Armando Marsans Mendiondo (October 3, 1887 – September 3, 1960) was a

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player who played as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

from 1911 to 1918. He played in three different major leagues in his career: with the Cincinnati Reds in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(1911–1914), with the St. Louis Terriers in the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

(1914–1915), and with the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

(1916–1918).

Biography

Marsans and Rafael Almeida debuted together with the Reds on July 4, 1911. They are sometimes named the first major league players born in Cuba, which is untrue since Havana-born

Chick Pedroes Charles P. Pedroes (October 27, 1869 – August 6, 1927), was a Major League Baseball outfielder in 1902. He was the first Cuban-born player in MLB history. External links 1869 births 1927 deaths Baseball players from Havana Major Lea ...

played in the National League in 1902. (Cuban-born Steve Bellán played from 1871 to 1873 in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. Its status as a major league is disputed by baseball historians).

Playing career

Six years before Cincinnati, Marsans and Almeida played "Negro baseball" in the United States as 1905 members of the integrated All Cubans. Marsans also played Negro league baseball in 1923 for the Cuban Stars (Riley, 514). He is buried at

Colon Cemetery, Havana El Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón, also called La Necrópolis de Cristóbal Colón, was founded in 1876 in the Vedado neighbourhood of Havana, Cuba to replace the Espada Cemetery in the Barrio de San Lázaro. Named for Christopher Columbus, ...

. Marsans played winter baseball in the

Cuban League The Cuban League was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the league was sometimes known a ...

from 1905 to 1928 and was one of ten players elected to the

Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame The Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame (''Salón de la Fama del Béisbol Cubano'') is a hall of fame that honors eminent baseball players from Cuban baseball. Established in 1939 to honor players, managers, and umpires in the pre-revolution Cuban League ...

in its 1939 inaugural class.

Managerial career

Marsans was also a long-time manager in the Cuban League and won a championship in the winter of 1917 as manager of the Orientals team.Figueredo 2003, pp. 123–124, 487, 508. In , he served as manager of the minor league Elmira Pioneers. In , he managed the

Havana Cubans The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played from 1946 to 1960. From 1954 until 1960, they belonged in the Class Triple-A (baseball), AAA International League, affiliated with Major League Baseball's 1960 Cinc ...

Notes

References

* *Riley, James A. (2002). ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues.'' 2nd edition. New York: Carroll & Graf Publ. .

External links