Paulino ("Paul") Ortiz Casanova (December 21, 1941 – August 12, 2017) was a Cuban professional baseball player.

On February 9, 1961, the day after the Cuban League season ended, he left Cuba for the United States, via the Mexican embassy.

[1] Casanova began his professional baseball career on January 1, 1960, when he was signed as a free agent by the Cleveland Indians.

[4] On October 5 of that year, Casanova was signed by the Washington Senators, and his professional baseball career would truly begin the following season.

[4] Casanova began his major league career on September 18, 1965, stepping up to bat twice in a losing effort to the Minnesota Twins[6] – the team which had relocated from Washington less than five years earlier, paving the way for the expansion Senators.

[7] Casanova never hit as well again as he did in 1967, holding a meager career batting average of .225; but his fielding skills as a catcher were highly valued and kept him in the major leagues.

The franchise was moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and rebranded as the Texas Rangers, but Casanova would not be part of the transition as he was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Hal King at the Winter Meetings on December 2, 1971.

It also became a gathering place for his former teammates and fellow Cuban ball players like Mike Cuellar (a 1969 Cy Young Award winner[13]), hall of famer Tony Oliva,[14] Orlando Peña, Cholly Naranjo, Jackie Hernández, José Tartabull, Bert Campaneris (a key player in the Oakland Athletics three World Series wins from 1972-1974[15]), José Cardenal, Minnie Miñoso, as well as Dominican born batting champion Rico Carty[16] and Puerto Rican born hall of famer Orlando Cepeda.