1937 Dominican Season
 

The 1937 Dominican Season marked one of the greatest collections of baseball talent every assembled. A three team league financed with the best players money could buy. Drawn from the negro leagues and all corners of Latin America the teams featured 4 players who would be enshrined in Cooperstown- Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell and Martin Dihigo and nearly a dozen who would be enshrined in the Halls of Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico - including Pedro Cepeda, Luis Tiant St, Lazaro Salazar and Alejandro oms. But few realize that the season which was actually a campaign to reelect Rafael Trujillo a ruthless dictator who killed thousands of Haitian in an act that could only be called genocide. Below are a number of items relating to the series. I would love to see other items about the season and it's players. I would also suggest that anyone interested read the recently released The Pitcher and the Dictator by Averal Smith which focus on Trujillo and Paige

Below
1. Post card with Teleto Vargas and Julio Rojo
2. 1935 Cuban stars photo with Horacio Martinez and Fransico Correa
3. Autographed photo of Larzaro Salazar
4. Photo of Tony Catanos
5. 1932 Cuban stars with Candy Lopez
6. Sign bio page of Manuel Cocaina Garcia

Trujillo Team photo
 

I have this one on my wall... Gibson, Paige, Cool Papa and Friends.... It is also an Imperical Cabinet.... like 11 x 17 Inches... AMAZING photo...

Amazing photo- Al

Just looking at the players in Al's photo tell me if you can think of a team that beats them in a 7 game playoff series. Paige makes three starts and Fernandez Griffith and Salazara make the rest. The offense is the strength and scores a bunch of runs

That’s why the dictator hired ‘em!

Yep....
 

And it is shocking that they were legit scared that they could lose... of course the other team was stacked with legends like Bragana and Tetelo Vargas... so they were no "easy outs".... Bizarre history this team and sad history of oppression by the US backed dictator, Trujillo.

Some more greats from the 37 season

Martin dihigo
Alejandro San - first Dominican to play in us from Venezuelan set with a total of 8 graded cards
Alejandro Oms - from 1930 Cuban guide
Josh Gibson - from under appreciated book The Negro in Sports 1949

Some pick ups over the last few months

1. Dihigo - on Mexican baseball magazine
2. Sam Bankhead toleteros
3. Album page with autos of Miguel Solis and Jose Vargas
4. Photo of Leroy Matlock - the pitcher started the final game for the dragons

nice items Jason, cant waite to see more of your Cuban baseball items

Photo from some sort of international all- star game in 1946. Features Cando Lopez and the only image I have ever seen of Alejandro Oms’ brother Tito

Pete Best Award
 

Here’s a card of Luis St Clair - the original catcher for the Dragons - Cy Perkins and Josh Gibson and a two games a week schedule made him less then necessary and he is gone before the season is in full swing

New additions
 

Three new items for the collection

1. Team photo for 1952 Dominican league team with Teleto Vargas, Braganita Garcia and Rudy Fernandez
2. 1939-40 Puerto Rican team with Pedro Cepeda, Vargas, Radames Lopez and Enrique Lantiqua - which is found of all places in the 1941 Famous Sluggers Year Book
3. A discovery from my collection - I finally confirmed that my KC broadside has an image of the 1935 team with Chet Brewer ( as well as first image of Willard Brown

For some reason I can't get any of the other images to load, but here is a scan from a Perucho Cepeda contract I was lucky enough to be able to pick up.

Jeff

The auto of Radmas Lopez as a witness to the contract is probably an even rarer signature

New pick up with two rare Negro Leaguers - Dave Showboat Thomas and Herman Andrews ( standing first two on left. Andrews the taller one) as they appear on the 1936-37 Habana team
Thomas hold the distinction of being one of the players who took part in the first public tryouts for black players when he and Terrence McDuffie worked out for the dodgers in 1944. The tryout was a stunt as both players where well past there primes (Thomas was 39) but it happened and it was a first.

I wasn't familiar with the name and a quick search brings up the fact that the Little League is named for him in PR, but I don't see much other info.

I plan on looking around myself, but would love any direction you might have on where I could find more info. Thanks!

Here’s a picture of Lopez with teammates Cepeda and Teleto Vargas from a 1949 issue of Puerto Desportivo

Some recent pick ups

Most significant I was able (with help of a board member) finally pick up a photo of Alejandro Oms. He is shown on the on the left of the snap shot with Miguel Gonzales in a suit in the middle and Champion Mesa in the other side. Oms was an Amazing player that I may dedicate a separate post to

Next a team shot of Larzaro Salazar managing the famous Monterey Sultans
In 1949 and a great action shot of Carlos Blanco

As referenced in by post about foreign cards I was able to make a holy grail level purchase at the National. Here are some photos of a 1940 Puerto Rican baseball week let which detailed the last games of the season and had the centerfold below which showed the championship team which was lead by Satchel Paige, Tetelo Vargas, Pedro Cepeda, Radamies Lopez and Bill “Cy” Perkins. The mag has complete play by play for the games. I have never seen another copy of this issue and only a handful of other issues.

Cover - I don’t know why it’s only letting post one photo per post

Also showing I have had a couple of great months for collecting here is a better image of an Alejandro Oms photo that I picked up as part of a large lot. Shows the Cuban great signing (check in hand) for the 1928 Cuban season.

Great pickups Jason, thanks again for sharing.

Some pickups over the last few months. Sorry about the separate texts for each image but cannot figure out how to do that without getting very small images

1. Julio Grillo Baez - from Hit Magazine. Very obscure Dominican player with few images

Spoon Carter

Josh Gibson from Spot Magazine 1942

Horacio Martinez- 1930’s great who was light enough to play in the majors but was kept out because his hair was to “black” photo is signed to a family member

1942 Mexican League team photo with Santos Amaro- signed on back by all players

Back

The photo below pictures Rodolfo Fernandez and Enrique Lantiqua in their 1936 Licey uniforms. Though he is very obscure today Lantiqua was a giant of Dominican baseball. He was actually the only Dominican who was originally on Trujillo 1937 team. He became unnecessary when the team got Cy Perkins and some guy named Josh Gibson to play catcher. Despite this slight, Lantiqua played a large roll in bringing back professional baseball after the 1937 season bankrupted the teams and created a decade plus of semi pro play. He is also tied to one of the darkest moments of Dominican baseball. In 1948 the national team was flying to a tournament and the plane went down killing the players and a number of administrators. Lantiqua was suppposef to be on that flight but had a premonition and did not board.