Cuban League
Despite its name, it was not the only professional league active in Cuba during that time, nor was it always the most popular; Peter C. Bjarkman argues that amateur play drew far more interest due to its reach outside the capital.
Many great African American players competed in Cuba alongside native black and white Cuban stars such as José Méndez, Cristóbal Torriente, Adolfo Luque, and Martín Dihigo.
[3] Early baseball in Cuba, as in the United States, was an amateur sport first organized by gentlemen's athletic clubs.
González Echevarría notes, "Baseball was a sport played in defiance of Spanish authorities, who viewed this American invention as vaguely secessionist and dangerously violent because of the use of sticks.
A number of ballplayers fought against Spain in the Cuban War of Independence (1895–98), and at least three lost their lives: Emilio Sabourín, Juan Manuel Pastoriza, and Ricardo Cabaleiro.
[23] The next major change came in 1907 when the Fe team began loading up with black American stars, such as Rube Foster, Home Run Johnson, Pete Hill, and Bill Monroe.
Soon the other teams were also bringing in the Negro league stars, culminating in the 1912 Habana, which easily took the title with a team featuring Hall-of-Famers Joe Williams, John Henry Lloyd, and Pete Hill, as well as Home Run Johnson and Cuban stars Julián Castillo, Carlos Morán, and Luis Padrón.
According to González Echevarría, "These teams were clearly of major-league quality, combining the cream of Negro baseball with the best Cuba had to offer, and a few white major leaguers to boot."
During the 1910s a number of white Cuban players began to break into major league ranks, including the outstanding Cincinnati Reds pitcher Dolf Luque, catcher Mike González, and outfielder Armando Marsans.
Black Cuban players competed regularly in the Negro leagues, where Cristóbal Torriente and José Méndez became stars.
During the 1920s the Cuban League reached its apex in quality, as top Negro league stars such as Oscar Charleston, Jud Wilson, John Henry Lloyd, Cool Papa Bell, Mule Suttles, Satchel Paige, Bill Foster, and Willie Wells played alongside great Cuban stars such as Martín Dihigo, Cristóbal Torriente, Alejandro Oms, Bernardo Baró, Dolf Luque, and Manuel Cueto.
Fulgencio Batista, who effectively ruled Cuba as dictator from 1933 onwards, considered the disarray of the Cuban League to be a national disgrace, and appointed fellow army officer Ignacio Galíndez as commissioner of professional baseball.
He also named his aide-de-camp, Jaime Mariné, to head the new sports ministry (Spanish: Dirección General Nacional de Deportes, or DGND).
However, Cuba's own talent flourished as players such as Manuel (Cocaína) Garcia, Alejandro Crespo, Silvio García, and Claro Duany starred.
American players, such as Dick Sisler, Lou Klein, Max Lanier, and Sal Maglie, returned to Cuba and participated alongside new Cuban stars such as Orestes (Minnie) Miñoso, Connie Marrero, Julio Moreno, and Sandalio (Sandy) Consuegra.
