Cuban & Negro League Baseball Pick-Ups

[jerseygary]

Signatures of the 1944 New York Cubans

This was a great little autograph book I picked up because it had a bunch of Brooklyn Bushwicks players in it. I was always fascinated by the vibrant and competitive semi-pro leagues that operated in the Metropolitan area before World War II and pick up whatever pieces of memorabilia I can. Since I am a baseball illustrator, I specifically grabbed this up because it included a newspaper photo of one of their players, showing the cap, which I will use for a drawing down the road. Bushwick players’ pictures are hard to find. When it arrived, it had much more in it than I expected. The album belonged to a Brooklyn girl named Marilyn who carried it to games at Dexter Park in the summer of 1944. Marilyn must have been a big baseball fan since her book notes the players positions and uniform numbers. Most of the players that are represented on its pages are life-long New York City semi-pros, some of whom had a short stint in the big leagues, but it was the team page of the N.Y. Cubans that was the real find...

Rogelio Linares, 1b - Played in the Negro National League in 1940 then from 1943-1946.

Jose Vargas, cf
Vargas’ career started with the Cuban Stars in 1927 and lasted until 1944, the year he signed this page. He was a speedy outfielder who hit for power and was voted on to the 1942 and 1943 East-West All-Star team. He passed away in 1971.

Gil Garrido, ut
The Panamanian spent 2 seasons in Negro League ball, 1944 and 1945. His son, Gil Garrido, Jr played 6 years in the majors with the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves.

Louis Louden, c
4-time Negro League All-Star catcher. Louden later played in the minors for the El Paso Texans.

Hector Rodriguez, 3b
After playing for the N.Y. Cuban in 1944, Rodriguez went to Mexico where Brooklyn signed him. He spent 1951 with the Montreal Royals, batting .302. The White Sox bought him from the Dodgers and he spent 1952 with Chicago and batted .265. He then finished up his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs where he became a crowd favorite. His skill at 3rd base was such that the White Sox used a film made of his fielding to train new players.

Rodolfo Fernandez, p
This member of the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame was a star pitcher in his native Cuban League from 1931-44. He became a household name on the island in 1937 when he shut out the New York Giants, including Mel Ott and Carl Hubbell, 4-0. Along with Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige, Fernadez was a member of the 1937 Cuidad Trujillo team that represented the dictator Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.

Dave Barnhill, p
4-time All-Star who spent his whole Negro League career with the Cubans. In 1940-41 he led the Puerto Rican League in strike outs. From 1942 to 1947 Barnhill was among the top ten best pitchers in the Negro National League and he led the Cubans to their only World Series Championship in 1947. He later played in the minor leagues before retiring in the mid-1950’s. He passed away in 1983.

Ameal Brooks, c & lf
Starting out in 1928, Brooks managed to play on some of the best blackball teams assembled - Chicago American Giants, Homestead Grays, Philly Stars. He was winding up his career with the Cubans when he signed this page in 1944. He passed away in 1971.

Bill Anderson, p
Anderson pitched in the Negro Leagues from 1940-1946 and later played in the low minors before retiring.

Showboat Thomas, 1b
Came up with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1929 with Satchel paige. Thomas was a member of the famed Negro All-Star team that won the 1937 Denver Post Tournament. In 1945 Thomas and Terris McDuffie were given a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers, but it was only a publicity stunt and nothing came of it.

Claro Duany, lf
This Cuban Baseball Hall of Famer began in his native Cuba in 1942. Playing baseball with the N.Y. Cubans in the summer and the Havana Reds in the winter, Duany won the Cuban League batting title in 1944-45. A big salary lured him to Mexico in 1945 and he won the batting title there two consecutive years in a row, 1945-46. He then returned to Cuba and promptly won that league’s batting title. He finished his career in the Washington Senators organization, playing with his teammate on the Cubans, Dave Barnhill.

Here's a link to the rest of the signatures in the album

[h2oya311]

Very cool Gary - thanks for sharing!