Camilo Pascual starred in the majors and with Cienfuegos

Jan. 20: On this day in 1934, Camilo Pascual was born in Havana.

Pascual (being handed a trophy by a member of Fidel Castro's revolutionary regime during the 1959-60 season in this photo that recently sold on eBay) was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.

A major-league pitcher for 18 seasons -- mostly with the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins -- Pascual won 174 games, which ranks fourth behind Luis Tiant  (229), Adolfo Luque (194) and Mike Cuellar (185) for career wins by Cuban-born pitchers. Pascual was a seven-time all-star.

In the Cuban League, he compiled a 58-32 record with a 2.04 ERA, mostly with Cienfuegos, according to Who's Who in Cuban Baseball, 1878-1961. Pascual the league's MVP in 1955-56, twice led the league in strikeouts (108 in 1958-59 and 163 in 1959-60) and twice won 15 games in a season (1956-57 and 1959-60).

Mike Fornieles was the top Cuban League rookie in 1952-53

Jan. 18: On this day in 1932, former major-league pitcher and Cuban League star Miguel "Mike" Fornieles was born in Havana.

Elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, Fornieles compiled a 63-64 record with a 3.96 ERA in 12 major league seasons, seven with the Boston Red Sox.

In the Cuban League, he pitched eight seasons for Marianao, going 70-63 with a 2.93 ERA.

Fornieles (shown in his Sept. 3, 1952 debut with the Washington Senators) was the Cuban League rookie of the year in 1952-53, when he went 12-5 with a league-leading 2.33 ERA, according to Who's Who in Cuban Baseball, 1878-1961.

Don Zimmer played for Cienfuegos and Marianao in Cuban League

Jan. 17: On this day in 1931, Don Zimmer was born in Cincinnati.

Best known as a member of the Dodgers' only World Series-winning team in Brooklyn (1955), a long-time major-league manager and bench coach for Joe Torre with the New York Yankees, Zimmer played two seasons in the Cuban League: 1950-51 with Cienfuegos and 1951-52 with the Elefantes before being traded to Marianao.

In 1951-52, Zimmer (seated on the left with a Cienfuegos teammate) batted .272 with seven home runs and 33 RBI.

Video: Andres Fleitas discusses his days playing in the Cuban League

Andres Fleitas by pepincuba

Interview with Cuban Bseball Hall of Fame catcher/first baseman Andres Fleitas posted at Daily Motion.

Enshrined in 1971, Fleitas played 14 seasons in Cuba -- 10 with Almendares -- between 1942-55.

He was the league's Most Valuable Player during the 1946-47 season as Almendares rallied late in the season to overtake Habana.

1924 Tomas Gutierrez premium pictured every major league team

One of the 1924 Tomás Gutiérrez premium collector's album picturing players from every major league team.

This one, which was up for auction at Cuban Baseball Cards in September 2010, shows members of the
Cincinnati Reds, including Carl Mays (bottom, second from left), who threw a pitch that killed Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman on August 16, 1920; and Cuban star Adolfo Luque (top, second from right).

Each team had two pages and the pages would all be bound in a hardcover album. Only a few albums are known to exist, according to the auction information.

Santa Clara's 1923-24 team perhaps greatest in Cuban League history

The 1923-24 Cuban League champion Santa Clara team.

Perhaps the greatest team in Cuban League history, the Leopardos went 36-11 to win the pennant by 11 1/2 games over Habana.

According to Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878-1961, seven of Santa Clara's eight regulars batted well over .300 to set a league record with a team batting average of .331.

This photo posted at Baseball Fever shows (standing from left to right) Jose Mendez, Oscar Charleston, Oliver Marcelle, Esteban Montalvo, Frank Warfield, Julio Rojo, (middle row from left) Frank Duncan, Alejandro Oms, Pablo Mesa, (sitting from left) Rube Currie, Dave Brown, Dobie Moore, Pedro Dibut, Matias Rios and Eustaquio Pedroso.

Mendez and Charleston are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

No fewer than nine of the 15 players shown in this photo are members of the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame: Mendez, Charleston, Mesa, Oms, Marcelle, Pedroso, Montalvo, Rojo and Dibut.

David Barnhill led Cuban League in wins, strikeouts in 1948-49

Jan. 8: On this day in 1983, Negro leagues star David Barnhill died in Miami, Fla.

Barnhill played three seasons with Marianao -- including two stellar ones -- between 1947-50. In 1947-48, he went 10-8 with a 2.26 ERA and a Cuban League-leading 122 strikeouts. The next season, Barnhill led the Cuban League in wins (13), complete games (13) and strikeouts (79). On Jan. 10, 1948, Barnhill tied a Cuban League record for strikeouts in a game (15), according to Who's Who in Cuban Baseball, 1878-1961.

In this photo posted at Baseball Fever of the 1947 New York Cubans, Barnhill is in the middle row, five players from the left. Among the actual Cuban-born talent surrounding him are Rafael Noble (back row, fifth from left), Jose Fernandez (sixth from left), Orestes Miñoso (middle row, second from left), Pedro Pages (third from left), Silvio Garcia (far right) and Luis Tiant Sr. (front row, far right).