PETER C. BJARKMAN - AUTHOR AND BASEBALL HISTORIAN

North America's Voice of Cuban League Baseball

"Through this and other publications, Peter Bjarkman is doing for Cuban baseball what Ry Cooder has done for Cuban music, helping us appreciate the complexity, creativity, and emotions of a people whose culture and politics have long been intertwined with those of the United States but who have often been made invisible by social attitudes or political barriers."—Joseph Arbena reviewing A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 in Arete: The Journal of Sports Literature

Number-one best-selling McFarland baseball title (among 250-plus titles in print) for February 2007 and March 2007. Also ranked second on the McFarland list for April 2007 and fourth for January 2007.Bjarkman (Baseball with a Latin Beat) delivers the definitive work on Cuban baseball. He looks at four Cuban legends—Martin Dihigo, Adolfo Luque, Orestes "Minnie" Minoso, and Conrado Marrero—before covering Cuba's baseball teams during both the prerevolutionary and Castro eras. He discusses Havana's place as the "amateur baseball capital of the world" and also explores myths surrounding Castro as a ballplayer, as well as such figures as Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. With useful appendices and statistics. For all baseball collections.—Review in Library Journal's "Spring Baseball Lineup" feature (February 1, 2007)

Major League Baseball's 2006 World Baseball Classic shocked an international audience when an amateur team from Cuba met Japan in San Diego for the sport's first true world championship. But those who had paid attention to international tournaments were hardly surprised by Cuba's showing against all-star teams of American, Puerto Rican, Dominican and Venezuelan professionals. Cuban national teams have now reached the finals of 38 consecutive major world tournaments, won better than 90 percent of their international contests since 1939, repeatedly beaten U.S. all-stars at the avowed American national game, and reigned for more than half a century as undisputed champions of global baseball. In this groundbreaking book, expert Peter C. Bjarkman follows the full arc of Cuban baseball history, including close coverage of the nearly five decades since the Sugar Kings' ejection from the International League. Dispelling the mystery and disinformation that surround Cuba, its leader, and its teams, early and late, Bjarkman gives us the first truly balanced history of baseball on the Caribbean island.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface Introduction

PART I—THE CUBAN LEGENDS

1: Martin Dihigo—Baseball's Least-Known Hall of Famer

2: Adolfo Luque—The Lost Pride of Havana

3: Orestes Miñoso—The Cuban Comet

4: The Baseball Half-Century of Conrado Marrero

PART II—THE CUBAN LEAGUES

5: Myths and Legends of the Cuban Professional League (1878-1961)

6: Cuban Blackball's Doubleheaders on the Dark Side of the Moon

7: Havana as Amateur Baseball Capital of the World

8: Cuba's Revolutionary Baseball (1962-2005)

PART III—THE CUBAN LEGACY

9: The Myth of Fidel Castro, Barbudos Ballplayer

10: Tarzan, Minnie, Zorro, and El Duque—The Saga of Cubans in the Major Leagues

11: The World's Best Unknown Ballplayers12: Playing with the Enemy: Defections, The Orioles Series, and Cuban Baseball Detente

 APPENDICES AND STATISTICAL RECORDS

Appendix I: Cuban Baseball Chronology (1864-2006)

Appendix II: The Cuban Negro Leagues Register

Appendix III: Cuban Major League Register

Appendix IV: Cuban Baseball Statistical Records

Annotated Cuban Baseball Bibliography

Index

Bjarkman's seminal book has already made some history of its own by being featured on Havana's RADIO COCO website devoted to the Cuban League champion Industriales Leones. This is the first time any American baseball book has been officially promoted in post-revolution Cuba. To access the Cuban League website featuring (with an audio interview) A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006, look for the link at the top of the left-hand column on this page.

Cuban NATIONAL SERIES ChampionsYear (Series) Team (Manager)

1962 (1) Occidentales (Fermín Guerra)

1963 (2) Industriales (Ramón Carneado)

1964 (3) Industriales (Ramón Carneado)

1965 (4) Industriales (Ramón Carneado)

1966 (5) Industriales (Ramón Carneado)

1967 (6) Orientales (Roberto Ledo)

1968 (7) Habana Province (Juan Gómez)

1969 (8) Azucareros (Servio Borges)

1970 (9) Henequeneros (M. Domíngüez)

1971 (10) Azucareros (Pedro Delgado)

1972 (11) Azucareros (Servio Borges)

1973 (12) Industriales (Pedro Chávez)

1974 (13) Habana (Jorge Trigoura)

1975 (14) Agricultores (Orlando Leroux)

1976 (15) Ganaderos (Carlos Gómez)

1977 (16) Citricultores (Juan Bregio)

1978 (17) Vegueros (José Piñeda)

1979 (18) Sancti Spíritus (Candido Andrade)

1980 (19) Santiago de Cuba (Manuel Miyar)

1981 (20) Vegueros (José Piñeda)

1982 (21) Vegueros (Jorge Fuentes)

1983 (22) Villa Clara (Eduardo Martín)

1984 (23) Citricultores (Tomás Soto)

1985 (24) Vegueros (Jorge Fuentes)

1986 (25) Industriales (Pedro Chávez)

1987 (26) Vegueros (Jorge Fuentes)

1988 (27) Vegueros (Jorge Fuentes)

1989 (28) Santiago de Cuba (Higinio Vélez)

1990 (29) Henequeneros (Gerardo Junco)

1991 (30) Henequeneros (Gerardo Junco)

1992 (31) Industriales (Jorge Trigoura)

1993 (32) Villa Clara (Pedro Jova)

1994 (33) Villa Clara (Pedro Jova)

1995 (34) Villa Clara (Pedro Jova)

1996 (35) Industriales (Pedro Medina)

1997 (36) Pinar del Río (Jorge Fuentes)

1998 (37) Pinar del Río (Alfonso Urquiola)

1999 (38) Santiago de Cuba (Higinio Vélez)

2000 (39) Santiago de Cuba (Higinio Vélez)

2001 (40) Santiago de Cuba (Higinio Vélez)

2002 (41) Holguín (Héctor Hernández)

2003 (42) Industriales (Rey Anglada)

2004 (43) Industriales (Rey Anglada)

2005 (44) Santiago de Cuba (Antonio Pacheco)

2006 (45) Industriales (Rey Anglada)

2007 (46) Santiago de Cuba (Antonio Pacheco)

2008 (47) Santiago de Cuba (Antonio Pacheco)