I have no vintage Latin items in my collection to speak of. All of these are more recent but I think they are entertaining nonetheless. The ball was obtained at the Goodwill games in Tacoma. A friend was serving as an interpreter. I asked him to get me the autographs of Antonio Pacheco, Omar Linares, Orestes Kindelan, and German Mesa as they were the stars. He took the ball in the dugout and returned with all four players. They were happy that I had knowledge of them and then each shook my hand and signed the ball for me. I so wish I had a camera. The four of them were quite impressive especially Linares and Mesa. It is such a shame they never got to compete in the Majors. The second is a poster that was used in Cuba to advertise the 1999 game featuring the Orioles vs. the Cuban National Team. It features Linares I would love to have it signed by him and Ripken. The final two are a pair of Type 1 photos of Fidel playing baseball.
|