Baseball in Cuba - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Baseball is the official sport of Cuba.

The Early years (1864 - 1874)

Baseball was introduced to Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

in the 1860s by Cuban students returning from colleges in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and American sailors who ported in the country. The sport spread quickly across the island nation

Island nation

An island country is a state whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. As of 2011, 47 of the 193 UN member states are island countries.-Politics:...

after its introduction, with student Nemisio Guillo

Nemisio Guillo

Nemisio Guillo is credited with bringing the first bat and baseball to Cuba in 1864 after being schooled in Mobile, Alabama.By 1868, Nemisio along with his brother Ernesto, and a number of their contemporaries had founded a baseball team called the Habana Base Ball Club. That club allegedly...

receiving popular credit for the game's growth in the mid-19th century. Nemisio attended school in Alabama with his brother Ernesto and returned to Cuba with Ernesto in 1864. The two formed a baseball team in Cuba in 1868, the Habana Baseball Club

Habana (baseball club)

The Habana club was one of the oldest and most distinguished baseball teams in the old Cuban League, which existed from 1878 to 1961. Habana, representing the city of Havana, was the only team to play in the league every season of its existence and was one of its most successful franchises...

. The club won a major match against the crew of an American schooner anchored at the Matanzas

Matanzas

Matanzas is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. It is famed for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore.It is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas , east of the capital Havana and west of the resort town of Varadero.Matanzas is called the...

harbour.

Soon after this, the first Cuban War of Independence

Ten Years' War

The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...

against its Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

rulers spurred Spanish authorities in 1869 to ban playing the sport in Cuba. The reasons were because Cubans began to prefer baseball to viewing bullfights, which Cubans were expected to dutifully attend as homage to their Spanish rulers in an informal cultural mandate

Cultural mandate

The cultural mandate or creation mandate is the divine injunction found in Genesis 1:28, in which God , after having created the world and all in it, ascribes to humankind the tasks of filling, subduing, and ruling over the earth...

. As such, baseball became symbolic of freedom and egalitarianism

Egalitarianism

Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...

to the Cuban people. The ban also prompted Esteban Bellán to join the semipro Troy Haymakers

Troy Haymakers

The Troy Haymakers were an American professional baseball team.-History:Established in 1860 as the Union base ball club of neighboring Lansingburgh, New York, the Haymakers participated in the first professional pennant race of 1869 and joined the first professional league, the 1871 National...

. He became the first Latin American player to play in a Major League

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Bellan started playing baseball for the Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club, while attending Fordham University

Fordham University

Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...

(1863–1868). After that he played for the Unions of Morrisania, a New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

team. Bellan played for the Haymakers until 1862; in 1861 it joined the National Association.

The first official match in Cuba took place in Pueblo Nuevo, Matanzas, at the Palmar del Junco, December 27, 1874. It was between Club Matanzas and Club Habana

Habana (baseball club)

, the latter winning 51 to 9, in nine innings.

Cuban baseball is organized (1878 - 1898)

In late 1878 the Cuban League

Cuban League

The Cuban League was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside of the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961...

was organized, consisting of three teams—Almendares

Almendares (baseball club)

The Almendares club was one of the oldest and most distinguished baseball teams in the old Cuban League, which existed from 1878 to 1961. Almendares represented the Almendares District on the outskirts of the old city of Havana—when the league was founded it was still considered a suburban area,...

, Habana, and Mantanzas—and playing four games per team. The first game was played on December 29, 1878, with Habana defeating Almendares 21 to 20. Habana, under team captain

Captain (sports)

In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...

Bellán, was undefeated in winning the first championship. The teams were amateurs (and all whites), but gradually professionalism took hold as teams bid away players from rivals.

Cuban baseball becomes international (1898 - 1933)

The Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

brought increased opportunities to play against top teams from the United States. Also, the Cuban League admitted black players beginning in 1900. Soon many of the best players from the Northern American Negro Leagues were playing on integrated teams in Cuba. Beginning in 1908, Cuban teams scored a number of successes in competition against major league baseball teams, behind outstanding players such as pitcher José Méndez

José Méndez

José de la Caridad Méndez was a Cuban right-handed pitcher and manager in baseball's Negro Leagues. Born in Cárdenas, Matanzas, he died at age 41 in Havana. Known in Cuba as El Diamante Negro , he became a legend in his homeland. He was one of the first group of players elected to the Cuban...

and outfielder Cristóbal Torriente

Cristóbal Torriente

Cristóbal Torriente was a Cuban outfielder in Negro league baseball with the Cuban Stars, All Nations, Chicago American Giants, Kansas City Monarchs and Detroit Stars over a career that lasted from 1914 to 1928, plus a single game in 1932.-Negro league career:Torriente was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba...

(who were both enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006). By the 1920s, the level of play in the Cuban League was superb, as Negro League stars like Oscar Charleston

Oscar Charleston

Oscar McKinley Charleston was an American center fielder and manager in baseball's Negro leagues from to ....

and John Henry Lloyd

John Henry Lloyd

John Henry "Pop" Lloyd was an American baseball player and manager in the Negro leagues. He is generally considered the greatest shortstop in Negro league history, and both Babe Ruth and Ted Harlow, a noted sportswriter, reportedly believed Lloyd to be the greatest baseball player ever.He was a...

spent their winters playing in Cuba.

In 1899, the All Cubans

All Cubans

The All Cubans were a team of Cuban professional baseball players that toured the United States during 1899 and 1902-05, playing against white semiprofessional and Negro league teams. The team was the first Latin American professional baseball team to tour the United States...

, consisting of Cuban League professional players, were the first Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

n team to tour the United States. The team returned in 1902–05, exposing white Cuban players to U.S. major league

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

and minor league

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

scouts, and introducing black Cuban players to competition against the Negro leagues. Later Negro league teams included the Cuban Stars

Cuban Stars (West)

The Cuban Stars were a team of Cuban professional baseball players that competed in the United States Negro leagues from 1907 to 1932. The team was also sometimes known as the Stars of Cuba, the Cuban All-Stars, the Havana Reds, the Almendares Blues, or simply as the Cubans. For one season, 1921,...

and the New York Cubans

New York Cubans

The New York Cubans were a Negro league baseball team that played during the 1930s and from 1939 to 1950. Despite playing in the Negro leagues, the team occasionally employed white-skinned Hispanic baseball players as well, because Hispanics in general were largely ignored by the major league...

, which were stocked mostly with Cuban or other Latin American players.

Amateur Baseball in Cuba (1933- 1960)

Amateur baseball in Cuba

Cuba

was thriving in the 1940s and deepened the organization and maturity of the league. There were several amateur leagues in Cuba. Many of the leagues were composed of factory or businesses workers who represented their individual companies. Main sources of talent for Cuban baseball teams were from sugarmill baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, semi-professional teams, and the amateur leagues. Original amateur teams represented exclusive social clubs in the Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

area, such as the Velado Tennis club. The term “amateur baseball” is defined as “specifically the game played by social clubs who played in the Amateur league.” Cubans refer to this league as los amateurs. The growth of amateur baseball can be attributed to the economic recovery in Cuba around 1934. In 1934 there were only six teams but by 1940 that grew to eighteen.

In 1954 amateur Dominican

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

baseball became better organized, respected abroad, and very structured which led professional clubs to draw young talent from the ingenious leagues in cities throughout Cuba. Leagues which talented players were recruited from consisted of clever and unique ball players. The removal of some of the talented players in the league only slightly impacted the amateur leagues in Cuban cities. The young and talented team players who remained in the leagues gained physical strength by participating in the amateur games.

Amateur leagues were the heart and soul of Cuban baseball. The desire to throw, catch and hit a baseball was ingrained in young Cuban Amateur players. The leagues in Cuba participated in several championship tournaments. Cuban males were inclined to participate in the amateur leagues because they were an outlet from the everyday stresses they experienced in both work and family life. The passion of amateur play was not controlled by money or international

International

----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...

recognition.

One major form of amateur baseball in Cuba was sugarmill baseball. Sugarmill baseball was popularized in the early 1950s. This group of amateurs consisted mainly of players who were originally workers at the sugarmill. It was oftentimes loosely organized and regionally established. Each team represented a different sugarmill and they would compete against one another. Games were generally played on Sunday and holidays in order to leave weekdays reserved for field work. Players in the league used sugarmill ball as an escape from the harsh working conditions of the mill. During the Golden Age of Cuban League sugarmill baseball was one of the most important producers of talent.

In Cuba’s amateur baseball leagues some of the greatest moments and players the game has ever produced on the island can be found, along with a high level of unconcealed iniquity. Until 1959 blacks were excluded from the amateur leagues. Segregation

Racial segregation in the United States

Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...

is traced back to the turn of the century when disagreement among players regarding the professionalization of the game led to a split. The amateur game was the origin of the segregation and remained a sport played among exclusive social clubs and factory workers. Membership in these clubs were restricted to whites, therefore blacks were excluded from amateur baseball and had to play for the semiprofessional teams. Whether the whites only policy was a direct consequence of American influence on upper-class Cubans or was a retention from colonial times is difficult to determine.

The growth of education in Cuba led to the decline of amateur baseball. As the players became more educated, they attempted to bypass the amateur level of ball and head straight for the Professional leagues. The amateur leagues did not provide players with a large financial income. As players became more aware of the opportunities of the Professional

Professional

A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...

leagues they aspired to gain recognition as ball players and join the Professional leagues. Opportunities the Professional leagues offered players gave them the option of playing for US teams and making more money.

In Amateur baseball fields the home plates are made of wood. The fields are not in very good shape. The grandstands present at amateur baseball fields are protected by chicken wire and rarely painted. The maximum occupancy for a grandstand is 300 fans. Generally the stands are full and oftentimes fans will stand on the sidelines to watch the games. The stands at amateur games are filled with cane cutters and factory workers looking to enjoy life after a hard day's work in the fields. On the field the Cuban game has a few quirks (aluminum bats are allowed, and the umpire puts strikes before balls when he gives the count), but it closely resembles American baseball in both style and level of accomplishment. Today amateur baseball remains an outlet from a hard day's work in the fields and is still played by cane workers.

In 1960s the government abolished all professional sports on the island. Sports were viewed as opposing the principles of the Revolution. With this thought in mind the ideas of sport were altered to better coincide with the ideology of the Revolution

Revolution

A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...

. To reshape baseball was a difficult task the idea of tradition had to be demolished and rebuilt. Rewriting Cuban baseball history by connecting the president to the glory years of the Amateur Leagues began to take shape and reflect revolutionary ideas. From then on baseball and sports in Cuba were meant to encourage cooperation among nations, represent nation

Nation

A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...

al pride, and promote fitness and military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

preparedness. Through sports Cubans were able to feel personally involved in the nation building, socialization, and political integration of the revolution. Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

said, “We can say that our athletes are the children of our Revolution and, at the same time, the standard-bearers of that same Revolution.” In 1960, after the abolishment of all professional sports fans shifted their focus to the amateur leagues.

In the 1960s once amateur baseball became the main focus there was a strong desire to play and participate in sports. Cuban baseball shed its commercial skin and sought out to advance the social and political aims of the revolution via sport. The organization of the game and role baseball led in society was transformed. Changes were revolutionary and discrimination in amateur baseball was abolished. The reorganization of baseball after 1961, the durability and expansion of the structure of baseball, construction of new stadiums, and the production of players are all significant results the Revolution had on Cuban sports. The island has remained the powerhouse of world amateur baseball since then.

Baseball in Post-Revolutionary Cuba (1961-)

The Cuban Revolution

Cuban Revolution

The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...

of 1959 brought about fundamental changes in Cuba

Cuba

n institutional and societal infrastructure, which had a wide array of effects. One such effect was in relation to baseball

Baseball

, a sport that has deep historical roots in Cuba

Cuba

. Baseball has been a central symbol of Cuban pride

Pride

Pride is an inwardly directed emotion that carries two common meanings. With a negative connotation, pride refers to an inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments, often used synonymously with hubris...

since the late 19th Century. After the triumph of the Revolution in 1959, the revolutionary government chose it as a symbol of excellence and a voice for the rallying cry of nationalism

Nationalism

Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...

. Shortly after the revolution, victorious guerilla leaders demonstrated their Cuban spirit by engaging in exhibition baseball games, with such symbolic gestures reinforcing the notion that baseball would be an integral component of Revolutionary Cuba. In 1961, the Cuban government replaced the former professional baseball system with new amateur baseball leagues such as the Cuban National Series

Cuban National Series

The Cuban National Series is the primary domestic amateur baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the Series is a part of the Cuban national baseball system.-League structure:...

. They wanted post-revolutionary baseball in Cuba to be based on a socialist model of sports, driven not by money, but by national ideals. Revolutionary officials believed that under capitalism

Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...

, sport in general is corrupted by the profit motive and results in the exploitation of the masses typical of pre-1959 Cuba This fundamental shift from a professional to amateur system was preceded by the introduction of a very important institute.

In early 1961, the Cuban government established the Institute for Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) and made success in sports competitions a primary goal. Subsequent international sports triumphs would provide a spotlight on the Cuban Revolution

Cuban Revolution

and symbolize its success. In addition to displaying Cuba’s leadership to Third World countries, this would give Cubans themselves a sense of pride and feelings of nationalism for the Revolution. It was seen as a way of enhancing the revolutionary government’s legitimacy. Sports participation in Cuba was also universalized and thus made an essential component of revolutionary activity. The term coined to describe such a process was Masividad, and sports served the purpose to not only educate and train the Cuban people, but also to allow them yet another opportunity to fit in an egalitarian society that conformed to the very principles of the revolution. The Cuban people also became healthier due to their participation in sporting related activities, especially those that promoted physical education. Most Cuban sports facilities and the equipment they possess are adequate and meet the needs of the people as thoroughly as possible. INDER has branches at the municipal, provincial and community level and is ultimately responsible for the delivery of all sport and physical education functions; and the coordination of all sport related systems, structures and services delivered by political, health, cultural, community development, education and sports agencies and institutions that traditionally function independently of each other.

Although sport in general underwent a huge transformation after the revolution, it is still imperative to note that baseball continued to play a pivot role. After all it was Cuba’s bloodline and was easy to pick-up and play since it required less conditioning and more focus on the artisan skills of hitting, pitching, and strategy. Sports other than baseball retain some popularity in Cuba, including boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

and soccer, and the government continues to consider an athlete in fulfillment his or her duty as a Cuban citizen regardless of the sport pursued. As mentioned earlier, sport in post-revolutionary Cuba was utilized to not only improve health, but in doing so citizens have become more prepared in-terms of self-defense in light of hostile policies at least in the early days of the revolution by the United States. Baseball, like all other sports in Cuba was also utilized for political ends. For instance, Cuba has allowed for the Cuban National Baseball team to play in countries abroad such as Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

to benefit flood victims and in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

as a symbolic gesture to express goodwill for a strong trading partner. Aiding flood victims in Nicaragua by conducting baseball games is a very commendable action and should be exercised by other nations as well. Such assistance by Cuba underlies its commitment to socialist internationalism, which still to this day sees a bevy of Cuban sports specialists training and instructing abroad citizens of other nations.

Everything has seemingly been positive, however not everything went as planned. Since the professional system was abolished in-favor of amateur leagues, players were not paid as extravagantly as they once were. One report found that most baseball stars made less than $2,000 annually and that all players would receive sports leave pay at the same rate they would get from their off-season jobs as engineers, sports instructors, handymen, etc. The situation would get worse in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

in 1991, which was Cuba’s main trading partner. This led many players to defect to the United States due to deteriorating economic conditions. Amidst such action, even Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

admitted himself that it’s hard to prevent the baseball stars from defecting. He would later proclaim, “if you have to compete against six million dollars versus three thousand Cuban pesos you cannot win.” Other problems included bribery scandals in which coaches and player alike would fix games, which subsequently led to them being banned from baseball in Cuba. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were also instances in Cuba where baseball games would be canceled due to power outages and most fans chose to watch games from their home since it seemed more feasible to do so. The situation was so bad that pitchers in-game, would often have to exchange cleats with the pitcher who would have to pitch in the next half-inning. As one can note, resources even as minute as baseball cleats were that scarce during this very time. The Cuban government to this very day is also somewhat hostile in relation to the players that did defect in the 1990s.

The Early years (1864 - 1874)

Cuban baseball is organized (1878 - 1898)

Cuban baseball becomes international (1898 - 1933)

Amateur Baseball in Cuba (1933- 1960)

Baseball in Post-Revolutionary Cuba (1961-)

See also