San Francisco Examiner February 8, 2001
A look at the impact of Latino baseball players on America's pastime

Latino players have been involved in the game for more than 100 years, and today they dominate it. Here is a look back.

Honored: Orlando Cepeda was one of the
few Latino ballplayers to be inducted into
the Hall of Fame.
He was inducted in June of 1999.

1947: Jackie Robinson's leap across the color barrier means black and dark skinned ballplayers from Latin America can consider a career in the majors. Prior to this, as historian Rob Ruck observed, "The crucial factor controlling entry of Cubans and other Latino to the major leagues was skin color."

1949: Orestes "Minnie" Minoso signs with the Cleveland Indians, Becoming the first black Latino in the major leagues.

1956: Ozzie Virgil, a catcher, the third baseman and outfielder with the New Youk Giants becomes the first Dominican Re- public has more major leaguers than any other Latin country.

1958: Orlando Cepeda winds the NL Rookie of the Year award for the San Fran- cisco Giants. The "Baby Bull," so named for his father, legendary Puerto Rican player Perucho "The Bull" Cepeda, homers off Don Drysdale to beat the Dodgers in his first game.

1964: Coach Alvin Day comments in Newsday that the Giants' problem is Latin players who "just are not able to perform up to the white ballplayer when it comes
to mental alertness. You can't make most Negro and Spanish players have pride in their team that you can get in the white player. And they just aren't as sharp mentally."

1960 to 1970: Latin American players begin to dominate the major leagues. Among the honors: Zoilo Versalles wins AL MVP in 1965; Roberto Clemente wins the NL MVP in 2966 as well as three batting titles; Luis Aparicio wins nine-straight base-stealing crowns; Vic Power wins Gold Gloves from 1960 to 1964; Tony Oliva wins the 1964 Rookie of the Year Award; and Cepeda wins both the Comeback Player of the Year in 1966 and the MVP in 1967. Marichal twice leads the pitching-rich National league in wins with 25 in 1963 and 26 in 1968.

1973: Roberto Clemente's untimely death spurs sportswriters to waive the traditional five-year waiting periods and induct him as the first Latin-born player into the Hall of Fame.

1977: Martin Dihigo is elected posthumously into the Hall of Fame, be- coming the first player to be enshrined in three separate halls of fame.

1983: Juan Marichal becomes the first living Latin player to gain entry to the Hall of Fame. The Dominican press hails the event as "one of the greatest sporting events in t he nation;s history."

1984: Luis Aparicio is elected into the Hall of Fame with the following credentials: AL Ro.

1994: Felipe Alou is selected as Manager of the Year.

January 1999: Cepeda elected to the Hall of Fame.

Opening Day. 2000: The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball reports 23.6 percent of the players on Opening Day rosters are born outside the U.S.

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1866: Sailors on a U.S. ship taking on
sugar in Havana invite Cuban long chairmen to play in a baseball game, the first one in Cuba.

1868: Club Habana (Havana) is formed and defeats a team faro Matanzas. This game featured two of the game's pioneers, Steban Bellan and Milio Sabourin. Bellan becomes the first Latino to play in the United States. A catcher, Bellan played three seasons (1871-'73) in the National Association, for the Tory Haymakers and New York Mutuals.

1882 to 1884: Sandy Nava, born in Cuba and raised in San Francisco, played three seasons with Baltimore of the American Association. During the 1880's, railroad workers from the US teach the game in northern Mexico.

1888: Baseball begins to be played along the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. The
country's longest running professional team, Boer, is founded by the U.S. Consulate in Managua.

1895: Venezuelans from a baseball league in Caracas . Spanish officials ban baseball in Cuba and send violators to prison.

1902: Colombian-born Luis Castro be- comes a second-baseman for Philadelphia.

1911 to 1933: The Marines land on 34 different beaches to 10 Caribbean coun- tries. There, they find baseball entrenched in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

1923: Adolfo Luque, "The Pride of Havana, becomes the first Latino pitcher to win 20 or more games when he finishes 27-8 (19.93 RA) with the Cincinnati Reds.

1938: Cuban-born Martin Dihigo, known as "Maestro" in Mexico and "Immortal" in Cuba, wins the Mexican League batting title (.387) and earns an `8-2 pitching record with an 0.90 RA. Barred from the segregated major leagues, Dihigo plays in the Negro leagues when not playing in Latin America.

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