- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Havana
- Team: Leones
- League: Cuban National League
- Hall: Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame, National Baseball Hall of Fame
Cristobal Torriente (1893-1938) had the Babe Ruth build (stocky with spindly, slightly bowed legs) and, more than that, he had a Ruthian swat. He punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame by starring in Cuba and America’s Negro Leagues. In 1920 he was dubbed the “Black Babe Ruth” during an off-season exhibition against Torriente’s Almendares club versus the New York Giants who brought the Babe along. Per his Cooperstown plaque, Cristobal outhit and out-homered the Sultan of Swat over the nine game series, earning a nickname for the ages. Like the best Cuban players, Torriente had been playing at home and in the States for black franchises since 1913. He soon caught the attention of J. L. Wilkinson who signed him for the “All Nations” squad for several years. He helped lead the Chicago American Giants to the first three pennants in the Negro League. The left-handed batter (the Ruth parallels just kept coming) not only hit for power but was often around .400. Fleet of foot (sorry Babe) Torriente was a marvel in the outfield despite his physique and he had a great arm. A rival manager, C.I. Taylor, once remarked “If I see Torriente walking up the other side of the street, I would say, ‘There walks a ballclub.’” He averaged .344 over a long career in black baseball and set the Cuban Winter Leagues record at .350 overall.
- Sadly there was another way in which Torriente patterned himself after Ruth. He loved the nightlife and frequently over-indulged which led to fights with umpires and management. His alcoholism took a dire toll, plunging the slugger into poverty where he fell victim to tuberculosis and an all-too-early death at 44
- The Cuban Hall of Fame was inaugurated a few weeks after Cooperstown’s. Torriente was among the initial class of ten in 1939
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 2006
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: St. Louis
- Team: Terriers
- League: American League, Federal League
- Hall: Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame
Armando Marsans (1887-1960) was the first Cuban to make a real impact in the major leagues. Frank Bancroft had spotted Marsans and Rafael Almeida in exhibition games in 1905 and finally brought them to Cincinnati in 1911. In his sophomore season with the Reds, Marsans hit .318 with 35 stolen bases and only 17 strikeouts in 448 plate appearances, placing a respectable 18th in Chalmer’s Award voting for 1912. A row with fiery manager Buck Herzog resulted in Marsans seeking a job with the new Federal League’s St. Louis Terriers in ‘14. When the league folded, Marsans signed on with the Browns but inactivity took a toll. Two years with the Yankees ended his MLB career in 1918 but Armando had many more years of baseball left. He continued to play winter ball back home through the 1928 season and became the first to play in the majors and the Negro Leagues in 1923 with the Cuban Stars. Marsans thrived as a manager in both Cuba and the States (another first for his countrymen), finally retiring in 1947 after 43 years in baseball.
- The blue-blood Marsans was well-educated and an entrepreneur as well as a savvy baseball mind. Nevertheless, the Reds fended off race-baiting accusations in 1911
- Artist’s Note: Images of Marsans are fairly rare and it is not uncommon for me to take liberties with dates and uniforms. This photo was taken in 1916 when Marsans was with the St. Louis Browns. In anticipation of the feedback I will receive, I’d like to invite you to join me in pretending this is a St. Louis Terriers’ uniform. Cheers!
- Elected to Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class: 1939
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Havana
- Team: Stars of Cuba
- League: Independent
- Hall: Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame, National Baseball Hall of Fame
Jose de la Caridad Mendez (1887-1928) visited America from his native Cuba in 1908 and demolished the ML Cincinnati Reds and minor league all-stars from Florida. He was unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon. He allowed but a single to Miller Huggins in the 9th inning of his first game on US soil, and hurled a no-hitter in Key West. Ira Thomas, catcher for the 2-time world champion Athletics, compared Mendez favorably to Walter Johnson and said “he is a remarkable pitcher, and if he were a white man would command a good position on any Major League club in the circuits.”
- Became a star in the Negro Leagues, leading the KC Monarchs to pennants in ’23, ’24, and ‘25
- The Cuban “Black Diamond’s” career spanned 1908-26
- Elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class: 1939
- Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame: 2006
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Washington, D.C.
- Team: Senators
- League: American League
- Hall: Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame
Baldomero Pedro Acosta Fernandez (1896-1963) began playing winter ball in his native Cuba in 1913 and debuted the same year with the Washington Senators as one of the first of his countrymen to play in MLB. As a sixteen-year-old that spring, The Sporting Life had heralded the young Cuban as “a second Ty Cobb.” That lofty promise went unfilled in American ball, as Merito played part time in the outfield, only making 200+ plate appearances twice with Washington. He finished his major league career in 1918 with the Philadelphia Athletics where he logged his best year at bat, hitting .302. Acosta was part of two remarkable feats in his career: in 1915 he and Chick Gandil walked, were sacrificed along and Gandil scored on a sac fly to record a rare run without an official at-bat in the inning. In 1919 with Havana, the fleet-footed center fielder accomplished an unassisted triple-play, racing to second after the catch to tag the bag and the runner coming from first. Acosta found a new home with the Louisville Colonels of the minor league American Association from 1919-28.
- In 1922/23 Acosta was named manager of a new Cuban franchise in Marianao and led them to the championship
- Elected to Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame: 1955
- Series: Pilgrims
- City: Almendares
- Team: Blues (CUNL)
- League: Cuban National League
- Hall: Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame, National Baseball Hall of Fame
Jose de la Caridad Mendez (1887-1928) visited America from his native Cuba in 1908 and demolished the ML Cincinnati Reds and minor league all-stars from Florida. He was unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon. He allowed but a single to Miller Huggins in the 9th inning of his first game on US soil, and hurled a no-hitter in Key West. Ira Thomas, catcher for the 2-time world champion Athletics, compared Mendez favorably to Walter Johnson and said “he is a remarkable pitcher, and if he were a white man would command a good position on any Major League club in the circuits.”
- Became a star in the Negro Leagues, leading the KC Monarchs to pennants in ’23, ’24, and ‘25
- The Cuban “Black Diamond’s” career spanned 1908-26
- Elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class: 1939
- Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame: 2006
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