Dec. 1: On this day in 1997, Cuban League star Ramon Roger died.Elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame on June 28 of that year, Roger (shown in this 1943-44 La Campaña card) played for Cienfuegos, Marianao and Cuba between 1942-49. His best season came in 1943-44 when he went 10-5.
That same season, Roger pitched 11 scoreless innings in a Dec. 2 game that went 20 innings and lasted 4 hours, 25 minutes, the longest game in league history, according to Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878-1961. In that game, Roger's Cienfuegos team beat Marianao 6-5 on an error by Oral "Mickey" Burnett.
