Famous First Foreign Born Players

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Posted By: Nickinvegas

I found this while surfing around, thought it was interesting:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/firsts/first13.shtml

I didn't know that Major League Baseball did not recognize the National Association Players as Major League Players.


Nick

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Posted By: jay behrens

Not sure why MLB doesn't recognize the NA. There are certainly many members of SABR's 19c committee that think they should be included in the record. You will also find a lot of supporters for having the 1900 season of the AL included in the record.

I haven't followed either one close enough to have a firm opinion one way or the other, but I do know that both sides of the argument have merit.

Jay

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Posted By: Joe_G.

Cool link, I sent in a correction for the first German born major leaguer. Should be Charlie Getzein, not Emil Geiss.

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Posted By: Joe P.

My compliments to you.
I see that you're still on the Crusade to make Luis Castro the first Latino in the major leagues.
Bravo amigo bravo, I admire your determination.
I have to agree with Jay, there are many sources that will disagree with the Baseball Almanac's view on this.

The major leagues are still evolving from that day in 1869 I believe, when Cincinnati fielded a team of payed players.
The advent of the turnstile just rushed the evolution of the game from it's amateur form to a professional form sooner.
It might not have looked like what the majors do now, but does the buggy horse transportation of then look like our auto transportation look now?

Let's just say that Luis Castro is one of the first Latinos in the 20th Century, but you might as well resign to the fact that Bellan in Troy NY 1871, and Nava Providence in 1882 were one of the first during the 19th Century to earn some pesos playing professional pelota.

I gotta like your spunk, drive and determination.

Joe

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Posted By: Nickinvegas

Joe,
It is still up for debate where(what is consdidered "Pro Ball")Major League Baseball truly started. Personally I do not feel that the Troy team should be condsidered part of what is now MLB. There were many teams,big and small, that were on the field at that time. Many of those teams had players that were funded(one way or the other) for their play. Just because the players were paid and people may have paid to see them play does not make them part of Major League Baseball.

For those who aren't familiar with Bellan, here is a link with some basic information:

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Esteban%20Bellan


Nick


PS: There was recently a release of a book titled "Marsans". It tells the story of the "first" cuban Major League player, and it gives a great history of the Federal league. The author stole my book idea, but he did a good job on the book. Good read for any baseball fan.