| New York Cubans | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| League |
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| Location | New York City |
| Ballpark |
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| Established | 1935 |
| Disbanded | 1950 |
| Negro World Series championships | 1947 |
| League titles | 1947 |
TheNew York Cubans were aNegro league baseball team that played during the 1930s and from 1939 to 1950.[2] Despite playing in the Negro leagues, the team occasionally employedwhite-skinnedHispanic baseball players as well, because Hispanic players were generally ignored byMajor League Baseball teams beforeJackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
In 1899, theAll Cubans became the first all-Hispanic team to travel to theUnited States and stage exhibition games, against established Negro league powerhouse teams. The All Cubans kept traveling to the United States each year until 1905. Beginning in 1907, they were replaced by theCuban Stars, which became accepted as an independent Negro baseball team. In 1916, the team was struck by controversies and competition regarding booking, which led to the creation of a new Cuban Stars carrying the same name. To differentiate between the two teams, the newer of the two was referred to as theCuban Stars (East), which was owned byAlex Pompez and competed in theNew York city area. The older team (which was owned byAbel Linares andTinti Molina and previously had competed in the New York area) moved to the midwestern region and became known as theCuban Stars (West).
Around 1930, both Cuban Stars teams folded, but in 1935 Pompez was able to re-create a Cuban team under the new name New York Cubans. In 1935 and 1936, the New York Cubans called historicHinchliffe Stadium inPaterson, New Jersey home. They also played some home games in theDyckman Oval in theInwood neighborhood of Manhattan, and later played in thePolo Grounds (1939-1950) and inYankee Stadium (1941-1946).
Unlike what the team's name may suggest, the team was not composed exclusively ofCuban players; there were players from other Hispanic nationalities and theUnited States as well. In 1941,Perucho Cepeda, father ofNational Baseball Hall of FamerOrlando Peruchin Cepeda and a legendary player around theCaribbean himself, became the firstPuerto Rican to play for the New York Cubans. Apart from Cepeda, there were also players fromMexico and theDominican Republic playing for the New York Cubans. From 1941 to 1944, the Cubans had the services of well-known Dominican utility playerTetelo Vargas.
Only one other team of the era, theIndianapolis Clowns, boasted a line-up with as many international players as the Cubans did.
With a team that included such notables asLuis Tiant, Sr., andMinnie Miñoso the New York Cubans won their onlyNegro League World Series title in 1947, defeating theCleveland Buckeyes.
The Cubans did not win another championship, and, due to various reasons, including economic strain and an exodus of bothAfrican American and Hispanic players to the Major Leagues, the Negro Leagues stopped playing in 1950.
On May 29, 2010, theNew York Mets wore Cubans uniforms in a game inMilwaukee against theBrewers, who woreMilwaukee Bears uniforms. The Mets then wore this uniform again on August 22 against thePittsburgh Pirates.[3]
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