Hiram Gabriel Bithorn Sosa (March 18, 1916 – December 29, 1951) was a professional right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who became the first

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 tea ...

player from

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

to play in

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), ...

. Standing and weighing about , Bithorn was a hard-throwing pitcher who commanded attention when he began his delivery with a distinctive windup, raising his long left leg high in the air and throwing a blazing fastball toward home plate.

Early life

Of mixed Danish-German-Scottish and Spanish descent, Bithorn was born as Hiram Gabriel Bithorn Sosa in Santurce, a heavily populated area in the city of San Juan, and was one of five children born to Waldemar G. Bithorn, a municipal employee, and María Sosa, a public school teacher. The Bithorn family traveled frequently to the United States. María taught her children English and at one time produced a radio program called ''Abuelita Borinqueña'' (Puerto Rican Grandmother). The young Hiram attended Central High School in Santurce, and his older two brothers, 11 and 10 years his senior, encouraged and assisted in training him to become an athlete. In 1935, Bithorn competed in the III Central American and Caribbean Games held in

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

, helping his Puerto Rican teammates bring home a silver medal in

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and a bronze in

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. By this time, he had already begun making a name for himself in baseball in 1932, while pitching on a team of ''nativos'' playing in the city of

Guayama Guayama (, ), officially the Autonomous Municipality of Guayama ( es, Municipio Autónomo de Guayama) is a city and municipality on the Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 36,614. It is the c ...

. The Puerto Ricans faced the Richmond BBC, a squad composed entirely of continental American players, including slugging first baseman and future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Johnny Mize John Robert Mize (January 7, 1913 – June 2, 1993), nicknamed "Big Jawn" and "The Big Cat", was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons between 1936 ...

, as the 16-year-old Bithorn led his team to a 10–1 victory over the visiting club.

Baseball career

Bithorn played winter ball for his home team

Senadores de San Juan The (lit. San Juan Senators) was a professional baseball team based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Senadores club was founded in 1938 and played intermittently in the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico, the predecessor to the current Li ...

. When San Juan

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Juan Torruella resigned only two weeks into the 1938 season, the Senadores chose 22-year-old Bithorn as their new skipper, making him the youngest manager in

Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...

history. Within three years, Bithorn was pitching at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

. In 1939 Bithorn played in the US

Minor Leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

, pitching for three seasons for the AA clubs Oakland Oaks and

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

. Bithorn was drafted by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in September 1941 and debuted in the Major Leagues on April 15, 1942, making history as the first Puerto Rican big leaguer. Bithorn won nine games and lost 14 in his first season, but he rebounded in 1943 by going 18–12 with an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 2.60 and completing 19 of his 30 starts, leading the league in

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s with seven, establishing a record for Puerto Rican pitchers that still stands to this day. During this time, he also formed the second Latin American pitcher-catcher combination along with

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Chico Hernández Salvador José "Chico" Hernández Ramos (January 3, 1916 – January 3, 1986) was a Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB ...

David Maraniss David Maraniss ( ; born 1949) is an American journalist and author, currently serving as an associate editor for ''The Washington Post''. Career ''The Washington Post'' assigned Maraniss the job of biographer for their coverage of 2008 president ...

, ''Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006), page 30. On November 26, 1943, after his second season, Bithorn joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. While in the navy, he served at Naval Air Station San Juan in Puerto Rico where he became the player-manager for the baseball team at the station. He was discharged from the navy on September 1, 1945. His promising start did not last once he returned from military service. By this moment his weight had risen to 225 pounds, which led to rumors that he may not have the same abilities. Upon returning from the war, he returned to the Chicago Cubs, and went 6–5 in 1946. On January 25, 1947, he was purchased by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

only to be waived later. On March 22 of the same year, the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

selected him off waivers but only pitched two innings, developing a sore arm that ended his career. In a four-season career, Bithorn posted a 34–31 record with a 3.16 ERA in 105 pitching appearances (53 as a starter), including 30

complete games In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, eight shutouts and five saves,

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

185 batters while

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171 in 509 innings of work.

Later years

At age 35, Bithorn tried to make a comeback in the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

. He was shot by Mexican police officer Ambrosio Castillo Cano on December 28, 1951, in El Mante, Tamaulipas,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Bithorn then was transferred to

Ciudad Victoria Ciudad Victoria () is the seat of the Municipality of Victoria, and the capital of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located in the northeast of Mexico at the foot of the Sierra Madre Oriental. It borders the municipality of Güémez to ...

's hospital, where he died the next day. Initially, Officer Castillo Cano claimed that Bithorn was violent and also admitted to being part of a

communist cell Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a Far-left politics, far-left Political sociology, sociopolitical, Political philosophy, philosophical, and Economic ideology, economic ideology and current within th ...

, and that he was on an important mission. Eventually this argument was debunked in court and Castillo Cano was sentenced to eight years in prison for Bithorn's murder. He was buried at Buxeda Cemetery in

Carolina, Puerto Rico Carolina (; ) is a city and municipality located on the northeast coast of Puerto Rico. It lies immediately east of the capital San Juan and Trujillo Alto; north of Gurabo and Juncos; and west of Canóvanas and Loíza. Carolina is spread ove ...

. Bithorn's achievement of making it to the majors remained a source of pride in Puerto Rico, and he was honored in 1962 when the biggest ballpark on the island was built and named after him.

Hiram Bithorn Stadium Hiram Bithorn Stadium (Spanish: Estadio Hiram Bithorn) is a baseball park in San Juan, Puerto Rico, built in 1962 and designed by Puerto Rican architect Pedro Miranda. It is operated by the municipal government of the city of San Juan. Its name ho ...

is located next to

Roberto Clemente Coliseum Roberto Clemente Coliseum ( Spanish: ''Coliseo Roberto Clemente'') is a sports and concert arena located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was, for many years, Puerto Rico's largest indoor event facility, and remains one of the largest. General info ...

and across the street from Plaza Las Américas Mall, the stadium has also hosted world championship

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fights, major

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

events from the

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

, the 1979

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, and important musical spectacles. The

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played 22 home games there in the 2003 and 2004 MLB seasons, while Rounds 1 and 2 of the 2006 and 2009

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Lea ...

editions also were played there, including teams from Group C and Group D. In 2013 the World Baseball Classic Round 1, Pool C was played in the stadium, featuring

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, Spain and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

national teams.

References

External links

Biography at Autógrafo TV
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bithorn, Hiram 1916 births 1951 deaths American people murdered abroad Binghamton Triplets players Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Hollywood Stars players Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Mexican murder victims Minor league baseball managers Nashville Vols players Newark Bears (IL) players Norfolk Tars players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Oklahoma City Indians players People from Santurce, Puerto Rico People murdered in Mexico Puerto Rican murder victims Senadores de San Juan players Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Puerto Rican people of German descent Puerto Rican people of Danish descent Puerto Rican people of Scottish descent Puerto Rican United States Navy personnel United States Navy sailors American military sports players Puerto Rican people who died in prison custody Mexican people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Mexican detention United States Navy personnel of World War II American people imprisoned abroad Prisoners murdered in custody People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Mexico People murdered by law enforcement officers Burials in Puerto Rico Grand Rapids Jets players

Early life

Baseball career

Later years

See also

References

External links