Posted By:
Joe P.Nick:
1." Raphael Almeida: The first Cuban (along with Marsans) to play MLB."
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Actually my answer was directed to your above statement.
Although it really doesn't matter if you said Cuban or Latin American, the
fact of the matter is that Esteban Bellan played professional baseball for the
Haymakers in 1871.
At this very moment I'm looking at a scored program of a game played by the
Haymakers and the Mutuals on Oct 2 1871.
Bellan is batting 8th and playing 3rd base.
Also listed for Troy is Bill Craver playing second, who in a couple of years will be thrown out of baseball for doing what Hal Chase got away with later on.
For the Mutuals I'm looking at Joe Start playing first, and Dickie Pearce playing short.
Nick, from the moment that Cincinnati started paying ballplayers in 1869, and
someone invented the turnstile, we are now talking the coinage of the realm.
Whether it's cents, centavos or drachmas, we are now in the world of professionalism.
The game played by the National Association, which eventually became the
National League had evolved from the game played by the amateur Knickerbockers at Elysium Park Hoboken, NJ. in 1845.
The young and short time National Association were the majors of that time.
There were no minor leagues at that time as we know them.
You must remember that paying for a team of ball players was an expensive hobby even then, only some bigger towns and cities could afford them.
A team or league would go under, and that was a way that the survivors would get some players.
Nick, why don't we just say that Luis "Jud" Castro may have been the first
Columbian Latino of the 20th Century to play Pro baseball in the US.
By the way Nick, that is a beautiful Almeida card in the picture thread, my compliments.
Stay well,
Joe P.