Bobby Marcano
Encyclopedia
Roberto "Bobby" Marcano was a Venezuela
n professional baseball
player who made a name for himself playing in Nippon Professional Baseball and for Tiburones de La Guaira
in the Venezuelan Winter League.
Born in El Clavo
, Marcano played minor league baseball
in the United States
from to . In , Marcano went to Japan
where he joined the Hankyu Braves as a second baseman
(the team has since become the Orix Blue Wave, and then the Orix Buffaloes). The next three years, the Braves won the Japan Series
.
Marcano played for Hankyu for eight years, then joined the Yakult Swallows
for another three. Over the course of his career, Marcano was awarded four Gold Gloves, and was named to the Best nine four times. He is noted by many sources as being one of the best foreign-born players in Japanese baseball.
Marcano died at age 38, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer
.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n professional 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...
player who made a name for himself playing in Nippon Professional Baseball and for Tiburones de La Guaira
Tiburones de La Guaira
The Tiburones de La Guaira are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in the city of La Guaira, the Tiburones have won seven national championships since their founding in 1962.-History:...
in the Venezuelan Winter League.
Born in El Clavo
El Clavo
El Clavo is a town in the state of Miranda, Venezuela....
, Marcano played minor league baseball
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...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from to . In , Marcano went to 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...
where he joined the Hankyu Braves as a second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
(the team has since become the Orix Blue Wave, and then the Orix Buffaloes). The next three years, the Braves won the Japan Series
Japan Series
, or is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a seven-game series between the winning clubs of the league's two circuits, the Central League and the Pacific League....
.
Marcano played for Hankyu for eight years, then joined the Yakult Swallows
Tokyo Yakult Swallows
is a professional baseball team in Japan's Central League.The Swallows are named after their corporate owners, the Yakult Corporation. From 1950 to 1965, the team was owned by the former Japanese National Railways and called the Kokutetsu Swallows; the team was then owned by the newspaper Sankei...
for another three. Over the course of his career, Marcano was awarded four Gold Gloves, and was named to the Best nine four times. He is noted by many sources as being one of the best foreign-born players in Japanese baseball.
Marcano died at age 38, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.