Cuban League

Cuban League

▪ baseball league, Cuba
      the earliest baseball league founded in Latin America (see also Sidebar: Latin Americans in Major League Baseball).

      Baseball was introduced to Cuba in 1864 when students returned home from the United States with a bat and ball. A baseball league was established there in 1878, and it gradually evolved into the Cuban winter league that played until Fidel Castro (Castro, Fidel) took power in 1959 and abolished all professional sports. Only amateur baseball has been played in Cuba since 1961. More than the national sport, baseball has become part of the Cuban national identity. Cuban fans are very knowledgeable and appreciate long home runs as well as outstanding pitching duels.

      The Cuban League's regular season is called the Serie Nacional (National Series) and consists of a 90-game schedule played between November and May. The 16-team circuit includes clubs in all provincial capitals and 2 teams in Havana. The Serie Nacional is composed of four divisions. In Group A the teams are the Industriales (Havana), the Metropolitanos (Havana), Pinar del Río, and Isla de la Juventud; in Group B are Havana Province, Villa Clara, Camagüey, and Guantánamo; in Group C are Granma, Holguín, Las Tunas, and Ciego de Ávila; and in Group D are Santiago de Cuba, Sancti Spíritus, Cienfuegos, and Matanzas.

      At the end of the season, the top players are chosen to Equipo Cuba (Cuban National Team), which represents the country in international competitions such as the Pan American Games, the Intercontinental Cup, and the Olympics (Olympic Games). Cuba won the first two gold medals awarded in baseball at the Olympics, first in Barcelona (1992) and then in Atlanta (1996) before losing to the United States in the championship game in Sydney (2000).

      Before the ban on professional baseball on the island, many Cubans participated in U.S. major leagues, although the colour bar (which banned black players from playing in the major leagues) meant that one of Cuba's best players, Martín Dihigo (Dihigo, Martín), played only in the Negro leagues, in addition to being a star at home. Nevertheless, light-skinned Cubans such as Adolfo Luque gained fame playing in the majors, and, after the colour bar was ended in 1947, players such as Minnie Miñoso, Luis Tiant, Jr., and Tony Pérez all had outstanding careers in the United States. Salaries for Cuban players are very low—less than $50 per month—with players selected to Equipo Cuba receiving an additional bonus of approximately $2,000 per year. Between 1991 and 2001, approximately 50 Cuban players defected to play in the United States, including respected pitchers Orlando (“El Duque”) Hernandez and his half brother Livan Hernandez .

      In March 1999 the American League Baltimore Orioles played against a Cuban team in Havana. It was the first time a U.S. professional team had been to Cuba since March 1959, when the Los Angeles Dodgers played the Cincinnati Reds in two exhibition games.

Milton Jamail
 

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cuban League — This article is about the historic Cuban professional baseball league before 1961. For the current primary baseball league in Cuba, see Cuban National Series. Cuban League Sport Baseball Founded 1878 Claim to fame Earliest baseball league to be… …   Wikipedia

  • Cuban League (disambiguation) — Cuban League may refer to the following: Cuban League, a professional baseball league in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. Cuban National Series, an amateur baseball league in Cuba since 1961. This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the… …   Wikipedia

  • Cuban National Series — Sport Baseball Founded 1961 No. of teams 16 Country(ies) Cuba Most recent champion(s) Pinar del Rio Most titles …   Wikipedia

  • Cienfuegos (Cuban League baseball club) — The Petroleros de Cienfuegos (Cienfuegos Oilers) first participated in the Cuban Professional League championship during the 1926 27 season. Although representing the south coast city of Cienfuegos, the team played their home games in Havana.… …   Wikipedia

  • Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame — {{{title}}} Established {{{established}}} Location Estadio Latinoamericano, Havana Number of inductees 68 The Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame (Salón de la Fama del Béisbol Cubano) is a hall of fame that honors eminent baseball players from the pre… …   Wikipedia

  • Cuban national baseball system — The Cuban national baseball system is not a single baseball league; rather it is a structure of leagues and series that are governed by the Baseball Federation of Cuba and culminate in national championships and the selection of the Cuba national …   Wikipedia

  • Cuban Giants — Période d activité 1885 1899 Ligue …   Wikipédia en Français

  • CUBAN, MARK — (1958– ), U.S. businessman, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his paternal grandparents having come to America from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, and his maternal grandparents from near the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Cuban Giants — The Cuban Giants were the first African American professional baseball club. The team was originally formed in 1885 at the Argyle Hotel, a summer resort in Babylon, New York. The team was so skilled in the game, and achieved victory over so many… …   Wikipedia

  • Cuban X-Giants — The Cuban X Giants were an African American professional baseball team for about ten seasons around 1900. Originally most of the players were former Cuban Giants, or ex Giants. Like the Cuban Giants, the members were not Cuban, the name simply… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”