February 2011) also managed Cienfuegos (1964) and Almendares (1961) in the Cuban League, Venezuela’s entry in the Caribbean Series in 1956 and ‘58 and the Cuban Sugar Kings from 1954-56.

Tomas de La Cruz ranks seventh in victories (71) in Cuban League history

Sept. 6: On this day in 1958, Cuban League star Tomas de la Cruz died in Havana, Cuba.

Elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961, Cruz played for Marianao, Habana and Almendares in 13 Cuban League seasons from 1934-47.

According to Who's Who in Cuban Baseball, 1878-1961, Cruz (shown in this 1947-48 Kellogg’s Corn Flakes postcards) ranks seventh in Cuban League history in victories (71) and is tied for ninth in complete games (73).

He led the Cuban League with six victories in 1934-45 and ERA (2.30) and shutouts (four) in 1944-45 when he went 9-4.

Cruz threw a no-hitter on Jan. 4, 1945 as Almendares defeated Habana 7-0.

Bobby Bragan guided 1953-54 Almendares team to Cuban League championship

The 1953-54 Cuban League champion Almendares club.

Manager Bobby Bragan (sitting fifth from the left) guided the Scorpions to the pennant, ending Habana's streak of three consecutive league titles.

According to Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878-1961, Almendares was led by Rocky Nelson (back row, far right), who won the league batting title (.352).

Earl Rapp (back row, far left) led the league with 51 RBI and finished tied for the lead in home runs (10). Cliff Fannin (back row, second from right) won 13 games with a 1.45 ERA to earn MVP honors

Sandalio Consuegra put up solid pitching numbers in the Cuban League, majors

Sept. 3: On this day in 1920, Cuban League star and former major-league pitcher Sandalio Consuegra was born in Potrerillo, Las Villas, Cuba.

Elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977, Consuegra pitched for Marianao, Santiago, Leones and Cienfuegos during nine winters in Cuba from 45-58.

According to Who's Who in Cuban Baseball, 1878-1961, Consuegra (shown in this 1949-50 Alerta premium) won 13 games twice: 13-8 with Santiago and Leones of the Players Federation League in 1948-49 and 31-12 with Marianao of the Cuban League in 1949-50.

Despite a 3.64 career ERA in Cuba, Consuegra had just a 52-55 record in Cuba.

In the major leagues, he pitched eight seasons with Senators, White Sox, Orioles and Giants from 1950-57, compiling a 51-32 record with a 3.37 ERA.

His best season in the majors came in 1954 when he went 16-3 with a 2.69 ERA with the White Sox and made the American League All-Star team.

Women from Cuba played in the All-American Girls Baseball League

A collage of six Cuban players who were members of the All-American Girls Baseball League.

Clockwise from top left with seasons in the league in parenthesis: Isora del Castillo (1949-51), Mirtha Marrero (1948-53), Isabel Alvarez (1949-54), Luisa Gallegos (1948-49), Migdalia Perez (1948-54) and Gloria Ruiz (1948).

According to Cuban Ball, "Women were involved with Cuban baseball from the very beginning. First as fans and later as participants in women's teams."

At the Cuban Cultural Center of New York’s Aug. 20 congress on Cuban baseball history, Leslie Heaphy, an assistant history professor at Kent State University and author of Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball, gave a presentation on the history of women in Cuban baseball.

Isora del Castillo is the only women enshrined in the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame, having been elected in 1997.

Conrado Marrero was an amatuer star in Cuba before joining Almendares

Cuban baseball legend Conrado Marrero during his playing days with the Cienfuegos club of La Liga de la Uniόn Atlética, Cuba's amateur baseball league.

The photo appears in a March 4, 2011 post at Tom Hawthorne's Blog, more than a month before Marrero turned 100, making him the oldest living former major-league player.

Aside from amateur vs. professional status, there was another major difference between the professional Cuban League and La Liga de la Uniόn Atlética.

Black and white players had participated in the professional Cuban League since the late 1800s.

But la Uniόn Atlética -- as El Nuevo Herald sports writer Marino Martínez detailed in his presentation at the Cuban Cultural Center of New York's Aug. 20 congress on Cuban baseball history -- excluded black players.

Teams in La Uniόn Atlética, which existed from 1914-1960, were affiliated with Cuba's affluent social clubs, which also blocked black Cubans from obtaining membership.