{"id":28491,"date":"2014-08-10T22:18:34","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T02:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seamheads.com\/?p=28491"},"modified":"2014-08-16T13:40:04","modified_gmt":"2014-08-16T17:40:04","slug":"negro-leagues-db-update-192021-cuban-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/10\/negro-leagues-db-update-192021-cuban-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Negro Leagues DB Update: 1920\/21 Cuban League"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest addition to the Seamheads Negro Leagues DB covers the 1920\/21 winter league<\/a> season in Cuba. Heading the bill that off-season was none other than the biggest name in baseball at the time, one George Herman Ruth<\/strong><\/a>, fronting the New York Giants<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Babe was a little late, showing up only for the last half of the Giants’ schedule against Habana and Almendares (see his passport application here<\/a>). Most famously, this series saw Ruth get upstaged by Cuban slugger Cristóbal Torriente<\/strong><\/a>, who smashed three home runs in one game (albeit these were off George Kelly<\/strong><\/a>, not normally a pitcher) while Ruth went hitless. Torriente also added a double off Ruth himself, driving in six runs as Almendares beat the Giants 11 to 4. It wasn’t until Ruth’s seventh game that he finally provided the Cuban fans with a home run. The Babe ended up hitting well for the series anyway (.345\/.525\/.828), and the Giants won 9, lost 4, and tied 4, despite only outscoring their opponents 69 to 62.<\/p>\n

The Giants left Havana in mid-November, and their place was taken by the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants<\/a> of the Negro leagues. The team’s trip was organized by its secretary, Edward B. Lamar, for many years a well-known promoter in black baseball circles and founder of the Cuban X-Giants. Lamar was actually the instigator of the first trips to Cuba by black American teams in the 20th century, sending his X-Giants to Havana several<\/a> times<\/a> in the 1900s<\/a>. For this trip the Bacharachs brought the core of their regular team, captain and ace pitcher Dick Redding<\/strong><\/a>, shortstop Dick Lundy<\/strong><\/a>, pitcher Red Ryan<\/strong><\/a>, and catcher Julio Rojo<\/strong><\/a>, and added superstar Oscar Charleston<\/strong><\/a> and infielder Morten<\/a><\/strong> “Specs” Clark<\/strong><\/a> from the Indianapolis ABCs, slugger Charlie Blackwell<\/strong><\/a> and infielder Joe Hewitt<\/strong><\/a> from the St. Louis Giants, and a trio of stars from the Hilldale Club, catcher Louis Santop<\/strong><\/a>, spitballer Phil Cockrell<\/strong><\/a>, and fancy-fielding first baseman Toussaint Allen<\/strong><\/a>. Oliver Marcell<\/strong><\/a>, the Bacharachs’ star third baseman, also applied for a passport, but for some reason did not make the trip.<\/p>\n

Guided by Cuban Stars manager Tinti Molina<\/strong><\/a>, the Bacharachs played a (pretty unsuccessful) six-game series with Habana and Almendares, then it was decided to enter them as the third club in the regular Cuban League season.  The league used a split-season format. On December 26 Almendares player-manager Dolf Luque<\/strong><\/a> argued with the umpire during a game with Habana and pulled his team off the field, and then Almendares refused to show up for a game the next day against the Bacharachs. Luque was suspended and Almendares forfeited both games, but the Blues, led by Cheo Hernández<\/strong><\/a> (4-1, 1.62), shortstop Pelayo Chacón<\/strong><\/a> (.321\/.418\/.410), and left fielder Merito Acosta<\/strong><\/a> (.281\/.410\/.406), managed to overcome these problems to win the first half. In addition to his three-homer game against the Giants, center fielder Torriente (.306\/.398\/.482) set a Cuban League record by legging out three triples in one game on January 12.<\/p>\n

The Bacharachs couldn’t really get untracked, and lagged well behind in last place, despite the efforts of Charleston (.471\/.514\/.500), Blackwell (.367\/.472\/.433), Clark (.350), and Santop  (.343). They finished the first half with a 5-11 record (including the forfeit win over Almendares). After losing the opening game of the second half, the Bacharachs dropped out of the league. Inspired by second baseman Bienvenido “Hooks” Jiménez<\/strong><\/a> (.310\/.412\/.425), infielder\/outfielder Manuel Cueto<\/strong><\/a> (.283\/.383\/.359), and pitchers Oscar Tuero<\/strong><\/a> (5-3, 1.81) and José Acosta<\/strong><\/a> (5-2, 1.94), Habana won six out of the eight remaining games to take the second half title and set up a best-of-three championship series.<\/p>\n

In the playoffs, the Reds spotted Almendares one win (a three-hit shutout by Luque), then won the last two to take the pennant.<\/p>\n

\"1920<\/a>

1920 passport photos for Dick Lundy, Babe Ruth, and Oscar Charleston.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest addition to the Seamheads Negro Leagues DB covers the 1920\/21 winter league season in Cuba. Heading the bill that off-season was none other than the biggest name in baseball at the time, one George Herman Ruth, fronting the New York Giants. The Babe was a little late, showing up only for the last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":809,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,16162,4235],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-negro-lgs","category-top-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t