All Cubans
Encyclopedia
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 America
n professional baseball team to tour the United States. As a racially integrated
team, future major league players
Armando Marsans
and Rafael Almeida
got their start in the United States on the team. The team was also a forerunner for later Negro league teams staffed by Latin American players, such as the Cuban Stars (West)
, the Cuban Stars (East)
, and the New York Cubans
. Negro league stars Luis Bustamante and Carlos Morán started their American careers with the All Cubans.
. Linares later described the tour as calamitous. He recalled arriving in New York in June 1899 with $25 and 12 players. So little money was earned that at the end of the tour, Linares and two players were stranded in New York until money could be sent from Havana to pay for their return home.
The team's first recorded game was on July 28, 1899 against a white semi-pro team in Weehawken, New Jersey
; the All Cubans won 12–4. On July 31, a crowd of 1,800 watched them lose to the West New York Field Club, 8–5. The All Cubans then defeated the Mountain AC club 9–3. The Jersey City, New Jersey
team then beat them 14–4.
The 1899 All Cubans most famous games, however, came in August against the Cuban X-Giants
, one of the premier Negro League teams, which had no actual Cuban players. The newspapers described it as a challenge; according to the New York Sun
, the All Cubans protested "against the Cuban X-Giants posing as representatives of Cuba." The games took place in Hoboken, New Jersey
. The X-Giants won the first game 7–3 behind the 5-hit pitching of James Robinson. The X-Giants also won the second match, 11–6. This series was a precursor for a Cuban tour by the Cuban X-Giants the following year, the first major tour of Cuba by an American Negro league team.
The players on the 1899 All Cubans were white, but the teams that toured in 1902–05 included black players. In 1903, there were reports the team had run into trouble in Florida because it was carrying three black players. These teams continued to play successfully against independent white semi-pro teams and Negro League teams, such as the Cuban X-Giants and the Philadelphia Giants.
who played with the All Cubans include:
Baseball in Cuba
Baseball is the official sport of Cuba.-The Early years :Baseball was introduced to Cuba in the 1860s by Cuban students returning from colleges in the United States and American sailors who ported in the country...
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...
players that toured the United States during 1899 and 1902-05, playing against white semiprofessional and Negro league
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...
teams. The team was 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 professional baseball team to tour the United States. As a racially integrated
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
team, future major league players
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...
Armando Marsans
Armando Marsans
Armando Marsans was a Major League Baseball outfielder from 1911 to 1918. He played in three different major leagues in his career: with the Cincinnati Reds in the National League , with the St. Louis Terriers in the Federal League , and with the St...
and Rafael Almeida
Rafael Almeida
Rafael D. Almeida was a Major League Baseball third baseman from 1911 to 1913 with the Cincinnati Reds.Almeida and Armando Marsans debuted together with the Reds on July 4, 1911...
got their start in the United States on the team. The team was also a forerunner for later Negro league teams staffed by Latin American players, such as the Cuban Stars (West)
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,...
, the Cuban Stars (East)
Cuban Stars (East)
The Cuban Stars were a team of professional baseball players from Cuba and other Latin American countries who competed in the Negro leagues in the eastern United States from 1916 to 1933...
, 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...
. Negro league stars Luis Bustamante and Carlos Morán started their American careers with the All Cubans.
History
The team was organized by Cuban baseball executive Abel Linares and its field manager was Agustín "Tinti" Molina. The American sponsor of the 1899 tour was former baseball player and entrepreneur Alfred LawsonAlfred Lawson
Alfred William Lawson was a professional baseball player, manager and league promoter from 1887 through 1916 and went on to play a pioneering role in the US aircraft industry, publishing two early aviation trade journals...
. Linares later described the tour as calamitous. He recalled arriving in New York in June 1899 with $25 and 12 players. So little money was earned that at the end of the tour, Linares and two players were stranded in New York until money could be sent from Havana to pay for their return home.
The team's first recorded game was on July 28, 1899 against a white semi-pro team in Weehawken, New Jersey
Weehawken, New Jersey
Weehawken is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 12,554.-Geography:Weehawken is part of the New York metropolitan area...
; the All Cubans won 12–4. On July 31, a crowd of 1,800 watched them lose to the West New York Field Club, 8–5. The All Cubans then defeated the Mountain AC club 9–3. The Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
team then beat them 14–4.
The 1899 All Cubans most famous games, however, came in August against the Cuban X-Giants
Cuban X-Giants
The Cuban X-Giants were an African-American professional baseball team for about ten seasons around 1900. Originally most of the players were former Cuban Giants, or ex-Giants....
, one of the premier Negro League teams, which had no actual Cuban players. The newspapers described it as a challenge; according to the New York Sun
New York Sun
The New York Sun was a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 to 2008. When it debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun , it became the first general-interest broadsheet newspaper to be started...
, the All Cubans protested "against the Cuban X-Giants posing as representatives of Cuba." The games took place in Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
. The X-Giants won the first game 7–3 behind the 5-hit pitching of James Robinson. The X-Giants also won the second match, 11–6. This series was a precursor for a Cuban tour by the Cuban X-Giants the following year, the first major tour of Cuba by an American Negro league team.
The players on the 1899 All Cubans were white, but the teams that toured in 1902–05 included black players. In 1903, there were reports the team had run into trouble in Florida because it was carrying three black players. These teams continued to play successfully against independent white semi-pro teams and Negro League teams, such as the Cuban X-Giants and the Philadelphia Giants.
Notable players
Members of the Cuban Baseball Hall of FameCuban Baseball Hall of Fame
The Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame is a hall of fame that honors eminent baseball players from the pre-revolution Cuban League. Established in 1939, by 1961 it had honored 68 players whose names are shown on a marble plaque at Havana's Estadio Latinoamericano...
who played with the All Cubans include:
- Rafael AlmeidaRafael AlmeidaRafael D. Almeida was a Major League Baseball third baseman from 1911 to 1913 with the Cincinnati Reds.Almeida and Armando Marsans debuted together with the Reds on July 4, 1911...
– 3B, 1904–05 - Alfredo Arcaño – CF, 1899
- Luis Bustamante – SS, 1903–05
- Alfredo CabreraAl CabreraAlfredo A. Cabrera was a major league shortstop. His nickname was Pájaro, which is Spanish for "Bird."...
– 1B, 1903, 1905 - Antonio María (El Inglés) García – 1B, 1899, 1904–05
- Regino García – C, 1905
- Heliodoro Hidalgo – CF, 1905
- Julio (El Cartero) López – LF, 1899, 1903
- Armando MarsansArmando MarsansArmando Marsans was a Major League Baseball outfielder from 1911 to 1918. He played in three different major leagues in his career: with the Cincinnati Reds in the National League , with the St. Louis Terriers in the Federal League , and with the St...
– LF, 1905 - Agustín Molina – C, 1903
- Carlos Morán – 3B, 1902
- José Muñoz – P, LF, CF, RF, 1903–04
- Luis Padrón – 2B, LF, 1902–03
- Emilio Palomino – P, RF, CF, 1904–05
- Moisés Quintero – 1B, 1899, 1904
- Carlos Royer – P, 1899, 1902
- Gonzalo Sánchez – C, 1904